New Programme of BISAP on Natural Resource Management (NRM) Bangladesh Conservation Approaches and Technologies (BANCAT) Program: Mr Sudibys Kanti Khisa is the program Coordinator of BANCAT

BANCAT is a network and implementation program based at Bangladesh Integrated Social Advancement Programme (BISAP) Chittagong. BANCAT has a working group whose members have wide experiences of evaluating and documents Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) and other Natural Resources Management (NRM) practices in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in particular and Bangladesh in general. BANCAT is a National focal point and Bangladesh Chapter of WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies) which is a network of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) specialists from all over the world with its secretariat at the Center for Development and Environment (CDE) University of Bern, Switzerland (www.wpcat.net). WOCAT is a consortium of National and International Institutions and operates in a decentralized manner that is carried out through initiatives at regional and national levels with backstopping from experienced members of the consortium with its vision being the local knowledge on Sustainable Land Management (SLM) is shared and used globally to improve livelihoods and the environment. WOCAT mission is to provide tools that allow SWC specialists, planners and decision makers to share their valuable knowledge in soil and water conservation that assist them in their search for appropriate SWC technologies and approaches and that support them in making decisions in the field (farmers, extensions) and at the planning level (WOCAT Questionnaires Revised February 2003) BANCAT’s vision is to achieve hill ecosystem with well-managed natural resources linked to improved and secured livelihood of the people of CHT and its mission are to explore and document SWC approaches and technologies from CHT in particular and Bangladesh in general, facilitate documentation by the SWC specialists and bridge the information gap between the policy- makers and the SWC practitioners. The other missions of BANCAT are to enhance the activities of SWC practices, facilitate research, education and capacity building for SWC documentation and dissemination of CATs with quality assurances, monitor assurances, monitor and evaluate the SEC documentation processes and ensure funding for BANCAT activities and provide necessary logistic support.

BANCAT has a Working Group (WG) whose aims are to:

• Work for achieving the objectives of BANCAT
• Scrutnize and prioritize and proposals and action plan of CATs documentation from contributing members of BANCAT.
• Ensure quality assurance of the documentation CATs through monitoring and evaluation
• Formulate annual work-plan and budget for BANCAT depending on the availability
• Facilitate research, education and dissemination of CATs
• Provide consultancy and other support services to national, regional and international initiatives of NRM in CHT.

Liaise with HIMCAT ( Himalayan Conservation Approaches and Technologies ) of PARDYA, ICIMOD, ISRIC- the World Information, WOCAT, WASWC, (World Association of Soil and Water Conservation) Beijing P.R. China, CHTDF( Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility) of UNDP, ADB assisted CHT Rural Development Project, Rangamati, and similar other relevant local, national regional and international organizations. BANCAT facilitates the SWC specialists in sharing their valuable knowledge in soil and water management; assist them in their search for appropriate SWC technologies and approaches that will support them in making decisions in the field and at the planning level. It facilitates more efficient use of existing know-how and consequently of development funds. Thus it helps to proper implementation of appropriate SWC practices avoiding duplication errors. BANCAT is also committed to contributed to the implementation of UN Conventions such as the convention to Combat Desertification. The Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biodiversity, and working closely with WOCAT, HIMCAT, WASWC to achieving the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG). In order to achieve the BANCAT objectives and implement its program, BISAP has been in the process of developing a consortium with the participation of six NGO’s TUANGYA, CIPD, for indigenous People’s Development, TOYMU, GRAUS, ALO, and ZABARANG in the three hill districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts.