Reviewing progress through an annual workshop
Compass has reviewed its progress of different activities from October 2020 to September 2021 through an ‘Annual Progress Review and Planning Workshop’ held in Gazipur during September 28-29, 2021. In total, 23 participants (6 women) from Compass team and its three partner NGOs, i.e., Arannayk Foundation, Tahzingdong, and Green Savers Association attended the workshop. Keith Metzner, Environment Team Leader, Environment, Energy, and Enterprise (E3) Team of USAID Bangladesh, and Justin Green, Asia Pacific Program Manager from USFS-IP presented their inaugural speech virtually in the opening session of the event. Through presentations, the group works and Questions-Answers, in the event participants presented and discussed progress under various program units, challenges, lessons learned, success stories, effectiveness of training programs, exploring best and effective awareness strategies for raising awareness at the community level along with other relevant issues.
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A partnership agreement was signed
USAID’s Compass Program, implemented by USDA Forest Service, recently signed a partnership agreement with the Bureau of Research, Testing and Consultation (BRTC), Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) for its authorized representative Institute of Water & Flood Management (IWFM).
The purpose of this partnership agreement is to perform research to compare the impacts of healthy versus degraded/denuded forest coverages on the hydrological (e.g., surface water...
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Urban i-Tree activities in bangladesh
USAID’s Compass program, implemented by USDA Forest Service in collaboration with Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), is currently conducting the first-ever tree census at the National Botanical Garden (NBG) with the i-Tree tool. The NBG is often referred to as the lungs of Dhaka and visited by visitors from the country and beyond. This activity will provide information on the tree resources, the garden’s benefits to human well-being, and its role in climate change mitigation. Rec...
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International Day of Forests-2023 SUST Rally
Do you know forests provide 40% of the world's total oxygen? Celebrating the International Day of Forests (IDF) is essential to emphasize its contribution to the earth. USAID's Compass project, implemented by USDA Forest Service and its forestry universities partners, grandly celebrated the IDF 2023. Forestry and environment sciences universities of Khulna, Chittagong, and Sylhet organized rallies, poster competitions, and seminars with their students and faculties, marking the d...
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Political Economy of Urban Green Spaces of Dhaka City
Urban forests are essential as they have substantial environmental and health benefits. USAID’s Compass project, implemented by USDA Forest Service, partnered with the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to study urban forestry management in depth. BUET organized a dissemination workshop today to share the findings of this study titled “Political Economy of Urban Green Spaces of Dhaka City.” Hon’ble Local Ministry of Local Government, Rural Devel...
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YCC 3rd cohort graduation ceremony held in Cox's Bazar
The graduation ceremony of the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) 3rd cohort was held on February 5, 2023, at La Bella Resort, Cox’s Bazar. Total 36 youth graduates of USAID’s Compass Program’s YCC training received their graduation certificate recently through this festive ceremony. These youths come from the underserved communities of Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban districts.
Ms. Zakia Afroz, hon’ble Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Cha...
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Compass organized an FLR study visit for VCF members at Khagrachari
Compass Chittagong Hill Tracts Forest Landscape Restoration (CHT-FLR) project arranged a study visit for 20 participants from four Village Common Forest (VCF) communities in Khagrachari, which was held during January 16-19, 2022.
The participants visited projects of the Arannayk Foundation namely, the VCF management of Komolchari and the forest landscape restoration project of Dighinala, Khagrachari. In addition, they visited the horticultural activities of the Hill Agricultural Research S...
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Compass CHT-FLR program celebrated International Women's Day 2022
On the occasion of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022 on 8th March, the Compass Chittagong Hill Tracts Forest Landscape Restoration (CHT-FLR) project organized an observation event at Aungjai Para, Rowangchhari, Bandarban.
The event focused on three key messages for CHT-FLR: leadership and household gender equality, water scarcity and ensuring water supply, and equal wages. Following the theme of IWD 2022 ‘Break the Bias’, a stage drama in the local Marma...
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Compass CHT-FLR project team celebrated WED 2022 at Rowangchhari, Bandarban
To celebrate World Environment Day (WED) 2022 on June 5, the Compass Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) team organized an observation event at Tulachari Para Government Primary School, Rowangchari, Bandarban.
