With the aim to improve the knowledge about the status of trees and forest resources in Bangladesh, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Bangladesh Forestry Department supported capacity development activities for strengthening data analysis and modelling. A workshop was organized between 02-06 April 2016 on “Technical support for the data analysis of the Bangladesh Forest Inventory” under the USAID-funded project titled “Strengthening National Forest Inventory and Satellite Land Monitoring System in support of REDD+ in Bangladesh”. 

Field data collected under the Bangladesh forest Inventory was used during the workshop for (1) quality control, (2) data correction, (3) data analysis, (4) modelling and (5) reporting. Using the latest version of open source software and technical packages, the workshop raised the capacities of the participants (Forest Department, Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science, Chittagong University; Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Department of Forestry and Environmental Science,  Shahjalal University of Science and Technology ) for improved data analysis and modelling in forestry.

Apart from technical matters, this workshop also contributed to strengthening the collaboration between national experts and universities. A follow up meeting to discuss the preliminary results in a larger group is planned for the 3rd week of April 2017.