Abstract
Background: National forest inventory and forest monitoring systems are more important than ever considering
continued global degradation of trees and forests. These systems are especially important in a country like
Bangladesh, which is characterised by a large population density, climate change vulnerability and dependence on
natural resources. With the aim of supporting the Government’s actions towards sustainable forest management
through reliable information, the Bangladesh Forest Inventory (BFI) was designed and implemented through three
components: biophysical inventory, socio-economic survey and remote sensing-based land cover mapping. This
article documents the approach undertaken by the Forest Department under the Ministry of Environment, Forests
and Climate Change to establish the BFI as a multipurpose, efficient, accurate and replicable national forest
assessment. The design, operationalization and some key results of the process are presented.
Methods: The BFI takes advantage of the latest and most well-accepted technological and methodological approaches.
Importantly, it was designed through a collaborative process which drew from the experience and knowledge of multiple
national and international entities. Overall, 1781 field plots were visited, 6400 households were surveyed, and a national
land cover map for the year 2015 was produced. Innovative technological enhancements include a semi-automated
segmentation approach for developing the wall-to-wall land cover map, an object-based national land characterisation
system, consistent estimates between sample-based and mapped land cover areas, use of mobile apps for tree species
identification and data collection, and use of differential global positioning system for referencing plot centres.
Results: Seven criteria, and multiple associated indicators, were developed for monitoring progress towards sustainable
forest management goals, informing management decisions, and national and international reporting needs. A wide
range of biophysical and socioeconomic data were collected, and in some cases integrated, for estimating the indicators.
Conclusions: The BFI is a new information source tool for helping guide Bangladesh towards a sustainable future.
Reliable information on the status of tree and forest resources, as well as land use, empowers evidence-based decision
making across multiple stakeholders and at different levels for protecting natural resources. The integrated socioeconomic
data collected provides information about the interactions between people and their tree and forest resources,
and the valuation of ecosystem services. The BFI is designed to be a permanent assessment of these resources, and future
data collection will enable monitoring of trends against the current baseline. However, additional institutional support as
well as continuation of collaboration among national partners is crucial for sustaining the BFI process in future.