Char is carbonized organic matter that is produced by pyrolysis.

Biochar is char used for biotechnology, such as in agriculture.

Charcoal is char used as fuel.

Biochar has some important properties:

1. Resistance against biological and chemical decomposition, so it lasts in soil for centuries and can be used to store atmospheric carbon.
2. A high surface area
3. Negatively charged surfaces and some positive charges with can hold soluble plant nutients such as nitrogen and potassium and other minerals.

In Bangladesh, the soils are often low in soil organic matter, because the warm-humid climate and agricultural tillage promote organic matter breakdown.   Soil that are low in organic matter become hard and open pore space.  Crop growth can be severely limited.

Given the excellent climate from growing crops, improving the organic matter in Bangladeshi soils can have profound results.  Biochar can do this because it doesn't break down.  Instead, it combines with manures, composts and soil organic matter to from new, stable humus.

By increasing soil organic matter there is:

1. An increase in soil crumbs and large pore space
2. Increased aeration
3. Increased water penetration
4. Increased plant-available water
5. Increased soil life
6. Increase root growth and crop yield.

A TLUD is a simple gasifier that is composed of a vertical tube that is filled with small pieces of wood, or densified biomass like pellets, balls or small briquettes. This is called a 'fuel bed.' It is ignited at the top, and underfed with primary air from a grate at the bottom. The ignition front travels down through the fuel by radiating heat into the raw fuel, drying it, and initiating pyrolysis. Released volatiles are ignited by the flame. The reaction is sometimes called a “migratory flaming pyrolytic front” (MFPF). Residual char is left on top of the fuel bed as the MFPF moves down.   

The burning volatiles create an orange gas flame for cooking.  Once pyrolysis is completed, the orange flame goes out, and the left-over char is colleded and smothered, or quenched with water.

We needed the "Akha," a culturally-appropriate TLUD for Bangladesh.  It had to be made locally, study, and made with with as little (imported) metal as possible.  Because of its heavy construction, it has a hinged grate for removing the char.  To protect the Akha for free use, an there is an open-access patent.  The current version of the Akha is a prototype being evaluated for acceptance, and obvious improvements can be made.

Environmental education: raised environmental awareness among community members and helped them better understand the balance between ecology and development through environmental education workshops.

Volunteer opportunities: the promotion of dry farming has led thousands of farmers in the surrounding communities to participate in the project, to be engaged throughout the process of trial planting, adaptation & adjustment as seen fit, and harvesting. They did not need to test out the effects in their own fields.

Skill trainings: improved the ability of the community to apply new technologies and new models to farming and herding methods. Assisted the community to set up new cooperatives.

Maintaining and strengthening the established stakeholder’s engagement mechanism with  overarching  provincial, district and divisional governance bodies with sustainable financing solutions and capacity building is required for sustainability and replicability of the solution.  'The National Policy of the Environmentally Sensitive Areas management' provides the required policy framework for replication of this solution. When the communities identify the potential of resilience building of their livelihood through conservation, it becomes an incentive for their active collaboration on co-management and join monitoring of natural resources. Within given Sri Lankan context, there are many environmentally sensitive seascapes, where it could replicate this model, and this is being factored within National Environment Action Plan 2021-2030 for Sri Lanka. Therefore, there is an evident potential for sustainability and replication of this model.

Before and after each Wild Surakshe workshop, we conduct pre and post surveys. The surveys allow us to record the baseline level of knowledge of participants and to receive feedback about the workshops. So far we have conducted more than 3000 pre surveys and 2500 post surveys. We are currently analyzing the information collected from these surveys from over 150 workshops.To enable offline data collection in remote areas we have developed an application and platform called Wild Connect. Our staff download the app on their phone to access the forms they need to fill. Once the data is entered, the forms are stored locally, then uploaded to the cloud whenever internet connectivity is available. This cloud data can be accessed and downloaded by our central office staff for validation and further analysis. Our staff also use the app to collect data on human-wildlife conflict incidents. Wild Connect is only used by CWS staff to collect data, and is not used for any insurance or compensation payments. The results and outputs from the Wild Surakshe program will be shared with relevant government and private agencies and published in peer-reviewed scientific articles and reports to develop targeted long-term interventions to prevent future outbreaks and the rapid spread of zoonotic diseases.

