Sundarbans Researchers Network

Are you a researcher, university, volunteer, or course director interested in research and volunteer opportunities with our project partners in Bangladesh? Are you hoping to use your time or research to make meaningful impacts on the lives of local communities and the natural areas they steward? Our mission is to connect local and international researchers with impactful projects and research needs to ensure that research is conducted collaboratively, with local communities in mind. Fill out the form at the bottom of this page to learn more about getting involved and future opportunities in the field.

Working with Khulna University, the Bangladesh Ecotourism and Conservation Alliance aims to promote a Sundarbans Researchers Network to strengthen international collaboration and research within the SRF. The aims of the researchers’ network are the following:

• To enhance international partnership and research opportunities for Khulna University Staff;
• To create a database, hosted on the DMMO website, of all ongoing research efforts currently ongoing in the Sundarbans so that potential researchers can find collaborators and those currently researching in the SRF can be informed of all ongoing projects;
• To facilitate the contribution of scientific research to policy and conservation outcomes, i.e. hosting a forum on the DMMO website that the Bangladesh Forest Department can access to see rapid dissemination of research and data to inform management practices; and
• To enhance community access to knowledge and research.

Alliance founding member Solimar International is also a founding partner of the Scientific, Academic, Volunteer, and Educational (SAVE) Travel Alliance, which is a global network of peers in the travel industry who specialize in SAVE Travel. BECA will help build the capacity of the Sundarbans communities to identify, develop and market SAVE tourism opportunities, and connect them with proponents for SAVE in the travel trade, facilitating the connection between destinations and tourists and creating beneficial opportunities for destinations, the trade, and travelers.

Scientific, Academic, Volunteer, and Educational (SAVE) Travel represents a growing segment of the global tourism industry that differs in several key respects from more conventional forms of tourism. SAVE Travel is particularly distinct from traditional tourism in terms of the contributions it can make to people and places as well as the impacts that it has on host destinations. It represents a range of tourists who travel to a destination to engage in research, learning, or volunteer tourism. By definition, those attracted to SAVE tourism tend to be interested in forms of activity that can be readily harnessed to natural and cultural heritage preservation efforts and that contribute in myriad ways to the improvement of local lives. Moreover, since SAVE activities usually involve insertion within local communities and/or activities in areas removed from traditional tourism enclaves, the economic benefits and opportunities generated by this form of tourism tend to be more broadly distributed

The Greater Sundarbans SAVE Travel action will engage two leading Sundarbans NGOs – WildTeam and the Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) – in developing SAVE Travel programs that feature the unique ecosystems and communities of the Sundarbans as well as the field activities and organizational missions of these two NGOs. The economic, social, and environmental benefits of the SAVE Travel programs in the Sundarbans include:

• Increased SAVE Travel-generated revenue from local community service providers such as lodging, food, guides, and transportation
• Increased SAVE Travel-generated revenue the host organizations
• Networking with national and international academic institutions and researchers who can contribute data and findings to the knowledge base of the organizations

Both WildTeam and BEDS have the facilities and capabilities to support SAVE Travel programs, including dormitory and cottage-style lodging facilities, conference rooms, kitchen, and dining facilities, reference materials and libraries, and qualified technical staff who can design and lead SAVE Travel experiences.

The following table outlines some of the characteristics of the SAVE Travel market segments, the role that the host NGO often plays, and examples of SAVE Travel experiences found in the Sundarbans.

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