Since National Forest Policy 1994 fails to recognise the benefits of permanent afforested coastal areas, the government leases out the lands 20 years after planting the trees, leaving local communities vulnerable to natural disasters, speakers told a workshop yesterday.
The lessees, for agricultural purposes, cut the trees which are needed for at least 30 years for enough earth to accumulate and raise the lands above sea level, said Paramesh Nandy, Bangladesh Forest Research Institute's former chief research officer.
This occurred as the government's policymakers in 1994 could not comprehend climate change's adverse effects, they said.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) organised the workshop, “Developing and Mainstreaming Climate Resilient Policies in Bangladesh”, in the capital's Cirdap.
IUCN researcher Mohammad Aminur Rahman Shah said the policy should specifically state that salinity tolerant trees like Babla should be planted in coastal areas while palm and date trees should be planted in drought prone districts.