According to the current government data in Bangladesh, the total forest area is 15-17 percent of the total land, which is a little more than half of the ideal amount of 25 percent. The situation in the entire country may worsen in a few years. According to the definition of forest land, deforestation has been completely stopped by government initiatives but afforestation has not yet started completely.
How will Dhaka get healthy air? Has any initiative been taken? Among all the forests, except for the hilly areas of Chittagong and the coastal areas including the Sundarbans, there will be only the Northern Shalbans. Its volume or density is much less than that of Sundarbans or hill forests. Mangroves have been increased through artificial afforestation in coastal areas. Similar initiatives have not been taken in other densely populated and industrially developed areas including Dhaka. Due to the alarming decrease in the amount of mangrove forest area, the initiative was considered useful enough in the context of that time, but now it can be assumed that it is necessary to take afforestation programs in other areas.
Forest area specifically refers to an uninterrupted stand of at least 0.5 hectares/ 0.5 square kilometers of trees above five meters in height. Fruit orchards and agroforestry systems, urban parks and garden trees do not belong to any forest land. Another thing here is that if the afforestation project is started now, it will take five years for the size of the trees to exceed 5 meters. Among the trees in Bangladesh, the growth rate of Akashmani, Shishu is very high, which is 5 meters in 2-3 years.
Here again the point is that nothing else is actually obtained from these trees except wood and oxygen. So choose plants that can actually be used for multiple purposes. Many may think of some isolated plantations in Dhaka as an effective way to reduce environmental pollution through afforestation. But the reality is that such afforestation programs in cities can never be a substitute for afforestation. A long-term and sustainable solution is needed to maintain the oxygen balance in the area.
No matter how many trees are planted in Dhaka, it is not possible to cool the environment of Dhaka. I left out the oxygen level. Because of It is normal that the air that blows over Dhaka from the north has a very low oxygen level. Because, the amount of forest land is very less in the northern region. More than 50 percent of the world’s total oxygen production comes from the oceans. It is not very useful because of the geographical location of Bangladesh. Recently, despite giving great importance to global climate change, including Dhaka, Bangladesh has not seen success in any initiative other than stopping deforestation. Approximately 40 percent of the total forest area of Bangladesh is Sundarban and 47 percent is hill forest, the remaining 1,200 square kilometers of Shalban are scattered in many districts of the northern region.
Due to the variation in wind flow, the north to south wind flow in Bangladesh is only three months from north to south over about nine months. While the total forest area of Bangladesh was around 19 thousand square kilometers in 2021 AD, it has come down to 18 thousand square kilometers in 2023 AD. Currently, one of the reasons behind the rapid flow and lack of oxygen in various areas is the shortage of forest areas in Bangladesh.
For a long time, the forest lands of the northern region have not been expanded or any initiative taken to expand. Forests in hilly areas preserve hilly areas and the environment of the region depends heavily on the density of common forest (any forest that grows sporadically and is prone to fallow).
Due to the large number of industrial factories and insufficient forest cover in Dhaka and its surrounding areas, some serious phenomena such as runoff and lack of oxygen can be observed today. Apart from this, the average temperature across the country has almost exceeded the record. As industrialization is not possible and to keep pace with globalization we need very long lasting and effective national level policies on family and their implementation.
For area-based environmental management, the amount of forest land can be increased individually in each area through artificial afforestation and denser forest areas can be developed near large cities. In that case, it is necessary to take and implement the initiative by the government. Otherwise, after the next 10 years, Bangladesh will be one of the first five uninhabitable countries in the world. Densely populated cities cannot control their environment and cannot control it artificially. But through research, afforestation activities can be carried out in appropriate places and effective and lasting solutions should always be kept in mind.
Any long-lasting and productive plant can be cultivated through research on arable land. A lot of research needs to be evaluated before such an undertaking. Another very effective initiative in the case of Bangladesh can be private initiative. Private initiatives can currently reduce carbon emissions by about 20 to 22 percent and could be increased to 30 to 35 percent if the practice is adopted nationally. For a low-middle income country like Bangladesh, private initiative is one of the most effective ways to formulate and implement environmental policies that can be very fruitful.
The Ministry of Labor of Bangladesh has introduced various regulations and monitoring to introduce environment-friendly and pollution-free practices in various industries. Yet it appears that the entire environmental problem cannot be controlled by monitoring factories alone unless private enterprise develops environmentally friendly practices. Eco-friendly practices are more activities that reduce carbon emissions in daily life and make them a habit. For example, choosing environment-friendly appliances while choosing electricity, vehicles and daily use items, conducting various public awareness programs and campaigns etc. All in all, one of the most important issues for Bangladesh now is the formulation and implementation of Bangladesh’s environmental policy.
Author: Researcher
