State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shaikh Faridul Islam on Tuesday inspected strip and palm plantations along both banks of the Chitra River in Bagherpara upazila aimed at curbing river erosion and climate-related disasters.

The plantations were established by the Jashore Social Forestry Division on Water Development Board embankments under the “Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Change-Induced Coastal Disaster Mitigation in Southwestern Bangladesh (NBS-SW)” project, funded by the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF).

The state minister inspected a 20-km-long strip plantation and a 5-km-long palm plantation along the riverbanks at around 8am.

To strengthen biodiversity and environmental protection along the riverbanks, saplings of native species including kadam, arjun, jarul, rain tree, minjiri, mahogany, chikrashi, jackfruit, jhau, hog plum, khair, shishu, uri-am, tamarind, olive, haritaki, kodbel, pitali, amloki, krishnachura, sonalu and sil koroi have been planted.

During the inspection, Jashore Conservator of Forests Md Harun-or-Rashid, Jashore Social Forestry Division Divisional Forest Officer Amita Mondal, Assistant Conservator of Forests Piyanka Haldar, Jashore Social Forestry and Training Centre Range Officer M.A. Mizanur Rahman, officials of the Forest Department and members of local social forestry beneficiary communities were present.

State Minister Faridul Islam said such intensive strip and palm plantations on embankments would help protect coastal areas from cyclones and river erosion while also serving as a natural shield against lightning deaths.

After the inspection, Faridul spoke with members of the social forestry beneficiary association about maintaining the plantations and planted a bakul sapling.

He then left for Magura to inspect plantations there.