Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association

What Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association does

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) is a non-profit environmental law organization founded in 1992 and headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It delivers legal advocacy, public interest litigation (PIL), research, publication, training, and policy communications focused on environmental protection, natural-resource conservation, and environmental rights across Bangladesh. BELA serves government officials, judicial officers, local government representatives, NGO activists, civil society members, and the general public through six divisional branch offices in Barisal, Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Tangail, in addition to its Dhaka headquarters.

BELA's core products are service lines rather than technology products: a PIL legal cell that files cases on river encroachment, illegal brick kilns, ship-breaking in forest land, pesticide misuse, single-use plastics, stone quarrying, and development-project violations; a research and publication unit that uses satellite imagery, high-resolution photographs, and community testimonies; a structured training program on environment and environmental law; an RTI Focal Point service for citizens; and a policy communications function engaging policymakers and special stakeholder groups including solar energy advocates. The organization also maintains a public resource hub of laws, policies, rules, reports, briefing papers, and a library. Founder Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque (PhD, International Law, Manchester University, 1985) and Chief Executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, lead the organization.

BELA's business model is non-profit and is funded through membership fees from legal professionals and environmental advocates, plus donations and grants from national and international donors and partners. It does not sell products or services in a commercial sense and does not publicly disclose revenue. BELA pioneered PIL in Bangladesh in 1997 through a higher judiciary intervention that liberalized standing rules, and has since secured landmark High Court rulings across rivers, forests, coastal areas, industrial pollution, and pesticide regulation, with continued PIL activity recorded through 2025.

Name

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association

Legal name

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association

Website

https://belabangla.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) is a Dhaka-based non-profit that delivers environmental legal advocacy, public interest litigation, research, training, and policy communications to government, judicial, NGO, and civil society stakeholders across Bangladesh through six regional branch offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Legal Advocacy

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Offices of Lawyers (54111)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAGAG

Environmental Policy, Advocacy & Litigation

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Environmental & Conservation Organizations

SECONDARYBPAHAAAO

Environmental & Energy Law

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Legal Services

Keywords

• Environmental legal advocacy
• Public interest litigation
• Environmental law training
• Environmental rights protection
• Environmental policy advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Dhaka

HQ country

Bangladesh

HQ region

Asia

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: BELA collects membership fees from legal professionals and environmental advocates who join the association.
2. Donations and Grants: BELA receives funding from donors and partners, both national and international, to support its environmental legal advocacy, research, and training activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) is a non-profit legal advocacy organization that provides environmental justice services through public interest litigation (PIL), environmental research and publication, training programs on environment and environmental law, Right to Information (RTI) focal point services, and policy advocacy. It serves government officials, judicial officers, NGO activists, civil society members, and the general public across Bangladesh through a headquarters in Dhaka and six branch offices.

Product overview

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) is a single unified non-profit legal service organization offering environmental law advocacy and public interest litigation services. BELA operates as a non-governmental legal organization providing research, training, and policy advocacy rather than a product-based technology company. The organization consists of core legal service offerings including Public Interest Litigation, Research and Publication, Training Programs, RTI Focal Point, Communications, and a Resource Hub containing environmental laws, policies, and reports. BELA maintains six regional branch offices (Barisal, Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Tangail) across Bangladesh to deliver services nationally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Trained more than 400 government officials, 850 local government officials, 1000 judicial officers, and 1000 NGO activists and civil society members through regular training packages on Environment and Environmental Law.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Donors & Partners (National)coreOthersBELA receives support from national donors and partners listed on its 'Donors & Partners' page under the 'National' category, supporting its environmental legal advocacy work in Bangladesh.
• Donors & Partners (International)coreOthersBELA receives support from international donors and partners listed on its 'Donors & Partners' page under the 'International' category, supporting its environmental legal advocacy work.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF): A Bangladesh-based NGO funding rights-based civil society including environmental governance work — operates in the same donor ecosystem as BELA and adjacent space of advocacy grant-making. Comparable in home geography and donor landscape, but thematically broader (governance, rights, climate).

Broad incumbents

• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): NRDC is a large, established environmental advocacy and litigation nonprofit with a broad portfolio spanning climate, water, and biodiversity. Comparable to BELA in operating model (lawyer-led advocacy, science-based research, litigation), but orders of magnitude larger and more global in scope.
• Friends of the Earth: An international network of environmental advocacy organizations combining grassroots campaigning, litigation, and policy work — comparable to BELA's community-led GTM and PIL approach, but operating through country chapters globally rather than through court-driven litigation.
• IUCN Environmental Law Centre: The IUCN Environmental Law Centre advances environmental rule-of-law, judicial training, and policy frameworks globally — directly comparable to BELA's judicial-officer training program and policy advocacy. Functions as a broader, international incumbent in environmental law capacity-building.

Direct peers

• Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL): CIEL uses legal advocacy, policy analysis, and training to drive environmental governance reform globally — matching BELA's law-driven advocacy, training, and policy work. Both organizations operate at the intersection of international environmental law and grassroots enforcement.
• EarthRights International: EarthRights International combines legal advocacy, training, and community empowerment for environmental and human rights — directly mirroring BELA's PIL-plus-capacity-building approach. Both are nonprofit legal organizations leveraging strategic litigation alongside grassroots partnerships.
• Environmental Law Institute (ELI): ELI is a research and training nonprofit producing environmental law scholarship, briefings, and judicial/regulator capacity-building — strongly comparable to BELA's Research, Publication & Awareness and Training programs. Both serve as environmental law reference and capacity-building hubs.
• Association for Protection of Distributed Rights (APOSH): An emerging Bangladesh-based environmental and human-rights legal advocacy NGO — directly comparable in mission, country, and operating approach. Smaller than BELA and indicative of newer entrants in the same niche PIL space.
• ClientEarth: ClientEarth is a charity-founded environmental law organization using strategic litigation, advocacy, and legal advice to address environmental challenges — highly comparable to BELA's PIL, training, and policy-advocacy operating model. Both organizations rely on lawyers-in-residence and landmark environmental cases as their primary mechanism of impact.
• Indian Environmental Law Association: A South Asian peer founded to provide legal aid, advocacy, and policy engagement on environmental issues — similar operating model to BELA, with comparable membership-based and donor-funded structure serving a neighboring jurisdiction with overlapping climate and riverine concerns.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/belabd1992
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCwr2vMupI4FIcvpNlDJv36Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/BELAFB
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bela1992
• Instagraminstagram.com/belabd1992

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association