Project title: Revision and finalising the draft National Conservation Strategy (NCS)
Duration: 2015 – 2016
Project background: The Government of Bangladesh is committed to conserve its natural resources through policy, law, strategies, international treaties and conventions, as written in its constitution. The Bangladesh National Conservation Strategy (NCS), when prepared and approved, is expected to be a key government document to be the guideline for this purpose.
After Bangladesh endorsed 1980's World Conservation Strategy, the government started working on developing the NCS document for Bangladesh. The objectives of the document were:
- Provide guidance for future resource use and for conservation of resources
- Suggest actions to be adopted by the government to ensure conservation of resources while keeping up the current pace of resource utilisation and economic development
Between 1980 and 1993, several task forces were set up by the government to draft the NCS Document of Bangladesh. An NCS document was presented to the Cabinet in 1993. After reviewing, the Cabinet asked for updating part of the content since by that time Bangladesh had already signed and also ratified some of the Multilateral Environment Agreements. Since then the draft had been revised and presented to the cabinet several times.
After due consideration of the last updated version in 2013, the Cabinet directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to resubmit the Bangladesh NCS after incorporating the current perspectives, achievements and priorities to ensure sustainable development and conservation of national resources. To facilitate the project, the MoEF formed an Expert Committee comprising of nine members.
The committee decided that it would require a project to get the desired revisions and extensions outlined by the Cabinet. Accordingly, the Expert Committee requested IUCN to develop a project proposal to complete the task of updating the NCS. A project proposal to be managed by the Bangladesh Forest Department and financed under the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund had finally been approved for implementation.
Objectives of the project: The objective of the project is to update the existing draft 18 sectoral reports and to develop seven new sectoral reports with the involvement of sectoral experts.
- Updated NCS for Bangladesh developed
Donor: Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF)
Partners: Bangladesh Forest Department