Bangladesh Donates 20,000 Trees to Support Maldives’ Five Million Tree Programme

Bangladesh has donated 20,000 trees to the Maldives in support of the country’s national tree planting initiative, marking the largest tree donation the Maldives has received from a foreign country.

The trees were officially handed over by Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, Dr Khalilur Rahman, at a ceremony held at Lonuziyaaraiy Park in Malé. The donation was received by Minister of Foreign Affairs Iruthisham Adam and Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy Ali Shareef. The three ministers also planted trees at the park during the ceremony.

advertisement

Ali Shareef said the donation would contribute to the Maldives’ five million tree planting programme, which aims to plant five million trees over a five-year period. He noted that discussions on the donation had taken place with Bangladesh’s environment minister and thanked the Bangladeshi government for arranging the donation within a short time following those discussions.

Iruthisham Adam said the donation reflects the close relationship between the Maldives and Bangladesh and their shared commitment to environmental protection. She added that the initiative would benefit future generations.

Dr Khalilur Rahman said both the Maldives and Bangladesh are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and that the donation symbolises the two countries’ cooperation in addressing environmental challenges. He noted that Bangladesh has a tradition of donating trees to friendly nations and said the initiative reflects the strong ties between the two countries.

According to the government, this is the largest tree donation ever received by the Maldives from a foreign country. The previous largest donation was 1,000 trees from Sri Lanka.

The donation includes three categories of trees comprising shade trees, flowering trees and fruit trees.