Seed plantation campaign launched for coastal restoration in Satkhira

SATKHIRA, July 15: A broad coalition of community-based organisations, environmental activists, volunteers, and local citizens has launched an ambitious campaign titled “1 Million Seeds Plantation for Coastal Restoration”, aiming to restore the fragile coastal ecosystem of Bangladesh through the collection and plantation of one million indigenous tree seeds.

The campaign was officially announced at a press conference held on Wednesday at the Akashlina Eco Tourism Centre in Shyamnagar Upazila of the district. The initiative is jointly led by Community-Based Organisations, Upazila Volunteer Association, Shyamnagar Green Coalition and Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK).

Addressing journalists, the organisers highlighted that Bangladesh’s coastal region remains one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable areas. They stressed that alongside infrastructural interventions, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are essential for strengthening climate resilience and restoring degraded ecosystems.

The initiative aligns with the Bangladesh Government’s nationwide 25 crore tree plantation programme and seeks to mobilise citizens to collect, conserve, and plant seeds of indigenous fruit and forest tree species across the coastal belt.

People are being encouraged to collect seeds of native tree species such as neem, mango, jackfruit, Java Plum, monkey jack, tamarind, palmyra palm, date palm, gum arabic (Acacia), banyan, arjun, tropical almond, and other locally adapted species. According to the organisers, more than 4 lakh seeds have already been collected through community participation.