By Khandaker Badiuzzaman Bulbul, a student at Ananda Mohan College, Mymensingh.

A country needs forest covering 25 per cent of its land. Bangladesh has 13 per cent, which is very little compared with the need. As a result the country sees droughts, extreme heat and severe cold. There is no alternative to planting trees to protect the motherland from this situation. It is now the monsoon, and this is the right time to plant trees.

Planting trees is vital for protecting the environment. A shortage of trees and excess carbon emissions are raising global temperatures and causing problems linked to climate change. The environment is becoming unbearable and the air drier. Trees are effective in solving these complex problems. They absorb carbon dioxide, regulate temperature and supply oxygen, one of the most important elements for animal life. Birds make their homes in their shade. All this acts as a tonic for protecting living things and the environment.

Looking at recent years, the country has seen drought, excessive cold and cold waves in many places in winter, and almost year-round unbearable heat. The harshness of nature has left northern Bangladesh facing desertification. There is little rain, yet floods come regularly, and cyclones caused by depressions are always a threat. Trees are needed to withstand all this. They can help cope with natural disasters and are effective in preventing them. Tree planting is also essential to prevent cyclone damage, river erosion and drought, and to keep the environment cool.

Trees prevent various kinds of soil erosion and help create the conditions for rainfall. They are essential for soil health, and not only for soil or water but for the protection of all living things.

Besides creating conditions favourable for life, trees are also valuable financially. Wood is needed for everything from furniture to luxury goods, and trees give good profits, which is why many people plant them commercially. Many trees have medicinal properties, and essential life-saving medicines are made from them. Fruit trees give fruit of many colours and flavours, full of nutrients. Fruit trees have long been planted commercially and in homestead yards, and they are also planted with other trees in open spaces, along roads and on riverbanks.

Planting trees in the homestead yard is important. You can rest in their shade in the heat, and trees planted around the home give shade all day. Fruit trees give fruit, and the trees can later be used for your own needs. In rural areas leaves and fallen branches are used as fuel, and the leaves of many trees are used as cattle feed.

Unplanned tree felling is constantly creating problems linked to climate change. As the environment warms, rainfall is falling and global temperatures are rising rapidly, affecting crop yields in some regions. Nothing matches tree planting for preventing all kinds of environmental disaster.

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