The Stalling of Co-Management Revenue Sharing in Bangladesh 

As detailed by multiple interviewees, including a government official and a former agency staff member, USAID pioneered a collaborative "co-management" model in Bangladesh for over two decades, culminating in a groundbreaking framework that would legally require ecotourism revenues to be reinvested directly back into local communities. Because actualizing this policy was bureaucratically complex, USAID acted as an essential facilitator, helping local actors overcome the Forest Department's financial hesitation and collaboratively drafting the highly detailed implementation guidelines required by national auditors.

This decades-long effort had reached the finish line, with the final Standard Operating Procedures sitting on the government secretary’s desk awaiting a signature when U.S. funding was withdrawn. Without USAID's continuous support to navigate the remaining bureaucratic hurdles and provide the external political nudge required for final approval, the future of the effort was uncertain, leaving this vital community empowerment policy stalled.