Executive Summary

Knowledge and Attitude survey has been undertaken among the different socio-economic groups, who are targeted by the USAID supported Bagh Project with the aim of strengthening the relationship between the Sundarbans and the surrounding communities for protecting the Bengal tigers and conserving the magnificent forest eco system.

The objectives of the Knowledge and Attitude survey is to capture the knowledge and attitude level of individuals in the community groups comprising BaghBandhu, Village Tiger Response Team (VTRT), Tiger Widow, Forest Resource Collectors and Other Community People on wildlife conservation.

A two- stage stratified sampling method has been used to select a statistically representative sample of community group members who were administered with a knowledge measurement questionnaire and a attitude measurement questionnaire.

A scoring system has been developed and used to measure knowledge and attitude based on the responses on the questionnaire by the respondents. The scoring system was normalized for comparing the knowledge and attitude levels across different groups and individuals. The knowledge survey and the attitude survey have covered 415 and 416 respondents respectively from the study area.

Although knowledge and attitude levels of the individual respondents have been worked out based on the scoring system, findings and results are mostly presented at aggregated level for the different groups and across gender and ranges. Aside from overall knowledge level, knowledge and attitude on individual conservation issues have also been assessed by the study. The key findings of the study are summarized as hereafter.

Knowledge Survey

The average score of the respondents under the knowledge survey is 33 while the median score is 30 out of a total achievable score which is 100.

Among the different community groups, the average score is found to be the highest (53) for BaghBandhu followed by VTRT with average score of 45. For the remaining community groups, the average score is 38 for Tiger Widow, 31 for Forest Resource Collectors and 29 for Other Community People.

Overall, only 19% of the study respondents were able to score more than 50, while 32% have scored more than 40.

It appears from the knowledge score that men are more knowledgeable than women. The average score of the former is 36 and that of the latter is 28. Respondents of the four ranges are marked by noteworthy variation in terms of their knowledge scores. The highest and lowest average scores of the four ranges are 41 and 19 respectively.

Table: Average and median Knowledge Score in Different Ranges

The survey reveals that the study populations are, to some extent, aware about the current threats for the Sundasrbans and the wildlives.

However, there is significant knowledge gap about some relevant laws/rules on conservation of the forest and the wildlives including tigers & deer. The knowledge gap is found to be relatively small among BaghBandhu and VTRT but the gap is large for Other Community Groups covered by the survey.

Attitude Survey

The average attitude score as obtained from the survey is 54 and the median score is 55 out of a total score of 100. For the different community groups the average score is highest (61) for the BaghBandhu and lowest (52.4) for the Forest Resource Collectors. The higher is the score the stronger is the attitude toward conservation.

Table: Average Attitude Score for Different Subpopulations/Community Groups

Overall 28% of the respondents are found have 61 and higher attitude score. For the different subpopulations/community groups, 61 and higher score has been achieved by 56.5% of the BaghBandhu, followed by 51.4% of VTRT. The other groups such as Forest Resource Collectors, Tiger Widow and Other Community People 61 and higher score have been achieved by relatively small percentages of the respondents.

The average score of men is significantly higher than that of women and it is 57.1 for men and 51.6 for women. About 38% of male respondents scored 61 and higher compared to 21% of the female respondents who scored the same level.

Attitude level across different forest ranges is also marked by substantial variations.

The average attitude score is highest in Sarankhola Range (60) followed by Satkhira (57). The lowest average score is 46 in Chandpai.

Table: Average Attitude Score in Different Ranges

It transpires from the statistics of scores that attitude of the study population toward conservation of Sundarban and wildlives is, in generally positive. However, gender roles are not well appreciated by a large majority of the respondents, the survey reveals.

The findings from the knowledge and attitude survey suggest that the project should continue its efforts vigorously to advance the knowledge level of the stakeholders on conservation of the Sundarbans forest and its wildlives. Efforts to strengthen the positive attitude towards conservation should also be pursued as a priority.