Capacity Building

Comprehensive training material developed and provided to support SMART trainings. BFD frontline staff’s capacity has been built to successfully conduct SMART patrolling in the field and handlings of necessary equipment and gadgets. Three different training efforts were made available –

  • SMART Training of Trainers - selected BFD mid-level staffs trained engaging expatriate facilitators on the basics as well as advanced skills on SMART patrolling using developed training materials, 41 best-performers identified and designated as ‘master trainer’.
  • Basic SMART Patrolling - ‘master trainers’ trained (in presence and support of expatriate facilitators) 125 frontline BFD staffs on the basic skills of SMART patrolling, conducted demo patrols, physical handling of gadgets and equipment who later became active in patrolling team.
  • SMART Database Management - 31 BFD Officers were trained on data cleaning, editing, analysis, report generation and interpretation of findings. Selected staffs received advanced data management training also.

SMART patrol teams in the Sundarbans were accompanied by on-board mentors in selected patrols and helped to overcome their problems on-site particularly on the use of a Global Positioning System (GPS), navigation, boat and foot patrols, law enforcement, and improved data collections and ensured quality.

  • Criteria for participant selection – educational background, young/energetic, enthusiasts,
  • Best performing staffs with proven track records were selected for SMART.
  • Good number of staffs poses minimum required capacity to attain such trainings and use SMART
  • Staffs have considerable patrolling experience
  • New recruits of BFD with good computer literacy helped data management/analysis
  • Frequent transfer/rotation of staffs within BFD
  • positive – trained staffs would be helpful for national rollout