The government has placed special emphasis on environmental protection in the budget for FY2026-27, allocating Tk 2,240 crore to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for maintaining ecological balance through environmental conservation and afforestation.
“The key objective of the government is to address the challenges of climate change and build a green and sustainable Bangladesh for future generations,” Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said in his budget speech.
The minister said the government will implement a nationwide programme to plant 25 crore trees over the next five years.
Afforestation activities will be strengthened on marginal lands, including roadsides, highways, embankments, riverbanks and canal banks.
Government forest areas will be restored, while mangrove afforestation will be undertaken in coastal char areas, he said.
In addition, afforestation in institutions and homesteads, agroforestry and urban forestry programmes will be further intensified.
The minister said degraded sal forests in the hilly regions, including Chattogram, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet, as well as in the central region, will be restored.
To encourage public participation, tree fairs will continue to be organised at the national, divisional, district and upazila levels, alongside the continuation of the National Tree Plantation Awards, he said.
Dividends will also be distributed among the best beneficiaries of social forestry programmes.
Through these initiatives, around 350,000 green jobs will be created directly and indirectly, the minister said.
Under the 'One Child, One Tree Programme', the government has finalised an action plan to facilitate the planting of one crore trees at the homes and homesteads of students enrolled in government primary schools, he added.
