---

Among those who are directly dependent on natural resource, an overwhelming majority in Bangladesh are losing access to and thereby failing to participate in the management and conservation of natural resource. During the last decade, approaches to natural resources management have taken a shift toward encouraging participation in the process, and it is widely recognized by actors and institutions engaged in the development process that a transformation is sweeping across sectoral programs and projects. People´s participation in natural resources management has been experimented in a rather exhaustive fashion within the existing policy and institutional setting, with disappointing outcomes in most cases. Based on these we could and should move towards an integrated natural resource management institutional framework where livelihood of the poor could be ensured and enable the poor to get on to the track of economic growth and sustainable development. Bangladesh Vision 2020 has demonstrated that by year 2020 if Bangladesh wants to be a medium developed country, focus on poverty alleviation with a rigorous institutional frame is a must.

---

Sumon M. Abu, MSc: Studied Built Environment at Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden and Specialized in Spatial Planning and Natural Resource Management. National Coordinator for Community Based Adaptation for Climate Change in Bangladesh, UNDP Bangladesh, Dhaka

---