Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees over five years; conservationists warn wrong trees could destroy entire ecosystems

Bangladesh is preparing for one of its most ambitious green initiatives yet: a nationwide plan to plant 250 million trees over the next five years. The plan aims to increase the country’s green coverage, deliver on key election promises and support long-term climate and biodiversity goals. But as conservationists point out, planting such large numbers of trees is not just a matter of quantity. If the wrong species are chosen or planted in the wrong places, the effort could quietly damage entire ecosystems rather than heal them.At the heart of the initiative is a coordinated push by the government. Shaikh Faridul Islam, minister of state at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), explained that the program brings together multiple ministries and state agencies, including agriculture, local government, road transport, education and even the Bangladesh Army, Mongabay said. Each agency will be allocated a specific quota for planting saplings, and funding will come from its existing annual budget rather than from a separate large new fund. At the same time, development NGOs were required to meet their own cultivation targets at their own expense, effectively transforming the effort into a national effort spanning the public and private sectors.To manage and monitor such a huge project, the government has set up a working group headed by MoEFCC. The task force is developing an online application and dashboard that will allow real-time tracking: according to the report, how many trees were planted, where they were, which agency planted them, which tree species were selected and how much area was covered. The plantation campaign is expected to last five years, with saplings being planted in a wide range of locations: government-owned haas land, river banks, roadsides, office buildings, cleared forest patches and newly formed challangs, the temporary river islands that often appear in Bangladesh’s changing waterways.The program is designed to go beyond just finding vacant land. Officials said the task force prioritized ecological and social needs while selecting areas and distributing saplings. 100 million trees are earmarked for coastal areas where degraded mangroves need to be restored and communities need to be protected from erosion and cyclonic tides. There are also plans to plant 50 million saplings in the montane forests of Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet, and in the Sal forests of central Bangladesh, which have suffered from logging, encroachment and land-use change. Urban areas experiencing increasing heat stress and air pollution will receive 12.5 million tree saplings to help cool cities and improve air quality. The remaining trees will be distributed along river banks, wetlands, roadsides and within government compounds, including schools and offices, to create more shade and daily greenery.

Project Challenges

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Choosing what to plant is arguably the most critical part of the entire plan. According to Bangladesh’s forest department, about 12.1% of the country’s land is officially classified as forest, but if homesteads and scattered trees are included, the overall tree cover is closer to 24.4%. The new program aims to expand coverage of species selected based on local ecology and site conditions. Timber, fruit trees and medicinal plants are all part of it. In coastal areas, keora (Soneratia apetala) was selected to strengthen mangrove belts, while in montane forests, priority was given to species such as dipterocarpus turbinatus and other adaptable native trees. This emphasis on native tree species is a significant change from past practices. Over the years, fast-growing exotic tree species such as eucalyptus and acacia have been widely planted on deforested land under social forestry schemes, which allow local communities living near the forest edges to plant and manage the trees, then harvest and sell them some two decades later, with a large portion of the profits going to the local communities and the rest to the government. However, these species have proven to be invasive and water-intensive, negatively impacting soil health, biodiversity and local hydrology. The previous government banned further planting of eucalyptus and acacia trees in 2025, recognizing the long-term damage caused by these species. Even so, economic realities cannot be ignored. Islam and other officials recognize that people involved in such initiatives need to see financial benefits within a reasonable time frame. In addition to native trees, the program also considers fast-growing fruit tree species that can provide short-term returns through harvesting, making it easier to incentivize community involvement and care for the saplings. In cities and educational campuses, the emphasis is also on beauty and character: choosing ornamental flowering trees such as Krishnachura (Delonix regia), Jarul (Lagerstroemia spiosa), sonalu (Cassia), bakul (Mimusops elengi) and Radhachura (Peltophorum pterocarpum) add color, shade and a sense of place to urban landscapes. Forestry expert Farid Uddin Mongabay said Ahmed pointed out that for trees planted around houses and in community spaces, fast-growing species are important to maintain people’s interest and hope for future income. At the same time, he warned that Bangladesh does not yet have a large market for medicinal plants. Only a few major pharmaceutical companies use plant-based raw materials, and most come from their own farmland. This means that large-scale cultivation of medicinal species may not always translate into real income for ordinary people.In addition to species selection, there are practical challenges that may determine the success or failure of this large-scale project. Bangladesh already has a tradition of tree planting during the monsoon season, usually around World Environment Day on June 5. But the current initiative is larger and more complex than the usual seasonal events. Professor Khaled Misbahuzzaman of Chittagong University highlighted three main obstacles. First, the forest department must carefully assess the types of plants that are truly needed and suitable for each ecoregion. Without this assessment, the risk of species mismatch, i.e. “the wrong tree in the wrong place”, increases. Secondly, the quality of the saplings is a real concern. Many seedlings are produced by private nurseries, and their standards vary widely. Poor quality saplings are more likely to die, wasting energy and money. Third, and perhaps most importantly, saplings require protection and care after planting. Watering, protection from grazing animals and early maintenance are crucial. Without a strong post-plantation care program, a large proportion of the 250 million trees may not survive, making the project a costly symbolic move rather than a lasting ecological gain, the report said.Currently, there are about 435 social forestry nurseries and centers in government facilities across the country producing about 7.5 million saplings annually. Scaling up to hundreds of millions of trees will require careful planning and supply expansion, as well as enhanced quality control. The initiative is also closely linked to Bangladesh’s international commitments. Under the 2024 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the country has committed to restoring 15% of degraded terrestrial, coastal, freshwater and marine ecosystems by 2030. Both its National Adaptation Plan (2023-2050) and the third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement reportedly identify afforestation and ecosystem restoration as key tools to mitigate global warming and enhance climate resilience. Climate and nature-based solutions researcher Haseeb Irfanullah welcomed the scale of the program, noting that a comprehensive plantation effort could give Bangladesh the opportunity to incorporate its results into national and international reports, thereby strengthening its credibility as a country using nature-based solutions in climate policy.All told, Bangladesh’s plan to plant 250 million trees over five years is bold and inspiring, but also subtle. On paper, these numbers look impressive. In reality, the real impact will depend on how the country balances ecological science with community realities. Planting native, diverse and suitable species can help restore mangroves, restore montane forests, cool cities and stabilize riverbanks. Planting the wrong trees, or neglecting the saplings once they are in the ground, can damage the soil, disturb habitats and destroy the ecosystems the project seeks to protect. In the coming years, we will reveal whether this vision of a green Bangladesh will become a living forest legacy or a reminder that when it comes to conservation, good intentions alone are not enough.