A programme to plant 25,000 trees in phases across Khulna city has begun. It was launched at the city's Solar Park and Linear Park as a joint initiative of Khulna City Corporation and the mobile financial service bKash.

State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Sheikh Faridul Islam and city corporation administrator Nazrul Islam Manju opened it by planting trees at the Solar Park. Khulna divisional forest conservator Imran Ahmed and city corporation chief executive Rajib Ahmed attended.

The state minister said the programme would look after the trees as well as plant them, with attention to which species go where and how they are cared for. The ministry is working to bring individuals and organisations into tree planting alongside the government, he said.

Nazrul Islam Manju said Khulna and the rest of the south are at risk from climate change. The Sundarbans protect lives and property from cyclones and storm surges, he said, so a green belt must be built along the whole coast.

bKash said customers will earn "green points" for certain transactions in its app; once enough points build up, the company will plant a real tree for a customer's virtual sapling, and the customer can follow the tree's progress in the app.

Source: Barta24