Mohammed Alamgir

• Professor (Assistant) at University of Chittagong

Roads are expanding at the fastest pace in human history. This is the case especially in biodiversity-rich tropical nations, where roads can result in forest loss and fragmentation, wildfires, illicit land invasions and negative societal effects1–5. Many roads are being constructed illegally or informally and do not appear on any existing road map6...

The forests of Borneo—the third largest island on the planet—sustain some of the highest biodiversity and carbon storage in the world. The forests also provide vital ecosystem services and livelihood support for millions of people in the region, including many indigenous communities. The Pan-Borneo Highway and several hydroelectric dams are planned...

The Heart of Borneo initiative has promoted the integration of protected areas and sustainably-managed forests across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. Recently, however, member states of the Heart of Borneo have begun pursuing ambitious unilateral infrastructure-development schemes to accelerate economic growth, jeopardizing the underlying goal of...

Tropical forest regions in equatorial Africa are threatened with degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss as a result of land-cover change. We investigated historical land-cover dynamics in unprotected forested areas of the Littoral Region in south-western Cameroon during 1975–2017, to detect changes that may influence this important biodiv...

The island of New Guinea hosts the third largest expanse of tropical rainforest on the planet. Papua New Guinea—comprising the eastern half of the island—plans to nearly double its national road network (from 8,700 to 15,000 km) over the next three years, to spur economic growth. We assessed these plans using fine-scale biophysical and environmenta...

The Sundarbans, in southern coastal Bangladesh, is the world's largest surviving mangrove habitat and the last stronghold of tiger adapted to living in a mangrove ecosystem. Using MaxEnt (maximum entropy mod- eling), current distribution data, land-use/land cover and bioclimatic variables, we modeled the likely future distribution of the globally e...

Abstract Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) sustains ~37 million hectares of native tropical forest. Numerous large-scale infrastructure projects aimed at promoting land-development activities are planned or ongoing in the region. However, little is known of the potential impacts of this new infrastructure on Bornean forests or biodiversity. We found t...

Road-infrastructure development in Southeast Asia is opening new resource frontiers but also consolidating earlier investments in agriculture and trade, as illustrated by the 2,700-km Trans-Sumatra Highway planned for Sumatra, Indonesia. In contrast to earlier broadscale forest losses in Sumatra, driven historically in Sumatra infrastructure and ag...

The island of New Guinea harbours one of the world’s largest tracts of intact tropical forest, with 41% of its land area in Indonesian Papua (Papua and Papua Barat Provinces). Within Papua, the advent of a 4000-km ‘development corridor’ reflects a national agenda promoting primary-resource extraction and economic integration. Papua, a resource fron...

Twenty-five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists and more than 1700 independent scientists, including the majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences, penned the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” (see supplemental file S1). These concerned professionals called on humankind to curtail environmental destruction and cautioned...

Twenty-five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists and more than 1700 independent scientists, including the majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences, penned the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” (see supplemental file S1). These concerned professionals called on humankind to curtail environmental destruction and cautioned...

The Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra, Indonesia is a globally-significant landscape for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. It is however increasingly threatened by infrastructure development, enabled by discordant forest governance amongst central and regional governments. Here we identify these infrastructure threats and related...

Tropical forests are the storehouse of both ecosystem services and biodiversity but the interlinkages between these two components of ecosystems are yet to be fully explored. We utilized expert opinion to assess the key and multiple ecosystem services, and biodiversity in a tropical landscape. We found that key and multiple ecosystem services suppl...

Nater, et al.[1] recently identified a new orangutan species (Pongo tapanuliensis) in northern Sumatra, Indonesia-just the seventh described species of living great ape. The population of this critically-endangered species is perilously small, at only ∼800 individuals [1], ranking it among the planet's rarest fauna. We assert that P. tapanuliensis...

