Initiatives taken for afforatration in Sundarbans

The Department of Forest has taken initiatives for afforestation on the banks of 52 rivers and canals adjacent to the Sundarbans mangrove forest.

The programme of afforestation, financed by ‘The French Development Agency, will jointly be implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Forest Department of Bangladesh (FDB), said official sources.

The integrated project titled ‘Upper Sundarbans Restoration Programme’ has been taken in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira districts with a view to increasing adaptive capacity to face the impacts of climate change.

Following the structural design of the Sheikh Russell Eco Park, which covered an area of five acres on the bank of river Rupsha at Labanchara area of Khulna city, the official said, adding that a total of 52 rivers and canals that lost their mangrove forest into the rivers and canals in Bagerhat, Khulna and Satkhira districts will be restored by creating the mangrove forest for the first time.

These rivers and canals are flowing through six upazilas namely Sharonkhola, Morelganj, Mongla, Dacope, Koyra, and Shyamnagar of three southern districts on the surface of the Sundarbans, the official added.

Talking to BSS, Divisional Forest Officer of the West Forest Department Dr Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain, said the high officials of the Forest Department, the French Development Agency, and IUCN Bangladesh will jointly visit the cyclone-affected areas in the Sundarbans and the upper Sundarbans and the mangrove model created in the Sheikh Russell Eco Park on July 6 to 8, 2024.

“If the initiative will be completed successfully on the bank of selected 52 rivers and canals, biodiversity loss will be minimised and at the same time the eco system won’t be at stake,” he added.
The French government wants to minimize the ‘Loss and Damage’ of cyclone-affected areas in Bangladesh, one of the first climate victims, and as a part of this initiative the ‘Upper Sundarban Restoration Programme’ will be implemented, he added.

Earlier, while paying a two-day visit on 10 and 11 September 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron assured that the French Government would help those countries affected by climate change.

In continuation, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Bangladesh has taken the initiative of mangrove afforestation financed by the French Development Agency. (BSS)