**2.1 Hill forests (mixed-evergreen forests)**

Hill forests are mostly mixed-evergreen forests which cover 680,000 hectares of land and mostly situated in the northeast and southeast parts of Bangladesh [11–13]. The forests of northeast are mostly fragmented, and some relatively large patches of mixed-evergreen forests still exist in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in the southeast [14]. The dominating plants in these forests are *Dipterocarpus turbinatus*, *D. pilosus*, *Swintonia floribunda*, *Hopea odorata*, *Syzygium grande*, *Salmalia insignis*, *Lophopetalum fimbriatum*, and *Duabunga sonnerationides*. Evergreen plants dominate the mixed-evergreen forests; however, deciduous plants are quite common and abundant [5, 15]. The mixed-evergreen forests of Bangladesh support large populations of wild mammals including Asian elephants, Asiatic black bear, hoolock gibbon, sambar deer, wild dog, leopard, and other globally threatened species [10, 16].

## **2.2 Sal forests (deciduous forests)**

The Sal forest or moist deciduous forests of Bangladesh cover roughly about 120,000 hectares, which is about 0.81% land of the country. The central part of the country has the largest single mass of deciduous forest [17]. The single dominating

**17**

Bangladesh [10].

**Figure 2.**

*Forest Biodiversity and Deforestation in Bangladesh: The Latest Update*

plant of this forest is Sal (*Shorea robusta*). Most of the other plants of this forest are *Butea monosperma*, *Careya arborea*, *Terminalia belerica*, *Terminalia chebula*, *Dillenia pentagyna*, *Aphanamixis polystachya*, *Streblus asper*, and *Phyllanthus emblica* [15, 18]. This ecosystem is the home of the largest population of capped langur of

The mangrove forests cover an area of 801,700 hectares along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Out of the total coastal forest, 601,700 hectares are natural mangroves, the Sundarbans—the single largest chunk of productive mangrove forest of the world—and 200,000 hectares are coastal plantations [19, 20]. This forest

**2.3 Natural mangrove forests and mangrove plantation**

*Location of the protected areas (PAs) in Bangladesh (Source: [11]).*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86242*

**Figure 1.** *Various forest ecosystems by protected areas in Bangladesh (Source: [9]).*

*Forest Biodiversity and Deforestation in Bangladesh: The Latest Update DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86242*

*Forest Degradation Around the World*

**2. Forests of Bangladesh**

**2.1 Hill forests (mixed-evergreen forests)**

**2.2 Sal forests (deciduous forests)**

*Various forest ecosystems by protected areas in Bangladesh (Source: [9]).*

population density in the urban areas. Moreover, the country has also experienced one of the highest rates of deforestation in south Asia, 2600 hectares per year [7, 8].

Even in a small land area, Bangladesh hosts four major types of forests: (a) hill forests (mixed-evergreen forest), (b) sal forest (deciduous forest), (c) mangrove forest (natural mangrove), and mangrove plantation (**Figure 1**). Three other types of forest also contain substantial biodiversity of the country: (d) freshwater swamp forests, (e) homestead forest, and (f) village common forest, which is a natural forest conserved by communities for their uses [5, 10]. Many of these forests are protected by laws in Bangladesh, and designated protected areas (PAs) are shown in **Figure 2**.

Hill forests are mostly mixed-evergreen forests which cover 680,000 hectares of land and mostly situated in the northeast and southeast parts of Bangladesh [11–13]. The forests of northeast are mostly fragmented, and some relatively large patches of mixed-evergreen forests still exist in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in the southeast [14]. The dominating plants in these forests are *Dipterocarpus turbinatus*, *D. pilosus*, *Swintonia floribunda*, *Hopea odorata*, *Syzygium grande*, *Salmalia insignis*, *Lophopetalum fimbriatum*, and *Duabunga sonnerationides*. Evergreen plants dominate the mixed-evergreen forests; however, deciduous plants are quite common and abundant [5, 15]. The mixed-evergreen forests of Bangladesh support large populations of wild mammals including Asian elephants, Asiatic black bear, hoolock gibbon, sambar deer, wild dog, leopard, and other globally threatened species [10, 16].

The Sal forest or moist deciduous forests of Bangladesh cover roughly about 120,000 hectares, which is about 0.81% land of the country. The central part of the country has the largest single mass of deciduous forest [17]. The single dominating

**16**

**Figure 1.**

**Figure 2.** *Location of the protected areas (PAs) in Bangladesh (Source: [11]).*

plant of this forest is Sal (*Shorea robusta*). Most of the other plants of this forest are *Butea monosperma*, *Careya arborea*, *Terminalia belerica*, *Terminalia chebula*, *Dillenia pentagyna*, *Aphanamixis polystachya*, *Streblus asper*, and *Phyllanthus emblica* [15, 18]. This ecosystem is the home of the largest population of capped langur of Bangladesh [10].
