Developing Legal Frameworks for Community-Based Invasive Plant Species Governance for Sustainable Forestry and Biodiversity Conservation in Bangladesh: Lessons from New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

<p>The problem of invasive plant species (IPS) is identified as a major threat to biodiversity loss globally, including in Australia and Bangladesh. It is mostly caused by humans who transport and introduce species, both intentionally and unintentionally, from one region of the world to another. The voluntary nature of some international soft-law agreements and the claimed reluctance to embrace some conflicting sections of international hard-law instruments contribute to the current magnitude of the IPS problem. Although both Australia and Bangladesh are mandated by international environmental law to prevent the introduction of IPS that harm biodiversity, or to control any outbreak, governance frameworks have frequently been found deficient, with Bangladesh being the most egregious offender. To sustainably govern IPS in Bangladesh, integration of social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable development (SD) necessitates that essential parties at all levels of governance collaborate to retain staff, develop their capacities, engage their communities, and run their local government institutions effectively and sustainably. International organisations, through the development of the Rio Declaration, Agenda 2030, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Forest Instrument 2007, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the International Plant Protection Convention, and the WTO Agreement, have been guiding Bangladesh in relation to the formulation of biodiversity and IPS governance instruments" however, Bangladesh has not yet formulated its own widely accepted and comprehensive IPS and biodiversity regulatory frameworks for achieving the goals of sustainable agriculture, forestry, and biodiversity conservation outcomes. Climate variability, land use and ownership changes, human behavioural and sociocultural practices, and conflicting political beliefs are some of the major drivers of plant invasion in Bangladesh. As a result, various regulatory frameworks have been developed haphazardly to mitigate the impact of the IPS drivers. As anticipated, economic and social globalisation and conflicts of interest among benefit-driven parties have hampered the applicability and effectiveness of such legislative instruments. These errors have allowed IPS to flourish and spread. This endangers the natural environment and primary production industries by diminishing sustainable forest output, causing a decline in ecosystem products and services, and making it more difficult to maintain biodiversity for a sustainable environment and communities.</p> <p>The primary aims of this thesis are to: (i) examine and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of international regulatory instruments related to invasive plant species and biodiversity governance in the forestry sectors to understand how the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and Bangladesh have used international mechanisms to shape their own governance systems" (ii) examine and evaluate various IPS governance and biodiversity-related regulatory instruments of NSW and Bangladesh to develop IPS and biodiversity governance instruments for the Bangladesh government" and (iii) based on findings of above aims, suggest a community-centred, adaptive, and shared good governance mechanism for community-based IPS and biodiversity governance at Khadimnagar National Park in north-eastern Bangladesh.</p> <p>The subject matter of this thesis is multidisciplinary, encompassing the gathering, investigation, and assessment of knowledge in forestry, agriculture, invasion ecology, economics, applied sociology, management, political science, and environmental law. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the topic and the nature of the research problems, the thesis used qualitative research methods based on a combination of theoretical research approaches, doctrinal research approaches, reform-oriented research approaches, fundamental research approaches, comparative research approaches, historical research approaches employing adaptive sharing, and good governance approaches.</p> <p>In brief, the findings of the first two aims suggest adopting more coherent, comprehensive, and well-coordinated community-based adaptive biodiversity and IPS governance regulatory frameworks for Bangladesh's national government and implementing them at the community level in governing IPS and biodiversity, with specific reference to Khadimnagar National Park.</p>