Md Shahab Uddin, minister for environment, forest and climate change, has said the target for forest cover in the country will be met through social forestry.

He said a country needs a quarter, or 25 per cent, of its land under forest, while in Bangladesh tree-covered land accounts for 22.37 per cent of the total. The remainder of the target will be met by planting forests on fallow land, on new chars emerging from the sea and in coastal areas.

He was speaking on 20 November at the launch of a programme in Barlekha upazila of Moulvibazar to distribute free high-yielding paddy seed and fertiliser to farmers under an incentive scheme.

The environment minister said that because it is difficult for the government alone to create the required forest cover, the public must come forward and plant more trees around their homes, in open spaces and on fallow land.

Planting trees is not enough; they must be properly cared for, he said. If the required forest cover can be created, the country will be able to stay free of the harmful effects of climate change.

The meeting was chaired by upazila nirbahi officer Khandaker Mudachchhir Bin Ali. Among others present were upazila parishad chairman Soyeb Ahmad, Barlekha municipality mayor Abul Imam Md Kamran Chowdhury and upazila parishad vice-chairman Md Taj Uddin.

Under the programme, 3,500 farmers in Barlekha upazila will each receive 2 kg of high-yielding hybrid Boro paddy seed for one bigha of land, and 800 farmers will receive 5 kg of high-yielding Boro paddy seed, 10 kg of DAP fertiliser and 10 kg of MoP fertiliser.

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