Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Tropical Forest and Sustainability: An Overview

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Life on Land

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

  • 299 Accesses

Definitions

Forested landscapes that are bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, characterized by experience of high temperatures and high annual rainfall, are called tropical forest (Bashar 2013; Butler 2015; Park and Allaby 2013). Fig. 1 shows the tropical rain forests distributed all over the world. It is a subclass of tropical forest distributed around the world, particularly near the equator (Butler 2014). Myers (1992) defined tropical rain forest as “evergreen or partly evergreen forest, that is, some trees may be deciduous, grown in areas receiving not less than 100 mm of precipitations, in any month for two out of three years, with mean annual temperatures of more than 24°C.” These forests usually occur at altitudes below 1,300 m and generally in Southeast Asia up to only 750 m and there are several more or less distinctive forest strata (Bashar 2013).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Worldwide distribution of tropical rain forests

Full size image

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alamgir M, Mukul SA, Turton S (2015) Modelling spatial distribution of critically endangered Asian elephant and Hoolock gibbon in Bangladesh forest ecosystems under a changing climate. Appl Geogr 60:10–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Appanah S, Kleine M (2001) Auditing of sustainable forest management. FORSPA publication no 26/2001.131p

    Google Scholar 

  • Baccini A, Walker W, Carvalho L, Farina M, Sulla-Menashe D, Houghton RA (2017) Tropical forests are a net carbon source based on aboveground measurements of gain and loss. Science 358(6360):230–234. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam5962

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barua A, Khatniar B (2015) Strong or weak sustainability: a case study of emerging Asia. Asia-Pacific Develop J 2(21):1–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Bashar DMA (2013) Bashar-dictionary of biodiversity. Mohammad Publications, Dhaka, 374 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Biswas SR, Choudhury JK (2007) Forests and forest management practices in Bangladesh: the question of sustainability. Int For Rev 9(2):627–640

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler R (2014) Tropical rainforests of the world. https://rainforests.mongabay.com/0101.htm

  • Butler R (2015) Where are rainforests located? https://kids.mongabay.com/elementary/002.html

  • CCG (2014) Local adaptation to climate change: the gender perspective. Climate Change Governance (CCG), CCG-PB-14-003, June 2014: 1–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Choudhury JK (2005) Forests and forestry in Bangladesh. Paper presented at BELA, 39 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickson B, Blaney R, Miles L, Regan E, van Soesbergen A, Väänänen E, Blyth S, Harfoot M, Martin CS, McOwen C, Newbold T, van Bochove J (2014) Towards a global map of natural capital: key ecosystem assets. UNEP, Nairobi

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupuy B, Maitre HF, Amselim I (1999) Tropical forest management techniques: a review of the sustainability of forest management practices in tropical countries. Working paper: FAO/FPIRS/04 prepared for the World Bank

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2009) Sustainable management of forests and REDD+: negotiations need clear terminology. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2014) State of the world’s forests 2014. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2017) Using criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. Forestry policy and institutions working paper 37. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FIP (2017) Forest investment program. Forest Department, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 130 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R, Maginnis S, Jackson W, Barrow E, Jeanrenaud S (2010) Linking conservation and poverty reduction: landscape, people and power. In: Roe D, Elliott J (eds) At poverty and biodiversity conservation. Earthscan, London, Washington, DC, pp 27–41

    Google Scholar 

  • GED (2015) Millennium development goals – Bangladesh progress report 2015. General Economic Division (GED), Bangladesh Planning Commission, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 126 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Giam X (2017) Global biodiversity loss from tropical deforestation. PNAS 114(23):5775–5777. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706264114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giessen L, Sarker PK, Rahman MS (2016) International and domestic sustainable forest management policies: distributive effects on power among State Agencies in Bangladesh. Sustainability 8(335):1–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8040335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GOB (1992) Forest policy-forestry master plan. Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 274 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • GOB (1996) Bangladesh economic review (in Bengali). Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 94 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Hediger W (1997) Towards an ecological economics of sustainable development. Sustain Dev 5(1997):101–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys D (1996) Forest politics: the evolution of international cooperation. Earthscan Publications, London, p 299

    Google Scholar 

  • ITTO (2006) Status of Tropical Forest Management 2005. ITTO technical series no. 24. ITTO, Yokohama

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivan (2016) Sustainable development and the 3 pillars of sustainability. https://weemss.com/blog/sustainable-development-3-pillars-sustainability/