Livestock plays a critical social and economic role in Laikipia – over 50% of the land is under livestock production. This building block aims to support local rural communities increase livestock productivity whilst reducing environmental damage. The approach supports livelihoods as well as addresses key threats to biodiversity.

Livestock extension services improve skills and knowledge in all aspects of livestock husbandry and natural resource management. Artificial insemination services are provided at affordable prices to improve cattle quality and can demand higher prices. Training and support are provided on:

• Husbandry – livestock disease management, health care, administration of drugs to prevent disease.
• Resource management – water and land management including best practice grazing management to support livestock and reduce land degradation.
• Alternative micro-enterprise – aimed at women and youth, support in establishing enterprises such as poultry and beekeeping.

Trained farmers are encouraged to share their knowledge and skills with other community members. This approach means more people are reached. Livelihoods are enhanced as well as building support for conservation through benefit-sharing.

Using manual labour allows for selective removal of invasive plants. This protects the other native vegetation in the area, allowing for the native vegetation and grasses to grow back in the following months whereas when using heavy machinery, the top layer of soil in addition to the grass and native vegetation are removed. Using heavy machinery also removes vital seed banks of native plants, which further facilitates the spread of invasive plants.

It is critical to remove the IAS before the seeds mature and disperse. Through this project, we aim to remove as much IAS growth as possible manually (inclusive of roots), before they shed seeds. The remaining plants, which are more difficult to uproot, will be removed via a ‘slasher’ and the roots will be removed manually, at a later stage, when the soil is moist and plants may be easily uprooted. FEO has observed regrowth of grass after a couple weeks of IAS removal and the growth of native vegetation inhibits the regrowth of invasive species in the cleared areas.

Empowering the community to take the lead on their forest monitoring and conservation goals is a key building block of this replicable solution. After community volunteer leaders are identified, they are equipped with the training, tools, and materials needed for their management plan. They may also work with local law enforcement on monitoring illegal logging and other extraction of biodiversity from the forest. Some communities in the Chinantla had a need for scientific forest monitoring data to be able to apply for a national program that provided payment in exchange for environmental stewardship work. The training and skill-building elements of the project were adapted to fit this need, so community members were trained in forest data collection so that they were empowered to collect this information on their own, thereby becoming eligible to qualify for the ecosystem services payment program.

The Village Savings and Loan Scheme is an IPaCoPA's sustainability strategy where members in their self-manage Groups meet regularly to save their money in a safe space and access small loans from the money collected among themselves to invest in livelihood projects at household level such as Agriculture and Solar energy. Because most individual members lack prerequisites to access loans from financial institutions, the VSLA scheme helps members to easily access finances and secure soft loans under group guarantorship. This supplements TUA's efforts to implement various aspects of the IPaCoPA initiative and to sustain the TUA's already supported projects such as looking after the trees planted and setting up kitchen gardens by households. With our external partners,  key of them who include the District Local Government, UNDP, SAI Group UK, and Jade Products Ltd, we have been able to get endorsements, Capacity trainings, Digital Platforms such as Project Management systems and access to e-commerce, Funding (forexample from UNDP-Y4BF to support 500 youth in commercial farming of Chilli), and other resources which makes IPaCoPA operate in complete ecosystem. 

Traditional fishing gear excluded women from fishing because it was expensive, too heavy and neccessitated fishing at night. Strings and baits helped to overcome these challenges. Strings with baits attached are hanged in between mangrove trees close to homes. Women cast them early morning and collect their catch next day early morning.