Bangladesh held the second meeting of a special government cell formed to implement a nationwide program to plant 250 million trees over the next five years.
The meeting took place at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in Dhaka on Sunday. Discussions focused on collecting saplings, selecting suitable tree species, identifying region-specific trees based on soil conditions, coordinating activities among ministries and agencies, and ensuring effective monitoring of the programme.
Cell Chairman and Political Adviser to the Prime Minister Nazrul Islam Khan said the tree plantation initiative is one of the government’s priority programmes under the directives of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and the ruling party’s election manifesto.
He said public awareness campaigns would be strengthened to encourage greater public participation in the programme.
Nazrul Islam Khan also said that tree plantation activities carried out by different ministries and departments — including local government, education, disaster management, agriculture, and roads and highways — would be monitored through the cell.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo said the government aims to plant 50 million trees in the first phase by 2026. He stressed the importance of selecting tree species according to soil type and instructed the Forest Department to implement the recommendations of the technical committee.
State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Sheikh Faridul Islam said the government must also take effective measures to prevent deforestation alongside tree plantation efforts.
He added that forest, fruit-bearing, and medicinal trees would be planted across the country under the guidance of the Forest Department as part of the government’s election commitments.
The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Technical Expert Dr Md Saimum Parvez, Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka Central University Prof Dr Md Nurul Islam, and Technical Expert Jamail Bashir JB.
Senior officials from the ministries of land, agriculture, disaster management, local government, and the Forest Department also joined the meeting.
