Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan has said that Bangladesh is moving towards technology-driven forest monitoring to prevent illegal logging and resource trafficking.

Satellite imagery, drone technology, and advanced data systems will soon be deployed to strengthen surveillance of the country’s forests, she said.

The adviser made the remarks while presiding over a meeting on online monitoring of the Rema-Kalenga reserved forest, held at the Secretariat on Monday.

She informed that satellite images from 2015, 2020, and 2025 of the Rema-Kalenga, Satchhari, and Lathitila reserved forests will be analyzed with the assistance of the Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPARRSO) to identify changes over time.

In addition, high-resolution images will be collected from the Ministry of Land, and support from Survey of Bangladesh will be sought to use high-capacity drones.

She further added that the Forest Department will soon begin surveying and numbering “mother trees” in the Rema-Kalenga reserve forest. Trained staff under the SUFAL project will be deployed for this activity.

The adviser said mother tree identification will be expanded to all forest areas across the country, with support from divisional forest officers.

Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser in charge of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said that challenges faced by the Forest Department in introducing technology-based monitoring will be identified and addressed, with assistance from relevant government agencies.

He added that experts will be engaged to carry forward this initiative.

Farhina Ahmed, secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Shamima Begum, joint secretary (Forest); Md. Amir Hossain Chowdhury, chief conservator of forests; Md. Rakibul Hasan Mukul, deputy chief conservator of forests; and senior officials from the Ministry, the Forest Department, and the ICT Division, were also present.