Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged everyone to plant at least three trees in order to protect the environment, reports BSS.
Her call came on Thursday (Jun 20) while inaugurating the programmes of the World Environment Day and Environment Fair-2019 and the National Tree Plantation Campaign and Fair-2019 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.
She also urged everyone to plant at least one fruit bearing, one timber and one herbal sapling to maintain natural and ecological balance.
“Teach your children on how to plant trees and nurture them,” she said while recalling her childhood memories of sapling tress particularly in her alma mater Azimpur Government Girls School and College and urged all to plant some saplings at their homes, workplaces, and educational institutions.
The PM also asked development planners to revise some typical concepts to save the environment particularly the water bodies.
“Take development projects keeping in the mind about its consequences on environment,” she said
She particularly asked infrastructure planners to discard ideas like filling up canals and ponds coming out of their traditional mindset like constructing box culverts disrupting natural water flows on canals.
“We can construct roads on both sides of canals or build elevated road on the canals keeping those water bodies intact,” she said.
The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is “Air Pollution” while the theme of the National Tree Plantation Campaign is “Forest and Ecology in Education Building Modern Bangladesh”.
Hasina said that the country must strike a balance between its development spree and environmental conservation saying the development activities would go on but protection of environment would have to be ensured as well.
Recalling the contribution of Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in environment protection Sheikh Hasina said his post independence government first introduced Water Pollution Control Ordinance in 1973.
Sheikh Hasina said her government took very effective steps to reduce pollution alongside addressing adverse impact of the climate change through tree plantation and creating forest covers.
Referring to various measures in protecting the Surdarbans, the prime minister categorically said, her government always puts special importance on maintaining ecological and natural balance of the world’s largest mangrove forest in the southwestern region.
The premier said as part of her initiatives for Sundarban’s conservation, the pirates there were forced to surrender in exchange of incentives while people in the neighbourhood were also offered alternative employment opportunities so that they refrain from exploiting the forest.
She said that her government has taken various steps to preserve bio-diversity in the country alongside natural resources through sustainable management in parts of the country.
The PM handed over the National Environment Award-2019, Bangabandhu Award for Wildlife Conservation-2019″ among those who contributed to environmental and wildlife conservations in their respective areas and distributed the “Prime Minister’s National Award-2018” among organisations and individuals in different categories for their contribution to tree plantation campaign.
She also inaugurated the Sheikh Kamal Wildlife Center in Gazipur and a 12 storied modern “Poribesh Bhaban” in the capital.
Earlier a video documentary was screened describing various activities of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry.
Later, the Prime Minister planted a Tamarind sapling at the BCCI compound marking the national tree plantation campaign.