Prime Minister's Political Adviser and Chairman of the Cell for the Five-Year 25 crore Tree Plantation Programme Nazrul Islam Khan, today spoke at the conference room of the Ministry of Environment in the Secretariat. Photo: PID

DHAKA, May 11, 2026 (BSS) - Prime Minister's Political Adviser and Chairman of the Cell for the Five-Year 25 crore Tree Plantation Programme Nazrul Islam Khan today stressed the need for ensuring public participation in implementing the nationwide tree plantation initiative.

"The programme to plant 25 crore trees over five years is one of the government's priority initiatives in line with the directives of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and the government's election manifesto," he told the second meeting of the cell formed to implement the programme at the conference room of the Ministry of Environment in the Secretariat today.

The meeting discussed in detail issues related to the successful implementation of the programme, including collection of saplings, selection of suitable tree species, determining trees according to regional soil conditions, coordination among ministries and agencies and overall monitoring of the activities.

Nazrul Islam Khan, also member of BNP Standing Committee, said the plantation activities of different ministries, departments and agencies, including the Local Government Division, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Ministry of Agriculture, and Roads and Highways Division, would be monitored through the cell.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo said a target has been set to plant 5 crore trees in the first phase by 2026.

He emphasized planting suitable tree species based on soil type and directed the Forest Department to implement the recommendations of the technical committee.

State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shaikh Faridul Islam said tree plantation alone would not be enough and effective measures must also be taken to prevent deforestation.

"As part of implementing the government's election manifesto, forest, fruit-bearing and medicinal trees will be planted across the country following the directives of the Forest Department," he said.

Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Md. Saimum Parvez, who holds the rank of secretary and serves as technical expert, Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka Central University Professor Dr. Md. Nurul Islam, and technical expert Jamail Bashir, among others, were present at the meeting.

Secretaries, additional secretaries and joint secretaries from concerned ministries also attended the meeting.