Ecological rejuvenation of sal forest landscapes: a native species-based restoration strategy for a private resort in Tangail, Bangladesh

Abstract

The ongoing degradation of Bangladesh’s Sal (Shorea robusta) forests, largely caused by exotic monoculture plantations and unsustainable land use, has led to severe ecological decline, including biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and disrupted ecosystem functions. The present study adopts a site-specific ecological restoration process to rejuvenate native Sal Forest ecology within a private resort in the Madhupur Sal Forest tract and evaluates post-design outcomes to assess intervention effectiveness. The landscape was transformed through an adaptive, phased methodology informed by the Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) framework and the guidelines of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER). The study investigates how SER- and FLR-aligned strategies can recover degraded soils, native vegetation, and ecological processes, and how post-design analysis demonstrates measurable ecological improvements. Restoration interventions included removing invasive monocultures, reintroducing native plant communities, recreating Chala-Baid topography, and restoring ecological processes. The study observed ecological changes also include spontaneous native groundcover regeneration and the return of diverse fauna and pollinators. Post-design soil assessment, based on a comparison between the restored site and the adjacent unrestored reference area, shows that the designed site is trending toward healthy Sal Forest conditions. The restored plot recorded a pH of 6.6 compared to 6.4 in the unrestored area, both within the preferred 5.1–6.8 range. Organic carbon increased substantially on the restored site (0.90% vs. 0.16%), indicating improved soil biological activity, while soil moisture was lower (0.64% vs. 2.18%), reflecting enhanced soil structure, greater root uptake, and better drainage associated with early-stage restoration. This study demonstrates that systematic restoration processes, combined with post-design evaluation, can effectively rejuvenate degraded Sal Forest sites and provide a replicable model for biodiversity-driven land management in tropical regions.