1.
Environment and
Biodiversity
Research Ideas
Dhaka
May 31, 2015

2.
Bangladesh Priorities
WORKING WITH 30-50 economists including Nobel Laureates, 100+
sector experts engaging major development organizations, NGOs,
government, businesses, youths, rural and urban Bangladeshis to
identify, analyze and prioritize interventions that will deliver greater
benefit per taka spent, helping move Bangladesh towards Vision 2021
and a more prosperous long term future.

3.
In cooperation with the Research
and Evaluation Division of BRAC,
Copenhagen Consensus Center
organized roundtable discussions
with an aim to figure out smarter
solutions to the most problematic
issues facing Bangladesh.
These roundtables are
one of several sources
for research ideas.
Sourcing ideas and solutions
Smarter solutions for Bangladesh
Complete set of papers
on 30-50 solutions
PRIORITIZATION
Government NGOs
Academia Pvt sector
Think tanks
Development
organizations
Eminent Panel
Assessment
Government and
donor seminars
Rural polls
Newspaper polls
among readers
Youth forums
across the country
Private sector
meetings
Social, economic and
environmental benefit-cost
research by top Bangladeshi,
and international economists
Extensive peer review by sector
experts and academics
100+ ideas on
policies & investments
20162015 Continuous
engagement with
the public via
electronic, print
and social media
Working with
civil society,
government and
sector experts
Widely
advocating
results of
prioritization
exercises
OUTREACH

4.
Research Ideas

5.
Environment and Biodiversity;
(1 of 8)
• Industrial symbiosis approach for a robust recycling
strategy.
• Replace traditional cook stoves with improved cook
stoves.
• Use of surface water through re-excavation of canals
and khals.
• Use of ground water in areas where surface water is not
suitable for drinking.
• Relocate tanneries away from rivers.
• Make the use of ETPs mandatory in the leather sector.

6.
Environment and Biodiversity;
(2 of 8)
• Create pipes to channel rainwater (during monsoon) to
storage tanks.
• Harvesting rainwater for domestic use (e.g. washing
cars, clothes and flushing toilets).
• Clean Buriganga River.
• Arresting the loss of soil fertility from tobacco
cultivation in Chittagong and Hill Tract areas.
• Encouraging farmers to switch to alternative, non-
tobacco cash crops.
• Adopt a migration policy for climate migrants dwelling
in slums in urban areas.
• Engagement of local residents and communities in
protecting and managing natural resources.

7.
Environment and Biodiversity;
(3 of 8)
• Set up deep tube wells (below 135 feet) in arsenic prone
areas.
• Initiate behavior change communication (BCC)
activities for gas utilization in households.
• Waste management by electricity generated from waste.
• Increase wetlands as a source for heat sink.
• Encourage rooftop gardens.
• Assess the role and significance of ETPs.
• Implementation of development projects to consider
probable species migration.

8.
Environment and Biodiversity;
(4 of 8)
• Encourage separation of plastic waste products from
bio-degradable ones through use of multi-colored
waste baskets.
• Recharge ground water.
• Natural resource management through community led
initiatives.
• Planting 50,000 ha land of hill forest and 5,000 ha. of
plain land forest.
• Creation of 500 meter wide permanent Coastal Green
Belt.
• 5,000 ha of reed lands to be planted in Sylhet.
• 20,000 km of strip plantations for social forestry
purposes.

9.
Environment and Biodiversity;
(5 of 8)
• Plant fast growing tree species to meet demand for
social forestry fuel.
• Develop 5,000 ha of bamboo, cane and murta
plantation.
• Increase protected area (PA) coverage to 15 percent of
the total forest land.
• Measure carbon stock in all potential PAs and programs
for forest conservation.
• Protect coral reefs.
• Restore 20,000 acres of the denuded Chokoria-
Sunderban Reserve Forest with time bound action and
monitoring plan.

10.
Environment and Biodiversity;
(6 of 8)
• Continue moratorium on felling in natural forest.
• Complete the forest land survey and update land record.
• Importing trees and fish resources bearing in mind
biodiversity consequences.
• Initiate watershed management and wetland
conservation in the haor regions and Hill Tract areas.
• Provide credit facilities to encourage private sector to
undertake high value crop (e.g. rubber and teak)
plantation on a commercial basis.
• Mandatory installation of rooftop solar panels (to
harness solar energy in summer).

11.
Environment and Biodiversity;
(7 of 8)
• Update National Biodiversity Strategies and Action
Plans (NBSAP) to uphold commitments on biodiversity
conservation.
• Integrate biodiversity into National Adaptation Plan
(NAP) and nationally appropriate mitigation action
(NAMA).
• Strengthening the capacity of Bangladesh National
Herbarium (BNH), and enforcement & surveillance
capacity of Forest Department (FD).
• Identification of all areas under encroachments and
developing a time bound action plan for eviction.
• Protection and restoration of endangered and
threatened species.

12.
Environment and Biodiversity;
(8 of 8)
• Establish a Biodiversity cell and Chemical Management
cell at the Department of Environment.
• Reducing the impact of persistent organic pollutants
(POPs).
• Protect non-Sundarban mangroves, especially in
Teknaf.
• Streamline mechanisms for certifying and approving
reforestation and forest protection under carbon credit
and REDD mechanisms.
• Communities should own natural resources, not
government departments.

13.
Full List of Attendees and
Interviewees
Moyen Uddin Ahmed, Sr. Manager, BRAC DECC.
Shrabana Datta, Sr. Researcher, Mesovision
Consultancy Ltd.
Dr. Md. Abdur Rashid, Chief Scientific Officer & Head,
BRRI.
Md. Quamrul Islam, Director, VERC.
Md. Khalilur Rahman, Chief Engineer (MI), BADC.
Dr. Nepal C. Dey, Sr. Research Fellow, BRAC RED.
Md. Emdad Hossain, Project Leader, World Fish.
Dr. Md. Khalequzzaman, Assistant Professor, BSMMU.
Dr. M. Sujauddin, Assistant Professor, BUFT/NSU.
A.S. Moniruzzaman Khan, Director, C3ER, BRAC
University.
Dr. Moktadir Kabir, Sr. Program Manager, BRAC.
Tahera Akter, Research Fellow, BRAC RED.