Staff Reporter
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources, held a meeting today at her office in the Bangladesh Secretariat with a delegation from Kumi Analytics, a Singapore-based technology company specializing in satellite and AI-driven environmental monitoring. The delegation was led by Clinton Libbey, Co-Founder and Managing Director of the company.

During the meeting, Clinton Libbey introduced Kumi Analytics’ work in integrating satellite imagery with artificial intelligence to generate actionable insights for sustainability. Their technology enables governments to track water pollution, monitor turbidity levels, identify sources of industrial discharge, and assess forest carbon stocks. He explained how these tools could support real-time decision-making in regions with limited infrastructure, such as Bangladesh.

Advisor Rizwana Hasan outlined three key priorities for her Ministry. Her first priority is establishing effective online monitoring of polluting industries, particularly those located near ecologically sensitive water bodies. Citing the industrial cluster along the Turag River comprising 26 factories, she called for a technical solution that can monitor pollution control systems in real time, without placing undue burden on all industries.

Secondly, the Advisor emphasized the need for enhanced forest surveillance technology to prevent illegal logging without putting forest officials at risk. She recommended installing CCTV cameras at forest entry and exit points, and expressed interest in satellite-based monitoring systems that could detect thinning of forest cover. She inquired whether cost-effective, real-time surveillance technologies are available and feasible for Bangladesh.

Her third focus was carbon assessment, where she candidly expressed skepticism about market-based conservation mechanisms like carbon credits. “People in this part of the world have protected forests for generations without putting a price tag on nature,” she stated. “I don’t believe in turning ecosystems into commodities.” Nonetheless, she acknowledged the importance of accurate carbon stock estimation through technology, provided it is used for authentic conservation purposes.

In response, the Kumi team discussed several applicable tools, including synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for forest mapping in cloudy conditions, optical sensors for detailed carbon estimation, and audio sensors that can detect chainsaw activity and alert enforcement authorities in real time.

Advisor Rizwana Hasan expressed strong interest in further collaboration and proposed a virtual follow-up meeting. She requested a detailed technical briefing and indicative pricing to assess the feasibility of piloting these technologies in one forest area and one industrial cluster.

She also recommended involving national experts in future discussions to ensure informed and scalable implementation.
The meeting concluded on an optimistic note, with both parties committed to exploring a collaborative path forward for deploying advanced environmental technologies in Bangladesh.