The event included a painting competition for the school students, a cultural program, and a discussion session on the objectives of WED 2022. This concluded with a prize distribution ceremony among the winners of the painting competition. ...
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Compass FLR conducted a validation workshop at Bandarban
Compass Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) team conducted a validation workshop at the Bandarban Hill District Council (BHDC) on January 6, 2022.
The primary objective of the workshop was to share the results of the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) and its FLR plan for implementation in the Rowangchhari union. As the maximum areas of the Upazilas of Bandarban are degraded, communities facing a water crisis, and a fall in production in Jhum. A recommendation...
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Compass CHT-FLR program celebrated the International Day of Forests 2022
Compass Chittagong Hill Tracts Forest Landscape Restoration (CHT-FLR) project organized a street drama at Rowangchhari Bazar, Bandarban on March 21, 2022, to celebrate the International Day of Forests.
To raise awareness regarding forest conservation among the local community the drama was performed in the local Marma language. The audience realized the reasons behind the lack of water in the streams, forest degradation, and the impact of it on their lives through this drama. The...
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Compass completed the web-based Bangladesh Forest ESV database
Compass successfully completed the Ecosystem Service Valuation (ESV) database development in April 2022, which has been primarily used to detect gaps in areas of Bangladesh forest ecosystem service valuation and decide on setting up the next course of action, i.e., selection of piloting areas and ecosystem services to emphasize.
With support from SiS Inflexionpoint BD- a software development company, Compass has developed and hosted this ESV database on the cloud system. The database consi...
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Compass organized training on the Application of R in Forestry
Compass conducted the Application of R in Forest Inventory training using a hybrid modality: in-person and virtual. The 9-day training started in May, 2022 for three days, followed by a 1-day virtual session, and then in June 2022 for four days followed by a 1-day virtual session.
This training was designed to help the Resource Information Management System (RIMS) unit officials to carry out data management and analysis from the inventory data. This training aimed to apply R language from ...
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Keynote Paper Presentation on Forests & Sustainable Production and Consumption
On the occasion of International Day of Forests 2022, Compass supported Bandarban Forest Division to present a keynote paper on “Forests & Sustainable Production and Consumption”.
The paper is based on information collected from National Forest Inventory and other national data. Mr. Hoq Mahbub Morshed, Divisional Forest Officer, Bandarban Forest Division presented the keynote held at the Conference room of the District Commissioner’s (DC) Office in Bandarban...
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Compass Organized SAR Training with ICIMOD
Compass arranged a five-day long basic Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) training during March 27-31, 2022. Technical resource persons from International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal participated in and facilitated the training sessions.
A total of eleven (11) participants participated in the training and enhanced their knowledge and capacity on SAR for biomass mapping. Among them, ten (10) were government officials from the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD).
...
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Compass outreach activity at IFESCU reunion
At the Institute of Frestry and Environmental Sciences of Chittagong University (IFESCU) reunion, Compass participated to showcase their activities. During the event, Compass exhibited research, education, technology, and global exchange programs to forestry alumni who participated from home and abroad. The reunion was held at Chittagong University on January 6-7, 2022.
Deputy Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Ms Habibun Nahar, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) ...
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Parents’ Meeting of YCC 2nd cohort
Parents’ Meeting of the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) 2nd cohort was held on January 25, 2022 at La Belle, Inani, Cox’s Bazar following the COVID-19 protocol.
In the meeting, the YCC management team introduced the trainees and parents to USAID, US Forest Service, Compass, and YCC. They described the training methods, the courses, rules and regulations, parents’ consent, safety protocols, and expected outcome of the training to the participants, and responded to the q...
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Compass delegates at the 2nd Asia Park Congress
Compass participated in Malaysia's 2nd Asia Park Congress (APC) on May 24-29, 2022. The conference was jointly organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Sabah Parks, Malaysia.
The 2nd Asia Parks Congress is a gathering of practitioners from Asia’s protected areas and other interested stakeholders. The theme for this year’s conference was " Parks for Nature and People" to enhance the relationship between nature and society....
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YCC Study Tour in Thanchi, Bandarban
Compass facilitated a study tour for the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) team from October 15-19, 2022 at the Sangu river basin of the Remakri union of Thanchi in Bandarban, as part of their practical training on environmental stewardship and community engagement.
During this study tour, the trainees learned about the environment, and natural resources conservation and participated in community service activities in the local community. Additionally, they conducted classes on environm...
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YCC Celebrates World Environment Day 2022
USAID’s Compass program’s Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) celebrated World Environment Day 2022 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on June 5. The YCC 1st and 2nd cohorts took part in different activities to increase public awareness regarding environmental issues in their communities.
The young trainees from YCC 2nd cohort organized beach cleaning, community rally, and social media campaign and distributed leaflets in their community containing environmental awareness informatio...
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Compass celebrated WED 2022 in collaboration with NSU
With a colorful Environment Carnival, USAID’s Compass program in collaboration with North South University organized a two-day long celebration of World Environment Day, 2022. The honorable Vice Chancellor of the university Professor Atiqul Islam inaugurated the carnival on June 05, 2022.
The key objective of the day celebration was to create awareness among the students and faculties on the significance of the day. The WED 2022 carnival at NSU included information booths, quizzes,...
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USAID-Compass conducted Dhaka’s first-ever urban tree inventory using i-Tree
Compass has conducted the first-ever urban tree inventory in Dhaka to quantify and estimate tree benefits using i-Tree modeling tool. Total 45 participants have attended in the training and field activities of the program from July 16-30, 2022.
The i-Tree is a suite of free modeling toolsets for estimating and quantifying the benefits trees provide to communities. This tool calculates the key tree services including species specific pollution removal, carbon sequestration, carbon storage...
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Youth Conservation Corps Study Tour in Moulvibazar and Sylhet
Compass program has organized the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) Study Tour at Moulvibazar and Sylhet Districts from October 2-6, 2021. A total of 40 youth of 1st cohort YCC training have participated in the study trip aiming to get a comprehensive outdoor experiential education as part of their natural resource management and conservation training. The trip has facilitated learnings to build environmental stewardship among youth by exposing different natural resource landscapes, for...
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Reviewing progress through an annual workshop
Compass has reviewed its progress of different activities from October 2020 to September 2021 through an ‘Annual Progress Review and Planning Workshop’ held in Gazipur during September 28-29, 2021. In total, 23 participants (6 women) from Compass team and its three partner NGOs, i.e., Arannayk Foundation, Tahzingdong, and Green Savers Association attended the workshop. Keith Metzner, Environment Team Leader, Environment, Energy, and Enterprise (E3) Team of USAID Banglades...
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Training on i-Tree data collection
Compass program implements i-Tree Eco (i-Tree) activity, by using free modeling software for tree measurements and other data to estimate ecosystem services and structural characteristics of the urban forest in Dhaka city. The activity is being implemented in partnership with City Corporation, universities, different government agencies, and Civil Society Organizations (e.g., Green Savers) to facilitate strategic management along with policy-making apart from raising awareness among com...
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Community Cleaning Champaign
Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) training participants actively participated in a community cleaning campaign in the tourist area of Inani Beach, Cox’s Bazar in September 2021 for improving the environment. As a part of the campaign, they cleaned surrounding the training center and neighborhood marketplaces. They mostly cleaned the plastic waste such as plastic bottles and plastic bags apart from separating the waste according to the waste sorting system like plastic, food wrappers,...
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News Youth Conservation Corps Training
Compass has organized its Youth Conservation Corps Training from August 19, 2021, for 40 participants (women 17, men 23) from Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar in its 1st cohort. Initially, considering restrictions of COVID 19 pandemic the training has started virtually, and later, from September 1, 2021, the training has been started in person following COVID 19 health protocols in the training venue of Cox’s Bazar. The participants will attend a five-month residential training on...
