Environment adviser Syeda Rezwana Hasan has launched a programme to plant five lakh trees in Tangail. She opened it by releasing balloons at the Janaseba Chattar in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office on Sunday morning (25 May), after planting two saplings there.

Speaking at the launch, the adviser said: "We disturb nature through all kinds of activities, cut trees and then say, 'We will cut 20,000 trees and plant 40,000.' That is why we face such great calamities. You can bring some things back to their natural state, but you cannot bring everything back. Bangladesh should never have needed a tree planting programme. We were so rich in natural resources, and we abused nature so much, that we now have to work to correct it. Today's work is extremely important to us. For our own sake we must take steps to return what has been destroyed, or nearly destroyed, to its natural state."

She said the five lakh trees to be planted have been chosen from native species. "These trees will shelter a great many animals. They are very important, not just for greenery: we will get good oxygen, pollution will fall and birds will find shelter. Those who plant these trees will form a bond with them. We will not just plant them and sit back; we will care for them. We must move the new generation from our destructive development process to a nature-friendly one," she said.

Deputy Commissioner Sharifa Haque, Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman and Forest Department officials were present.

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