Evaluating Social Equity in Protected Areas Co-management: Evidence from the Sundarbans Mangrove Forests, Bangladesh

Protected areas (PA) co-management can offer equitable benefits from global to local level. Therefore, social equity has come out as a vital goal in PA co-management for ethical and instrumental reasons. In the Bangladesh context, however, social equity issues have been less studied in PA co-management. This study was conducted in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh, and we evaluated social equity as multidimensional concepts of recognitional, procedural and distributional equity. We employed mixed approaches, including 122 structured interviews using a 5-point Likert scale, 15 key informants interview and 4 focus group discussions to collect data on equity perception. Mean and frequency (percent) were calculated and generalized linear models were performed to analyze the predictor's influence on equity perception. The results showed that recognitional equity was perceived high, while procedural and distributional equity perceived moderate and low. Findings would be useful for policy makers in framing policies towards equitable PA co-management.