While football fans across the country compete with flags and celebrations for their favourite World Cup teams, a group of young people has turned that passion into a movement to protect the environment. Through their initiative, 500 saplings of native fruit, timber and medicinal trees have been planted and distributed in the green village of Kouri in Harirampur upazila, Manikganj.

The programme, organised on Saturday (4 July) by Argentina Fans for Nature with the support of the local voluntary organisation Kouri Bahumukhi Unnayan Sangstha, handed saplings to families across the village. Commemorative trees were also planted at important spots.

To spread a message of environmental conservation around the World Cup, Argentina Fans for Nature announced on 7 June that it would plant and distribute 4,000 saplings across the country. That target was reached on Saturday in Cox's Bazar. Including the 500 saplings in Kouri, the organisation has so far planted and distributed a total of 4,700 saplings. Volunteers have also taken responsibility for looking after the trees in different districts.

Kouri is not just a village; for tree lovers in Bangladesh it is a name that inspires. The late tree lover Shahjahan Biswas planted around 60,000 trees on his own initiative, covering the whole village in green. He died in 2022, but his creation lives on. The trees along the village roads, in courtyards and across open spaces stand as his silent memorial.

Behind Shahjahan Biswas's green revolution were several environmentalists, including former UNICEF official AKM Kamal Uddin, freedom fighter Salahuddin Murad, Asset Development director Ashrafuzzaman Titu and Abu Bakar Siddique. With their encouragement, planning and support, Kouri has become a model green village.

Those present at the programme included freedom fighter Salahuddin Murad; Abul Kalam Azad, joint general secretary of Kouri Bahumukhi Unnayan Sangstha; its organising secretary Salah Uddin Rajib; Shakhawat Ullah, president of the Chandrakoli Foundation and founder of Argentina Fans for Nature; Advocate Delwar Hossain, general secretary of the Chandrakoli Foundation; and local environmentalists, volunteers and football supporters.

The organisation's founder, Shakhawat Ullah, said: "The joy of the World Cup lasts a few weeks, but a tree gives people shade, oxygen, fruit and a safe environment for decades. We want love of football to create a sense of responsibility towards the country, towards nature and towards the next generation too."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.