Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo has said that a five-crore tree plantation programme will begin from May.
He shared the information with journalists on Thursday (19 February) after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Secretariat, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, on the programme to plant 25 crore trees in five years and the nationwide excavation and re-excavation of rivers, canals, and water bodies.
The minister said, “You may have noticed one point in our manifesto—tree plantation. Five crore trees every year. We have broadly agreed that tree plantation will be carried out. Now the question is: where will the saplings come from? The Ministry of Environment and Forest has some, the Ministry of Agriculture has some, and if available, the private sector can also supply. Considering everything, how many trees can we plant this year? Our target is five crore every year.”
When asked how soon the saplings would be planted, the minister said, “It will start by May. After July, planting is no longer possible. This year, five crore saplings were not prepared in advance. Now we will search through our three departments—wherever saplings are available. Some are in the Agriculture Department, some in Environment and Forest, and there is another source as well. The private sector nurseries also have saplings. We will find whatever is available and plant all of them.”
Asked where the saplings would be planted, he said, “There are 7 or 8 systems for planting. One is on river islands (chars), along both sides of rivers, on embankments, then along roadsides. There is an area in the Hill Tracts. Then there are mangrove zones—such as the Sundarbans or other saline-water areas. We will try to plant trees following all 7 or 8 criteria.”
“In short, our manifesto clearly states one line—five crore trees will be planted every year. This year it may not be possible, but next year we will make up for it so that we can plant more than five crore. That is our plan,” Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo said.