Closed-canopy forests are being rapidly fragmented across much of the tropical world. Determining the impacts of fragmentation on ecological processes enables better forest management and improves species-conservation outcomes. Lianas are an integral part of tropical forests but can have detrimental and potentially complex interactions with their h...

Viewpoint article World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice WILLIAM J. RIPPLE, CHRISTOPHER WOLF, THOMAS M. NEWSOME, MAURO GALETTI, MOHAMMED ALAMGIR, EILEEN CRIST, MAHMOUD I. MAHMOUD, WILLIAM F. LAURANCE, and 15,364 scientist signatories from 184 countries. http://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/signatories

We are pleased to see the three follow-up letters concerning our “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice” (Ripple et al. 2017). Each letter expresses a thoughtful, heartfelt response to our paper. We agree in how they describe the need to get more scientists into policymaking positions (Dror), to create a new global environmental et...

Campbell, M., M. Alagmir, and W. F. Laurance. 2018. Optimizing roads to limit environmental damage and maximize societal development in the Asia-Pacific. HOPE E-News Bulletin, March: 6 (http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/uploads/media/HOPE_ Enews_bulletin_2018__03_---_March_2018.pdf)

The 21st century will see an unprecedented expansion of roads, dams, power lines, and gas lines, as well as massive investments in mining and fossil fuel projects. At least 25 million kilometers of new roads are anticipated by 2050. Nine-tenths of all road construction is projected to occur in developing nations, including many tropical regions tha...

Twenty-five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists and more than 1700 independent scientists, including the majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences, penned the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” (see supplemental file S1). These concerned professionals called on humankind to curtail environmental destruction and cautioned...

Im Jahr 1992 rief die "Union besorgter Wissenschaftler" zu einem besseren Umgang mit der Umwelt auf. 25 Jahre später haben nun über 15.000 internationale Wissenschaftler eine zweite eindringliche Warnung an die Menschheit ausgesprochen. Es ist einer der am meisten beachteten Fachartikel des Jahres 2017 - hier in der deutschen Fassung. Auf den Punk...

Twenty-five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists and more than 1700 independent scientists, including the majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences, penned the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” (see supplemental file S1). These concerned professionals called on humankind to curtail environmental destruction and cautioned...

List of additional scientist signatories

Twenty-five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists and more than 1700 independent scientists, including the majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences, penned the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” (see supplemental file S1). These concerned professionals called on humankind to curtail environmental destruction and cautioned...

It is projected that 25 million km of new paved roads will be developed globally by 2050-enough to encircle the planet more than 600 times. Roughly 90% of new roads will be built in developing nations, frequently in tropical and subtropical regions with high biodiversity and environmental values. Many developing nations are borrowing from internati...

Human-induced forest fragmentation poses one of the largest threats to global diversity yet its impact on rattans (climbing palms) has remained virtually unexplored. Rattan is arguably the world’s most valuable non-timber forest product though current levels of harvesting and land-use change place wild populations at risk. To assess rattan response...

The tropical forests of Africa are experiencing unprecedented changes as a result of a rapid proliferation of roads and other infrastructure. These projects are dramatically increasing access to relatively unexploited regions, particularly in the greater Congo Basin. We highlight some of the most important new projects and describe in detail an ong...

The Cross River State Government in Nigeria is proposing to construct a “Cross River Superhighway” that would bisect critical remaining areas of tropical rainforest in south eastern Nigeria. We offer and evaluate two alternative routes to the superhighway that would be less damaging to forests, protected areas, and biological diversity. The first a...

Tropical forests are major contributors to the terrestrial global carbon pool, but this pool is being reduced via deforestation and forest degradation. Relatively few studies have assessed carbon storage in degraded tropical forests. We sampled 37,000 m2 of intact rainforest, degraded rainforest and sclerophyll forest across the greater Wet Tropics...

Tropical forests potentially contribute to global climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration, hence a global carbon pool. In order to mitigate the global climate change impact, the Kyoto protocol developed the clean development mechanism (CDM) which supports carbon credits for plantation activities in developing countries. Unfortunately...

