No trees will be cut down until 2030 for the sake of the environment: Bangladesh Environment Minister
Md. Shahab Uddin, The Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Bangladesh, has ordered not to cut mountains and forest trees until 2030 to achieve forestry goals.
Currently, the forest cover in the country is 14.2 percent against the standard of Twenty-five percent. He said this at the ‘National Tree Fair 2022’s closing ceremony organized by the Forest Department, Bangladesh, in Dhaka.
The environment minister further said, “It is difficult to make enough forests because of the vast population of our country. Before, people were less; the forest was more. However, now the calculations have changed.
Before, there was a forest up to the township, and now it is a township up to the forest. The tribals living in the forest are also building large towns in the forest.
So, to achieve the goal, we have decided that no tree will be cut in the forest till 2030, especially illegally. Moreover, I urge the concerned officers and forest guards to work to confirm this directive.”
He said that everyone should be interested in reducing the use of polythene and using jute bags. Also, we expect everyone’s cooperation in stopping the cutting of the hills and river filling and encouraging the planting of trees.
The forest minister said, “The tree fair and plantation drive organized annually play an essential role in building a sustainable Bangladesh by creating green cover in the country.
This year, more than 1,630,000 saplings have been sold at the National Tree Fair organized in Sher Bangla Nagar. Tree fairs have taken place in all divisions and districts of the country and several Upazilas. Millions of trees are being sold and planted in this nationwide tree fair.”
“On the directives of the Prime Minister, the tree plantation program has been transformed into a tree plantation campaign to preserve the forest and environment.
By planting trees with everyone’s participation, it will be possible to increase the country’s forest cover to 16 percent and the country’s tree cover to 25 percent by 2030,” he added.
He also said that in recent years, by increasing people’s participation, importance has been given to biodiversity conservation in sustainable forest management. This improves the quality of life of people living near the forest.
“To achieve national and international goals, massive afforestation programs are underway in deforested, treeless, degraded forests, marginal lands, and coastal areas.
From 2009-2010 to 2020-21 financial year, 163,378-hectare blocks with mangroves, 26,453 km of seedling strip gardens were created and sold, and 1,059,00,00 seedlings were distributed and planted,” informed.
The minister also said, “At the same time, the dividend has been distributed among 141,238 beneficiaries involved in social forestry.
In the last three years, 4 thousand 729 hectares of forest land have been freed from encroachment and afforested through the Forest Department.”
On occasion, the ‘Prime Minister’s National Award for Plantation 2019 & 2020’ and dividend checks were distributed among beneficiaries of social forestry, selected stall owners, and winners of essay and painting competition organized on the occasion of the National Tree Plantation Campaign and Tree Fair 2022.
There were 110 stalls at this year’s National Tree Fair. Among them, 63 privately owned nurseries participated in 80 booths, 38 government institutions in 15 stalls, four private organizations in 6 stalls, and 2 other institutions in 9 stalls.
This year, tree saplings were sold for Tk.12,42,30 242 at the National Tree Fair. The total number of saplings sold and the selling price at the National Tree Fair this year are higher than any previous year.
