Bangladesh has donated 20,000 trees to the Maldives.
The trees were handed over by Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman at a ceremony held at Lonuziyaaraiy Park in Male’. They were received by the Maldives’ Minister of Foreign Affairs Iruthisham Adam and Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy Ali Shareef. The three ministers planted trees at the park during the ceremony.
Speaking at the event, Minister Ali Shareef said the donation would support the country’s five million tree planting programme, which aims to plant five million trees over five years. Noting that discussions had taken place with Bangladesh’s environment minister to facilitate the donation, he thanked Bangladesh for arranging the donation in a short period following the discussions between the two countries.
Foreign Minister Iruthisham Adam said the donation reflects the close relationship between Bangladesh and the Maldives and the shared commitment to environmental protection. She said the donation would benefit future generations.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman said both countries are vulnerable to climate change and that the donation symbolises their cooperation in addressing environmental challenges. He said Bangladesh has a tradition of donating trees to friendly nations and that the donation reflected the close ties between the two countries.
This is the largest tree donation the Maldives has received from a foreign country to date. The largest previous donation was 1,000 trees, donated by Sri Lanka.
The donation consists of three types of trees including trees that provide shade, flowering trees and fruit trees.