Solid waste disposal and management became one of the major environmental concerns in Bangladesh. Realising the problem, the present study has been undertaken with a view to find a sound and effective way of biodegradable solid waste management. The study was carried out in the nursery of Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at Universi...

In tropical developing countries, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is becoming an important mechanism for conserving forests and protecting biodiversity. A key prerequisite for any successful REDD+ project, however, is obtaining baseline estimates of carbon in forest ecosystems. Using available published data, we...

Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. A substantial part of human well-being is dependent on the sustainable flow of ES. Climate change, economic growth and an increasing human population has placed greater pressures on global ES. Australia’s ecosystems are among the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. Hence...

About 35 % of the population of Nepal (1.45 M households) has been engaged in community forestry, depending on the activity for their livelihoods and community development. Climate change is threatening community forestry, for which impacts are likely to be greater than many other sectors, but little scientific information is available. Hence, loca...

Stream 2 of the Regional NRM Planning for Climate Change Fund supports the project “Knowledge to manage land and sea: A framework for the future” run by a consortium of scientists from James Cook University (JCU) and CSIRO. This report is the first major product of the consortium project. It is not an in-depth review of the literature that already...

From a climate change vulnerability perspective, Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable countries in the world, with adverse effects being apparent for many different sectors of the economy, including forestry. Bangladesh forests are being considered as an important stock of tree biomass and hence organic carbon, although storage quantity varies f...

Climate change is considered to be one of the most serious threats and its impact is felt by the most vulnerable world'spoorest countries including Bangladesh. In particular, ethnic communities, whose livelihoods depend on the use of natural resources, are likely to bear the brunt of adverse impacts. A case study was conducted in a fragile ecosyste...

An assessment of Marsh crocodile’s (Crocodylus palustris LESSON, 1831) habitat, its feasibility in supporting the total population, feeding, hatching difficulty and variations in egg and clutch size of Marsh crocodile were carried out in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park for one year (July 2010 to June 2011). Major problem identified was the bre...

Forests cover only 6 to 8 percent of the total land area of Bangladesh. While agricultural expansion continues to massively deplete the natural forests, a well-managed homegarden practice is vital for reversing the existing trend and promoting the ecological balance of the country. An understanding of the role of women in homegarden management with...

This study was conducted to explore the tree species composition of the Khadimnagar National Park of Bangladesh, and also to assess its potential to conserve biodiversity. A total of 524 individual of 29 tree species belonging to 18 families were identified. The dominant family was Meliaceae, represented by five species, followed by Moraceae and Le...

Forests cover only 6 to 8 percent of the total land area of Bangladesh. While agricultural expansion continues to massively deplete the natural forests, a well-managed homegarden practice is vital for reversing the existing trend and promoting the ecological balance of the country. An understanding of the role of women in homegarden management with...

An exploratory study was conducted in Feni, a southeastern district of Bangladesh to explore the role of palm husbandry in the rural economy. A total of 48 households in the study area were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Based on the total annual income the farmers were categorized into three groups as High-income group, Medium...

Forests potentially contribute to global climate change through their influence on the global carbon (C) cycle. The Kyoto Protocol provides for the involvement of developing countries in an atmospheric greenhouse gas reduction regime under its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Carbon credits are gained from reforestation and afforestation activiti...

An exploratory study was conducted in Feni, in southeast Bangladesh, to determine the status and potentials of palm husbandry in the rural economy. A total of 48 households in the study area were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The farmers were categorized into five groups based on their landholdings. Palms comprised the highest...

his paper is based on Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) and visitors profile study of forest based tourist spots of Tilagor Eco-Park under Sylhet Forest Division, Bangladesh to ascertain the present status and potentials of ecotourism and NTFPs. For collecting data and information visitors representing different socio-economic and occupational gro...

