The National Tree Fair is not just a temporary fair for buying and selling saplings but a national movement, said Abdul Awal Mintoo, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

"This fair was not merely a temporary fair for buying and selling saplings. It was a national movement, a firm commitment to build a safe, beautiful and successful Bangladesh for our future generations," he said.

He was speaking as chief guest at the closing ceremony of the National Tree Fair at Ban Bhaban in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Sunday afternoon (9 August). Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury of the Forest Department presided, and the ministry's acting secretary Dr Fahmida Khanam was special guest.

Describing the public response, the minister said: "The unprecedented response from people of all walks of life has overwhelmed us. A total of 70 nurseries took part this year. Over the month, ordinary people of Dhaka and nature lovers from all over the country bought about 16 lakh saplings."

"These figures and this fair prove that ordinary Bangladeshis are now environmentally conscious. The sale of nearly 16 lakh saplings shows that our people, small nursery entrepreneurs and young people are ready to build a green economy," Abdul Awal Mintoo added.

Highlighting the success of social forestry, he said the Forest Department has brought about a revolution in poverty reduction through it. So far more than 117,000 hectares of block plantations and more than 82,000 kilometres of strip plantations have been created, with about eight lakh people, a large share of them women, taking part directly as partners. Money from the timber has been handed to the partners.

Urging people to keep planting and caring for trees after the fair, he said: "Although Tree Fair 2026 formally ends today, our responsibility has not ended. Rather, the real work has only just begun. We hope the saplings we are taking home from this fair will be planted with great care and looked after regularly."

"If every family, every educational institution and every youth organisation in the country plants at least one tree and cares for it properly, the target we have set of raising the country's tree cover to 27 per cent by 2030 will be achieved ahead of time," the minister said.

He congratulated the winners of the National Tree Planting Award, those recognised for special contributions to wildlife and biodiversity conservation, and the winners and participants of competitions held for the national tree-planting campaign and tree fair.

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