Md. Abdul Wahab
Environment and Biodiversity Conservation Specialist
Mr. Md. Abdul Wahab did his M.Sc. in Ecology and B.Sc. (Hon’s) in Zoology with Chemistry and Botany from the University of Rajshahi and M.Sc. In Environmental Science from Stamford University Bangladesh also did a Master in Development Management (MDM) at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Manila, Philippines. Besides, he is now Ph.D. Fellow and submitted his draft thesis research paper focused on sustainable ecosystem conservation and management of St. Martin’s Island in Bangladesh and the expected result of his Ph.D. degree in 2023 from Jahangirnagar University.
He started his career in ecological, biodiversity, environmental, and wildlife biology conservation research and development in the coastal mangrove areas of Naf River and hilly mixed evergreen forest under Cox’s Bazar Forest División from 1982 to 1983. He was involved as a Research Fellow under the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, and conducted research on wildlife biology and ecological system for 3 years at the field level in Cox’s Bazar Forest Division, Teknaf Peninsula & Naf River Coastal Areas, and Jessore, Kustia, Jhinaidah, Khulna Sundarbans mangrove areas, Sunamganj Haor Areas with a view to conservation measure and development of biodiversity, ecosystem, and environment.
Since January 2011, he had been working intensively with USAID-supported “climate resilience ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL)” and “Integrated Protected Area Co- project management (IPAC)” projects as Manager: Institution Development and UN Environment-supported projects on “short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs)” project of Department of Environment (DoE) as a project coordinator/consultant. Recently, he completed a project under the Department of Environment (DoE) on “Ecosystem-based Development, Management, and Conservation of Saint Martin’s Island in Bangladesh” as a Team Leader and recently, working as a Team Leader with the Forest Department and Next-Door Consulting Ltd. under the two projects: 1. Feasibility Study of Community-Based Endangered Wildlife Conservation and Habitat Development in South-Western Regions of Bangladesh and 2. Social forestry infrastructure development, capacity enhancement, and rare & endangered indigenous species plantation project. Besides, he completed a World Bank-supported project on Training Exercise and Drills (TED) program under Urban Resilience Project (URP) as a disaster and emergency planning specialist and presently completed ADB supported the second coastal towns environmental and infrastructure improvement project (SCTEIIP) as a nature based-solution expert (NbS). For this, closely worked with the Department of Environment, Forest Department, Department of Fisheries, and LGED. Apart from this, he worked as a wildlife biologist/specialist under the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in collaboration with UNDP. Besides this, I worked as an Environment Consultant for a World Bank-supported project of DOE on the “Clean Air for the sustainable environment (CASE) project” focused on the assessment of Dhaka City Air Pollution in support of the Department of Environment (DoE).
Since 1983, he has an excellent working experience in project planning, coordination, and management skills with development projects on formal and non-formal education, skill development, employment, health & nutrition, water & sanitation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, ecosystem & biodiversity conservation, NRM, environment, education, vocational skills development, and disaster and risk management issues in a cross-cultural and interpersonal environment with government and non-government organizations as Director, Deputy Director, Project Coordinator, Project Director, and Project Manager. He has the sound analytical capacity of organizational and financial, and project planning and management skills with development partners, government agencies, and national and international organizations, like, UNEP, UNDP, UNICEF, UNOPS, ADB, Care-Bangladesh, EU, DANIDA-GBP, AAB, DAM, GJKS, CMES, etc.
Besides, he has several research publications and books on climate change adaptation and mitigation, environment, natural resources management (NRM), protected area co-management, short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), coastal or mangrove forest conservation, and technology. He also developed training and capacity development curricula, modules, and manuals on biodiversity conservation, protected areas(PA)climate change, NRM, and ecosystems conservation.