Urging everyone to plant trees, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said: "If you plant trees, you will find comfort in their shade in the heat. If they are fruit trees, you can eat from them too. The satisfaction of fruit from your own tree is something else. Let us all plant trees together and focus on protecting our environment. Our goal is to protect the country and its people, to guard against natural disasters and to protect nature."

She was speaking on Wednesday (5 June) at the opening of World Environment Day, the Environment Fair 2024, and the National Tree Plantation Campaign and Tree Fair 2024.

Referring to Cyclone Remal, the head of government said there had never before been such a long-lasting cyclone and tidal surge; this was the first. "We were able to bring 8 lakh people to shelters. Even under such strain, the gift houses we gave on the coast were not damaged, nor were the houses built for Rohingyas on Bhasan Char," she said.

Noting that 2 billion people in the world are at risk of desertification, she said: "We are already taking various steps to prevent desertification and drought. We have developed salt-tolerant rice varieties and succeeded in this. Our scientists are also researching drought-tolerant and submergence-tolerant rice varieties, and I hope this too will succeed. We must find natural alternatives to excessive use of chemical fertiliser and pesticides."

The prime minister said: "We have to produce bricks, but they should be environment-friendly. We are also stressing alternatives. Plastic is still being used, but the good news is that some products can be made from jute that even blend into the soil. We are taking various measures for this."

She said participants in social forestry used to receive only a 30 per cent share of the profits, which has now been raised to 70 per cent, so everyone takes up social forestry sincerely. Twenty-two areas have been protected to conserve biodiversity, and the government has drawn up the Mujib Action Plan to protect future generations from the effects of climate change.

Sheikh Hasina said 11 laws, policies, rules and regulations were drawn up between 2009 and 2023, and protecting the environment is one of the government's 10 special initiatives. Through tree planting, forest conservation and afforestation, forest cover has reached 25 per cent. Emphasis has also been placed on rooftop gardening, which protects the environment while also supplying one's own food. This year 8 crore 38 lakh saplings will be planted.

She said that after her father's assassination, she was elected president of the Bangladesh Awami League in her absence. "I returned home in 1981, because the fruits of independence had to reach every home in Bengal and I had to build my father's dream of a Bangladesh free from hunger and poverty," she said.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury and other stakeholders attended the event.

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