Improved knowledge and collaboration develops national capacities for sustainable forest monitoring and assessment

For sustainable tree and forest resources management, a robust national forest monitoring and assessment (NFM) is required. This process is comprised of a set of interrelated activities of data collection, management, analysis, dissemination of information to stakeholders etc. Design of NFM depends on various factors such as country-specific requirements, available funds, and environmental conditions. The process usually includes a national forest inventory (NFI) for data collection.

Sharing experience and knowledge with neighboring countries is a good practice to improve regional collaboration and strengthen national capacities of forest management and monitoring of countries. To serve these objectives and share Bangladesh Forest Inventory (BFI) experiences with implementing and ensuring NFI sustainability, the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) organized a four day long (7-10 May 2018) regional workshop at Grand Sultan Tea Resort, Sylhet. Seventy national and international experts from 13 countries actively participated into the workshop which was made possible with the financial support of USAID and technical support of FAO and Silvacarbon.

In the workshop, the sustainability of NFI, funding, use of improved methods and technologies and improve collaboration were highlighted. The latest advances in forest monitoring and assessment were presented and discussed. BFI methodology and use of latest equipment were successfully presented.

Mr. Safiul Alam Chowdhury, Chief Conservator of Forest, Bangladesh Forest Department said, “The knowledge, techniques, methods discussed and shared in this workshop would be of great value for the participating countries in the field of forest monitoring and assessment”. Kristofer Johnson, an international consultant of FAO, described the workshop as “a successful interaction for all who participated. There were strong connections made that will help NFI practitioners to overcome challenges in their own countries”.

The first regional workshop was appreciated by all the participants from the different countries who enjoyed sharing their experiences in the field of forest resource monitoring and assessment. All agreed that the workshop will strengthen the regional collaboration in south-Asia.