The inception workshop of the project was organized jointly by IUCN Bangladesh, BFD and BNH on 14th October 2020 at the Hoimonti Auditorium, Bana Bhaban, Agargaon, Dhaka. The aim of the inception workshop was to inaugurate the project and conduct two technical sessions comprising Red List Assessors, IAS experts and other related stakeholders.
The inauguration was graced by many distinguished government and non-government officials, lead forestry experts and assessors of the country. The Chief Guest of the workshop was Mr. Md. Shahab Uddin, MP, honorable Minister, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC); Ms. Habibun Nahar, MP, honorable Deputy Minister to MoEFCC; Mr. Ziaul Hasan, ndc, Secretary to MoEFCC and Mr. A. Shamim Al Razi, Additional Secretary to MoEFCC of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh were present as the special guests of the workshop. The workshop was chaired by Mr. Md. Amir Hosain Chowdhury, Chief Conservator of Forests. Mr. Parimal Singha, Director of Bangladesh National Herbarium has given the welcome speech and Mr. Md. Rakibul Hasan Mukul, Project Director of Sustainable Forests and Livelihood (SUFAL) Project has delivered an overview of SUFAL project under which the project component will be implemented. Mr. Raquibul Amin, country representative of IUCN Bangladesh, delivered an overview on IUCN Red List of threatened species of plants and on the importance of managing Invasive Alien Species (IAS).
The technical session on Red List was attended by leading Red List assessors and future potential assessors in this assessment. Whereas, IAS session was participated by IAS experts and other participants in this field. Several recommendations also came up during the discussion for both of the components. In the Red List technical session, several discussions were highlighted. Based on the literatures and prioritization of species, lead assessors were recommended to revise the potential list of 1000 selected speices. They were suggested to replace 56 plant species in the list.