  • Kanowski PJ, McDermott CL, Cashore BW (2011) Implementing REDD+: lessons from analysis of forest governance. Environ Sci Policy 2011(14):111–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2010.11.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCool S, Stankey G (2001) Representing the future: a framework for evaluating the utility of indicators in search for sustainable forest management. In: Raison RJ, Brown A (eds) Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. IUFRO. Series no 7. CAB International Publishing, Oxford, UK, pp 93–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukul SA, Saha N (2017) Conservation benefits of tropical multifunctional landscapes in and around a forest protected area of Bangladesh. Land 6(2):1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukul SA, Biswas SR, Rashid AZMM, Miah MD, Kabir ME, Uddin MB, Alamgir M, Khan NA, Sohel MSI, Chowdhury MSH, Rana MP, Rahman SA, Khan MASA, Hoque MA (2014a) A new estimate of carbon for Bangladesh forest ecosystems with their spatial distribution and REDD+ implications. Int J Res Land-use Sustain 1(1):33–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukul SA, Tito MR, Munim SA (2014b) Can homegardens help save forests in Bangladesh? Domestic biomass fuel consumption patterns and implications for forest conservation in south-central Bangladesh. Int J Res Land-use Sustain 1(1):18–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukul SA, Biswas SR, Rashid AZMM (2018) Biodiversity in Bangladesh. In: Pullaiah T (ed) Global biodiversity. Vol. 1. Selected countries in Asia. Apple Academic/CRC Press, Canada, pp 93–107

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mukul SA, Alamgir M, Sohel MSI, Pert PL, Turton SM, Herbohn J, Khan MSI, Ali Reza AHM, Munim SA, Laurance WF (2019) Combined effects of climate change and sea-level rise project dramatic habitat loss of the globally endangered Bengal tiger in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. Sci Total Environ 663:830–840

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mustafa MME (2002) A review of forest policy trends in Bangladesh-Bangladesh forest policy trend. Policy Trend Report 2002:114–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers N (1988) Deforestation rates in tropical forests and their climate implications. Friends of the Earth, London December 1989, p 6

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers N (1989) Tropical forests and their species: going, going ….? In: Wilson EO, Peter FM (eds) Biodiversity. National Academic Press, Washington, DC, pp 28–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers N (1992) The primary source- tropical forest and our future. W. W. Norton and Co., New York, p 416. ISBN 0393308286

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasi R (2010) Tropical forests and sustainability: do we need new management paradigms? Waseda University, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasi R, Frost PGH (2009) Sustainable forest management in the tropics: is everything in order but the patient still dying? Ecol Soc 14(2):40. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art40/

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nasi R, Putz FE, Pacheco P, Wunder S, Anta S (2011) Sustainable forest management and carbon in tropical Latin America: the case for REDD+. Forests 2:200–217. https://doi.org/10.3390/f2010200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2008) Natural resources and pro-poor growth: the economics and politics, DAC guidelines and reference series. OECD Publishing, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Pan Y, Birdsey RA, Fang J, Houghton R, Kauppi P, Kurz WA, Phillips OL, Shvidenko A, Lewis SL, Canadell JG, Ciais P, Jackson RB, Pacala SW, McGuire AD, Piao S, Rautiainen A, Sitch S, Hayes D (2011) A large and persistent carbon sink in the world’s forests. Science 333(6045):988–993. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1201609

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Park C, Allaby M (2013) Oxford dictionary of environment & conservation, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 504 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahman AA (1998) Environment and poverty 0 key linkages for global sustainable development. The University Press Limited, Dhaka, 131 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Rashid AZMM, Mukul SA (2017) Managing protected areas in a changing world: new insights and opportunities. In: Mukul SA, Rashid AZMM (eds) Protected areas: policies, management and future directions. Nova Science Publishers, USA, pp 1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Reddy CS, Pasha SV, Jha CS, Diwakar PG, Dadhwal VK (2016) Development of national database on long-term deforestation (1930–2014) in Bangladesh. Glob Planet Chang 139:173–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson T (2009) Three pillars of sustainability and the fall of a nation. Huffington Post, May 7, 2009

    Google Scholar 

  • Saha N (1998) A study on forest industries of Bangladesh. Bull Kochi Univ Forest 25:1–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarker SK, Deb JC, Halim MA (2011) A diagnosis of existing logging bans in Bangladesh. Int For Rev 13:461–475

    Google Scholar 

  • University of Maryland (2013) First detailed map of global forest change. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131114142123.htm

  • Wilson EO (1988) The current state of biological diversity. In: Wilson EO, Peter FM (eds) Biodiversity. National Academic Press, Washington, DC, pp 1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2001) A revised forest strategy for the World Bank Group. World Bank, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Sciences, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh

    Narayan Saha

Authors
  1. Narayan Saha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Narayan Saha .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Amanda Lange Salvia

  5. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Environmental Management, Independent University, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Sharif Ahmed Mukul

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Saha, N. (2019). Tropical Forest and Sustainability: An Overview. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Life on Land. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71065-5_37-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71065-5_37-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71065-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71065-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation