Saplings and afforestation under the government's tree plantation programme will be monitored using satellite-based systems, a database and drone technology, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo said. The programme also plans to create about 350,000 "green jobs" and 10,000 new nursery entrepreneurs.

He was speaking at a press conference at the Secretariat on Wednesday, 8 July, ahead of World Environment Day and Environment Fair 2026 and the National Tree Plantation Campaign and Tree Fair 2026.

The minister said the government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has adopted a master plan to plant and properly maintain 250 million trees nationwide over five years, and a special cell has been formed under the Prime Minister's Office to implement it as part of the election manifesto.

• The location and growth of planted trees will be monitored digitally using satellite-based GIS and remote sensing.
• A central National Tree Database and Tree Monitoring System will record trees and track survival rates, and an app will be built for this.
• Drones will monitor afforestation in remote chars, coastal areas and forests.

Rural women and young people will be involved in nursery businesses and post-plantation care, with 10,000 new nursery entrepreneurs to be developed.

This year the Forest Department is planting 15 million native saplings suited to local conditions in treeless areas, along roads, canals and embankments and in coastal areas, and new afforestation is under way on 4,800 hectares of recovered forest land. After the Prime Minister launched the programme at Dulahazra in Cox's Bazar, the department has planted 8.332 million saplings, about 17 percent of this year's target.

The national tree fair, themed "Let's adorn the country with trees, Bangladesh before all", will have 120 stalls, with 15-day fairs in seven divisional headquarters, seven-day fairs in 56 district headquarters and three-day fairs in 29 upazilas.

From January to June, enforcement action against 1,525 establishments led to fines of Tk 23.34 crore, and utility connections of 112 illegal factories were cut. A National Air Quality Management Plan (NAQMP) has been prepared, a St. Martin's Island biodiversity master plan is being finalised, and draft guidelines on extended producer responsibility for plastic waste have been sent for vetting. The government has taken a "whole of government" approach to adaptation, mitigation, disaster risk reduction, climate finance and technology transfer.

State Minister Sheikh Faridul Islam, the Prime Minister's special assistant Md. Saimum Parvez and acting secretary Fahmida Khanam were present.

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