With the theme of 'Brikhkhoropan Kore Je, Sampadshali Hoy Se' (Those who plant trees become rich), Bangladesh Forest Department, under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, launched the three-month-long National Tree Planting Campaign on June 4, 2017 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.
In the inaugural speech, the Prime Minister said that Bangladesh is endowed with rich biodiversity that provide food, clothes and housing materials for the people. She further said that the country’s biodiversity was now facing a challenge due to many reasons such as overpopulation, indiscriminate felling of trees and over extraction of natural resources and above all unplanned urbanization and industrialization. The Prime Minister urged all to plant at least one fruit, one timber and one herbal sapling to maintain the country’s natural and ecological equilibrium and make it a green-economy dependent ‘Sonar Bangla’.
During the event, four categories of Awards were given, and the National Environment Fair and National Tree Fair 2017 were inaugurated. This year, FAO supported the Forest Department for this successful National Tree Planting Fair. People are becoming more enthusiastic in tree planting for several reasons such as the continuous inspiration from the national level, subsequent support services provided by the Forest Department through social forestry programmes and the increasing needs for tree and forestry products. Besides, the role of the Bangladesh Forest Inventory (BFI) was highlighted as an instrument for the Forest Department to assess and monitor the performances of tree planting activities over time.