Community Engagement

Community engagement is at the heart of Arannayk Foundation’s approach to conservation. By fostering collaboration and local ownership, Arannayk Foundation ensures that environmental initiatives are both effective and culturally relevant.

Since 2003, Arannayk has advocated participatory conservation by empowering communities to actively manage and protect natural resources. One of its landmark contributions has been the promotion of co-management models in Protected Areas (PAs) and Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs). The Foundation has helped establish over 500 Co-Management Organizations (CMOs) and Co-Management Committees (CMCs), enabling local stakeholders to take part in decision-making and stewardship of forest landscapes.

Community-led patrol groups and Elephant Response Teams (ERT) have strengthened forest governance, especially in regions facing human-wildlife conflict. Arannayk Foundation has mobilized communities in areas such as the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, Sunamganj, and the world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarbans, by providing technical training and promoting sustainable land-use practices.

In the CHT alone, 14 degraded Village Common Forests (VCF) have been restored with active community participation, leading to improved forest cover and increased stream flow during dry seasons. 

Arannayk Foundation also invests in youth leadership through initiatives like the popular theater movement as an SBCC tool, where local youths lead the behavioral changes towards conservation through their plays. 

Arannayk Foundation’s grassroots-driven engagement approach helps shape a more inclusive, resilient, and community driven environmental management.