About 71,000 tree seedlings worth nearly Tk 80 lakh were sold at a 28-day tree fair in Khulna. The figure was announced at the closing ceremony of the fair, organised by the divisional tree plantation campaign and tree fair celebration committee.

The closing ceremony of the Khulna divisional tree plantation campaign and tree fair was held at the fair grounds on the Circuit House field on the afternoon of Wednesday, 23 August. The chief guest was Begum Habibun Nahar, deputy minister for environment, forest and climate change.

In her speech, the deputy minister said there is no alternative to planting trees to stay healthy. People need oxygen to live, which we get from trees, so more trees must be planted, she said. The government has taken up a tree plantation programme as a special initiative. Tree planting has created jobs for many people and is making them self-reliant, and the programme needs to be made more dynamic through wide public participation.

She said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is giving importance to every sector, including tree plantation. In line with the prime minister's announcement, not even an inch of land can be left empty. The deputy minister called on everyone to plant at least three trees for every tree cut down.

Khulna divisional commissioner Md Helal Mahmud Sharif presided over the event. Special guests who spoke included additional commissioner of the metropolitan police Md Sajid Hossain, additional DIG Joybed Chowdhury, conservator of forests Mihir Kumar Dey and superintendent of police Mohammad Saidur Rahman. Divisional forest officer Dr Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain gave the welcome address, and SM Badrul Alam Royel, president of the nursery owners' association, also spoke.

At the event, the chief guest presented crests and certificates to representatives of the best stalls, and gave crests and certificates to students who won the drawing and essay competitions held for the tree plantation campaign and fair.

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