State Minister Faridul Islam visits strip plantation, palm orchard on Chitra river embankment in Bagharpara
SK Sohrab Hossain, Jashore
Sheikh Faridul Islam, MP, State Minister for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, physically inspected the newly created strip plantation and palm orchard along both banks of the Chitra River in Bagharpara Upazila of Jashore district.
The initiative aims to prevent riverbank erosion and counter natural disasters across the south-western region.
Under the project titled "Mitigation of Climate Change-induced Coastal Disasters in the South-Western Region of Bangladesh through Nature-Based Solutions," funded by the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund, the Jessore Social Forest Division under the Water Development Board implemented this afforestation effort on the embankment.
The program includes a 20-seedling-kilometer strip plantation comprising approximately 20,000 fruit, forest, and medicinal tree saplings, alongside a 5-seedling-kilometer palm orchard with nearly 2,000 palm saplings along both banks of the river.
On Tuesday morning, the State Minister reviewed the riverbank protection work and the overall progress of the afforestation initiative. He was accompanied during the inspection by Conservator of Forests (CF) Md. Harun-or-Rashid Khan, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Amrita Mondal, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Priyanka Haldar, Range Officer M M Mizanoor Rahman, other forest department officials, and members of the local social forestry beneficiary community.
A diverse variety of indigenous tree species has been planted along the embankment to stabilize the Chitra River banks against erosion, mitigate the risks of lightning strikes, and foster sustainable restoration of the local ecosystem.
During his visit, the State Minister closely inspected and supervised the entire 20-seedling-kilometer strip garden and the 5-seedling-kilometer palm plantation, which plays a pivotal role in providing natural lightning protection.
To strengthen biodiversity and environmental protection along the riverbanks, various native tree species have been planted, including Kadam, Arjun, Jarul, Raintree, Minjiri, Mahogany, Chikrashi, Jackfruit, Jhau, Amra, Khayer, Sheesham, Uriam, Tamarind, Olive, Haritaki, Wood Apple, Pitali, Amla, Krishnachura, Sonalu, and Shilkora.
