15. Ecosystem Services and Well-Being in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh: A Multiple Evidence Base Trajectory

The chapter attempts to categorise the ecosystem services (ES) and their multiple values as well as scrutinise the well-being of human and nature interfaces in the Sundarbans—the largest single-tract contiguous mangrove forest in the world. It also examines the factors negatively and positively affecting the ecosystem’s balance and thus the well-being of the forest and its people. The chapter demonstrates that both humans and nature are dependent on each other and form a human-nature sociality in the ecosystem through which they coexist; therefore the appropriation of nature (conservation, restoration, sustainable uses, access and benefit sharing) instead of expropriation (anthropogenic pressures) promotes virtuous cycle in the ecosystem and harmonious relations between human and nature. The chapter adopts multiple evidence base (MEB) approach, comprising (a) participatory observations and focus group discussions, (b) public participation geographic information system (PPGIS), (c) survey and (d) corroborative scientific evidence. The study particularly draws on the insights of forest people who pursue their livelihoods in the Sundarbans as traditional resource users like wood collectors (Bawalis), fishermen (Jele), honey and wax collectors (Mouals) and crab collectors.