In one part of Dhaka's National Tree Fair, you can feel as if you are standing in the courtyard of a village home, and forget, if only for a few moments, the city's traffic, concrete and dust.

At the National Tree Fair 2026, on the old trade fair ground at Agargaon in Dhaka, Rakibul Amin has built this bonokutir, or forest cottage, in the shape of a small village. The entrepreneur is a tireless dreamer who wants to make nature part of people's daily lives.

His organisation is called Gardening Bangladesh. Wherever a little space can be found, whether a rooftop, balcony, office, wall or the corner of a small room, he tries to bring a touch of nature to it.

Last month, in recognition of this work, Rakibul Amin received a national environment award in the tree research, conservation and innovation category of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change's National Award for Tree Plantation 2025.

Speaking at the fair, Rakibul said he grew up in green surroundings in Kushtia, spending his childhood among trees and flower gardens. While still in class five he made a garden of roses and other flowers in the family courtyard, and people from around the area came to see it. His relationship with plants was a hobby then; later it became his philosophy of life.

In 2001 he came to Dhaka for higher education. After enrolling in the botany department at Dhaka College, a new reality shook him: tall buildings, concrete walls and busy roads all around. Trees were declining, open spaces disappearing, children did not play on the soil and did not know the smell of leaves.

"When I grew up I saw that in the city people are confined within four walls. There is no greenery. That lack moved me most. I felt then that if a touch of nature could be brought back into people's homes, the city too would regain some life," Rakibul said.

With these thoughts he founded Gardening Bangladesh. It carries out greening work on roads, resorts, corporate offices, garment factories, housing projects, educational and religious institutions, eco-parks, lakes and private homes in Dhaka and other parts of the country, and has already completed more than a hundred landscape projects, large and small.

For Rakibul, trees are not just decoration but part of people's wellbeing. "Greenery is disappearing. People are even losing the habit of touching leaves. I want every person to spend time with plants at least once a day. A tree does not just give oxygen; it keeps the mind well too. Seeing green relieves tired eyes and calms the mind," he said.

From this thinking he is now working on a "zero soil" idea: no open soil should be left bare, and every empty space can be covered with grass, creepers or other plants. This would make the city greener and also help reduce heat, protect biodiversity and tackle the effects of climate change, he believes.

Rakibul is now planning to launch a "Garden Mission", aiming to turn urban greening into a social movement. He also wants to work on reducing polythene use and popularising an environment-friendly way of life.

"I want the next generation to have a Bangladesh where they do not have to go looking for trees. Every rooftop, every balcony, every school and every office will have at least some greenery," he said.

Tanvir Ahmed, a Mirpur resident visiting Rakibul's garden at the fair, said: "Wandering around, I suddenly came to this spot and felt as if I had left Dhaka in an instant and was standing in the courtyard of my village home. Amid the dust and the noise of cars, this green corner feels truly amazing."

"Just running my hand over the leaves calmed my mind. I might never have realised how thirsty our eyes are for a little green in this city of brick and wood if I had not come here. If every rooftop and balcony in the city could be decorated like this, Dhaka would really come back to life," he said.

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