|
|
The Bangladesh Forest
Research Institute (BFRI) was set up as a Forest Products Research Laboratory (FRL) in 1955 by the
Government of the then Pakistan. In 1965, the
Laboratory was named as the East Pakistan Forest Research Laboratory (EPFRL) under the Ministry
of Agriculture to conduct research on the management of the Forest
Department. The major objective of the FRL was to conduct research on the utilization
of wood and wood products. Later, the need for forestry management research
was felt by the administrators and Planners of the country due to rapid
decline in stock density of trees in forest land. Consequently, in 1968, the Forest Management Research
Branch was created with the assistance of FAO/UNDP, and after the
independence of Bangladesh the FRL was
reorganized as BFRI. In 1985, the BFRI was separated from the Forest
Department, and its administrative control went under the Ministry of Agriculture
(MOA) and then in 1988 under the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF).
BFRI, headed by a Director (NPS Grade-II), has two research Branches,
namely, the
Forest Management Branch and the Forest
Products Branch each of which is headed by a Chief Research Officer. The Forest
Products Branch has 06 research Divisions and the Forest Management Branch
has 11 research Divisions. In addition, there are two other common service
Divisions (Administration and Service Engineering) directly under the Director.
Research on scientific and efficient utilization of forest produces are the
responsibilities of the Forest Products Branch. Major contributions of this Branch are
designing of a low–cost solar-kiln for seasoning timbers, devising
preservative treatment techniques for rural housing materials, development of
composite products from wood and bamboo, generation of technology for good
quality pulp from inferior quality jute & lesser-used wood,
classification of end-uses of the lesser-used and village wood species, etc.
Research in the Forest Management Branch is aimed at
increasing the productivity of forest land through improved management,
conservation of soil and water, protection of trees from pests and diseases,
tree improvement through biotechnology & genetic engineering, etc.
Mentionable achievements of the Forest Management Branch are: determination of
growth & yield models for preparing volume & biomass tables for
forest & village tree species, determination of economic rotations of
those species, selection of site-specific tree species, propagation of
bamboos from branch cuttings, development of nursery and tissue-culture
techniques for raising plantations, soil conservation & water-shed
management, etc. BFRI has pioneering contribution on artificial regeneration
of mangrove species and raising man-made mangrove plantations which at
present cover about 0.10 million hectare land along the coastal belt of Bangladesh.
The Forest Department (FD), Department of
Agriculture Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Forest Industries Development
Corporation (BFIDC), Bangladesh Chemical Industries Development Corporation
(BCIC), Bangladesh Tea Board, Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board
(CHTDB), NGOs and private entrepreneurs are the major clienteles of BFRI.
|
