Rangpur Correspondent
Tree plantation must be turned into a more effective social movement for building a safer planet through improving environment, ecology and biodiversity amid frightening climate change threat.
The opinion came at launching ceremony of fortnight-long ‘Wood, Fruit and Medicinal Tree Fair-2016’ organised by district administration, Social Forestry Division and Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) on Zilla School ground on Sunday afternoon.
Earlier, a huge rally, participated by officials and employees of the administrations, DAE, Department of Forest (DoF), agriculture-related
organisations, NGOs, nursery owners, students, farmers and elite, was brought out from Divisional Commissioners’ Office to Zila School in the city.
Divisional Commissioner (Additional Secretary) Kazi Hasan Ahmed formally inaugurated the fair by releasing balloons and addressed the function as the chief guest with Divisional Forest Officer Shafikul Islam in the chair.
Deputy Commissioner Md Rahat Anwar, Acting Deputy Director of DAE Aftab Hossain, Headmaster of Rangpur Zila School Abu Raihan Md Mizanur Rahman and President of City Nursery Owners’ Association Saiful Islam addressed as the special guests.
The speakers said a fury of nature has long been causing catastrophes like super cyclones, tsunamis, sidr, earth quakes, bush fires, droughts and devastating floods due to climate change threatening the habitation,
environment, ecology, agriculture and every sector.
Tree plantation could protect the environment, ecology and biodiversity retarding the desertification process to save innumerable living species including animals, birds, insects, aqua animals including fishes from extinction, they said.
Narrating beneficial aspects of forests and important roles of trees in human life, they cited examples of the Sundarbans that saved millions of lives when the super cyclone sidr hit the coastal belts of the country in 2007 and also in the recent decades.
In his speech, the chief guest called for turning tree plantation into a social movement and asked everyone to plant at least three saplings around homesteads or on any open space to maintain natural balance and get economic benefits.
Fifty stalls have been set up in the fair by different government and non-governmental organisations, private sector nursery owners and entrepreneurs displaying saplings of many varieties of fruit, timber and medicinal plants.