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Training on Homestead Agroforestry farming and Nursery
In September 2021, Compass organized two trainings on ‘Homestead Agroforestry farming and Nursery’ for developing capacity on alternative livelihoods among 70 forest-dependent community people of Roangchari, Bandarban. After completion of the agroforestry farming training at Bijoy Para and Tulachari of the upazila, a total of 117 household participants were given seedlings and other input support to plant in their homesteads. Participants attended a 5-day training on seed pr...
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Celebrating International Youth Day
On August 12, 2021, Compass observed the International Youth Day 2021 with 40 youth trainees following this year’s theme “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”. To celebrate the day, Compass organized a tree plantation campaign from August 1-9, 2021, and an online discussion session (i.e., webinar) on August 12, 2021, to promote the role of youth as environmental stewards and amplifying their collective efforts.
As part of...
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Google Earth Engine Training of Compass Program
Nowadays technically skilled human resources is crucial to forest management, restoration, and close monitoring of the forest in Bangladesh. Considering it, Compass Program has completed eight weeks of online training on Google Earth Engine for the early career professionals and students jointly with the Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University (FWT-KU), and FWT Alumni Association. Mr. Md. Amir Hosain Chowdhury, Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangladesh Forest Departmen...
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Introductory meeting on i-Tree
An introductory meeting was conducted virtually on July 14, 2021 on the i-Tree methods and sampling strategy in presence of 20 participants including academia, civil society, and government stakeholders. The participants were from RIMS Unit of Bangladesh Forest Department, Environment Circle of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Florida International University, and others.
...
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Enhance Capacity of CHT Communities in Forest Landscape Restoration
Compass Program jointly with Arannayk Foundation, and Tahzingdong organized a discussion meeting on June 3, 2021, in Bandarban on its plans to enhance the capacity of the community people on forest landscape restoration. As a Chief Guest, Hill District Chairman of Bandarban Mr. Kyaw Shwe Hla, appreciated the restoration and income-generating initiatives for local communities to reduce their dependency on the forests. In the event, local leaders and representatives of ethnic communities ...
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Poster Competition among students on Forest Restoration
Students can play vital roles in forest restoration during their academic works and future practices. For raising awareness and strengthening the capacity of the students, USAID’s Compass Program, jointly with Forestry & Wood Technology Discipline (FWT), Khulna University and its Alumni Association organized a poster competition on April 10, 2021. This competition focused on the theme of International Day of Forests 2021, ‘Forest restoration: a pathway to recovery and we...
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Workshop to modify Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) Implementation Plan
Youth, who are drop out of school without completing their graduation due to poverty or other reasons, are in the process of stewards for natural resource management. Compass program works with these disadvantaged youth of Cox’s Bazar and Bandardan districts to develop their leadership and vocational capacity along with linking them with suitable employment opportunities. To modify and roll out this plan, on February 2, 2021, Compass Program organized a workshop in Cox’s Baz...
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Consultation meeting with stakeholders on forest restoration in Bandarban
Proper management of forests is crucial for a better environment and livelihoods of people. To restore forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, on December 9, 2020, Compass program organized a half-day consultation meeting with 34 stakeholders (women 4) at the Hill District Council (HDC) Auditorium. Representatives from the HDC, chairman of Rowangchari Upazilla, district administration, Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), Chairman of Headman (mouza chief) & Karbaries Association...
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Training on GPS and mapping for the forest department official
Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) uses traditional hand-drawn sketch maps for various surveys and interventions. For better forest management through the digitalization of these sketches, during 15-17 November 2020 Compass Program organized the first batch residential training on basic Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Mapping at Sheikh Kamal Wildlife Centre, Gazipur. During the three days training, BFD officials from Dhaka Management Planning Division, Dhaka Wildlife & Nature C...
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Virtual webniar on Forest Ecosystem Valuation
Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) with support of the Compass program arranged a virtual webinar on September 20, 2020 on Forest Ecosystem Valuation in presence of Ziaul Hasan ndc, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoE,F&CC) as Chief Guest. Md. Amir Hosain Chowdhury, Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangladesh Forest Department presided over the webinar while John Smith-Sreen, Director, Economic Growth Office of USAID and A. Shamim Al Razi, Additional Secr...
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