A multi stage random sampling method was used to study the status of NTFPs stock in North Sylhet range-1 and Rajkandi range of Sylhet Forest division, Bangladesh. In case of North Sylhet range-1, this study identified 5 species under 3 families. Famous non-timber resources of North Sylhet Range-1 were cane, bamboo, sungrass and Murta. The dominant...

This article compared livelihood dependency of forest and non-forest villagers and their impacts on Ukhia and Inani forest ranges of Cox’s bazar forest division, Bangladesh. Information was collected through household’s interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire during December to June 2008. Total 121 respondents were randomly selected from b...

A study was conducted in the forest area of Chittagong (South) Forest Division, Chittagong, Bangladesh for developing allometric models to estimate biomass organic carbon stock in the forest vegetation. Allometric models were tested separately for trees (divided into two DBH classes), shrubs, herbs and grasses. Model using basal area alone was foun...

Globally, trade in agar-based products is growing rapidly due to their recent adoption as an ingredient in the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals sector. In Bangladesh, people living in some north-eastern districts have been engaged in the production, processing and trading of such products for several decades. These practices, which they consider as th...

The organic carbon storage in trees and organic carbon flow with geoposition of trees was estimated in the forest area of Chittagong (South) Forest Division within geo-position 91°47′ and 92°15′ East longitude and 21°45′ and 22°30′ North latitude. The study was conducted through stratified random sampling by identifying each sampling point through...

ABSTRACT An exploratory study was conducted in Lawachara National Park (LNP) to make a comparative analysis of co-management practice in protected area management. This study compares the socio-economic condition (income, social status, living style etc.) and forest dependency before and after implementation of co-management activities in LNP. A to...

An exploratory study was conducted in Lawachara National Park (LNP) to make a comparative analysis of co-management practice in protected area management. This study compares the socio-economic condition (income, social status, living style etc.) and forest dependency before and after implementation of co-management activities in LNP. A total 40 ho...

An exploratory survey was carried out to assess the trends of wood utilization in house construction of rural areas in Hathazari Thana of Chittagong District. A multistage random sampling was adopted to carry out the study. Based on the year of construction seven age categories of houses were classified and nine households (three from each village)...

A survey was conducted on households engaged in bamboo-based cottage industry in the Chittagong District of Bangladesh to evaluate socio-economic status of the households, sources of raw material, economics, gender role, marketing of the products and problems of the industry. Most of the members were illiterate and had very small land holdings. The...

An exploratory survey was conducted to assess economic profitability of cane based furniture enterprises in Chittagong City Corporation area of Bangladesh. A multistage random sampling was adopted to carry out the study. Based on the total investment the enterprises were divided into large, medium and small.. Most of the entrepreneurs (55%) are in...

An exploratory survey was carried out to assess the role of non-wood forest products (NWFP) based cottage industry in the livelihood of poor encroachers in the Karerhat Range of Chittagong (North) Forest Division, Bangladesh. A multistage random sampling technique was adopted to identify sample households. The households were divided into three cat...

Albizia saman (Jacq.) F. Muell. commonly known as rain tree seeds were treated with five pre-sowing treatments to study the effect of pre-sowing treatments on germination and initial seedling development in the nursery. The experiment was established in the nursery of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong, C...

An exploratory survey was carried out to assess employment generation and economics of cane-based furniture enterprises of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Multi-stage random sampling was adopted to carry out the study. Based on the total investment the enterprises were divided into large, medium and small. For the study, five enterprises from each category...

The study describes the structural composition of a degraded forest of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Stratified random quadrat was used in this study. Tectona grandis was found as dominant with 28.87% of the total individuals, Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) range less than 5 cm represent highest percentage (66.14%) of all the individuals however the lar...

This paper describes the visitors of urban green space based recreation of Chittagong Metropolitan Area. The study was conducted in the Chittagong Children Park and Foy's Lake with Zoological Garden. In both the study areas the maximum numbers of visitors were found in the age of below 30 years (60%). Around 60% male and 40% female constitute the w...