PM announces plan to plant 25 crore trees, restore 20,000 km of rivers and canals

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Tareque Rahman on Thursday announced a five-year programme to plant 25 crore trees and restore 20,000 kilometres (12,427 miles) of rivers and canals, saying environmental protection and ecosystem conservation are essential to safeguarding public health, human survival and the well-being of future generations.

Speaking at an event marking World Environment Day, the Environment Fair, the National Tree Plantation Campaign and Tree Fair 2026 at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka, Rahman said economic development and environmental protection should advance together in harmony with nature rather than being viewed as competing priorities.

Opening his address with a verse from the Holy Quran, the prime minister said God created everything on Earth for humanity, including rivers, trees, insects, wildlife and domestic animals. While people benefit from nature, he said, they also have a responsibility to care for and preserve all of God's creations.

Rahman said scientific advances had established the deep and inseparable relationship between human society and ecosystems, adding that a healthy ecosystem was indispensable to ensuring a secure future for humanity.

He described environmental and tree fairs as investments in the well-being of current and future generations and congratulated the organisers, urging that tree planting and environmental conservation become part of people's daily lives rather than remaining annual ceremonial activities.

Addressing students and young people, the prime minister said they had the potential to lead the country's transition toward a greener future.

Highlighting the importance of afforestation, Rahman said greening the country was essential for the survival of future generations. He called on citizens to plant at least one tree to celebrate the birth of every child, saying a newborn and a newly planted tree should grow together as part of a nationwide social movement for afforestation.

He said the government had launched several initiatives to strengthen environmental protection, including plans to introduce Green Volunteerism in educational institutions, establish a Climate Youth Fellowship programme and create an Environment Start-up Fund.

If implemented successfully, he said, the initiatives would help build a safer, healthier and greener Bangladesh for present and future generations.

Rahman announced that the government had adopted a programme to plant 25 crore trees over the next five years.

However, he said planting trees alone would not achieve the desired results, stressing the need for scientific research to determine which species are best suited to different soils, climates and ecological conditions.

He noted that fast-growing species such as eucalyptus and acacia required further research to determine whether they were appropriate for Bangladesh's environment.

The prime minister said priority should instead be given to indigenous species, including medicinal plants, orchids, bamboo, forest trees, fruit-bearing trees, commercially valuable species and endangered plants.

Rahman said afforestation should not be treated as an end in itself, but should ensure suitable habitats and food sources for birds, wildlife and insects. He said environmental scientists and forestry experts had an important role in designing forests capable of sustaining balanced ecosystems in which plants, animals, soil, water and air coexist naturally.

He also stressed that protecting newly planted trees until they matured was even more important than planting them, while longstanding native trees that had become integral parts of local ecosystems should be preserved rather than cut down unnecessarily. He said he expected the Forest Department to ensure this.

The government, he added, had adopted a tough stance against deforestation, hill cutting, mangrove destruction and wildlife poaching.

Rahman said protecting soil, rivers, forests, biodiversity and natural resources was in society's own interest, warning that agriculture, food security and water security could not be ensured without protecting the country's rivers.

He said the government aimed to expand rooftop gardening, urban forestry, GIS-based tree planting, greening along riverbanks and canals, and eco-tourism as new areas of economic development.

Describing climate change as a present-day reality rather than a future threat, Rahman said cyclones, floods, droughts, heatwaves, river erosion and salinity had placed agriculture, public health, the economy and people's livelihoods under increasing pressure.

He said the government regarded environmental protection as one of the foundations of national development, with the objective of building a green, clean, climate-resilient and sustainable Bangladesh where economic growth and environmental conservation progress side by side.

Alongside the tree-planting programme, Rahman announced that the government had begun implementing a nationwide project to excavate and re-excavate 20,000 kilometres of rivers and canals.

He said the programme would not only ensure year-round irrigation for farmers but also strengthen the country's ability to adapt to climate change.

The prime minister said environmental improvement could not depend solely on tree planting or canal restoration, stressing the need for fundamental reforms in waste management across cities, ports and suburban areas.

He said the government had already begun efforts to significantly reduce plastic waste while promoting organic fertiliser production, recycling, waste-to-energy projects and implementation of the "3Rs" policy of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Rahman said effective waste management required responsible behaviour from every citizen and could not be achieved solely through the work of municipal authorities or law enforcement agencies. He urged people to dispose of waste only in designated locations.

The prime minister warned that population growth, climate change, unplanned urbanisation, the filling of rivers and wetlands, and deforestation had placed biodiversity under severe threat, endangering the habitats of wildlife as well as aquatic plants and animals.

He said human society could not remain safe unless ecosystems and all forms of animal life, including wildlife and domestic animals, were protected.

Rahman urged the public not to mistreat wildlife or domestic animals such as dogs and cats, adding that alongside government action, citizens also had an important role to play in protecting all living creatures.

Concluding his address, the prime minister congratulated this year's recipients of the National Tree Plantation Award, the National Wildlife Conservation Award and beneficiaries of the Social Forestry programme.

He wished success for the World Environment Day celebrations, the Environment Fair and the National Tree Plantation Campaign and Tree Fair 2026, ending his speech with the message: "May our country become a safe home for every living being."