Social afforestation programme is gaining popularity as beneficiary groups have got their share on time which helped them to improve their livelihood.
Tangail Forest department have brought a total of 122,000 hectares of land under the programme in Madhupur, Ghatail, Sakhipur and Mirzapur upaizlas.
At least 17,116 beneficiaries have already got a total of Tk99.71crore in two rotations (ten years long rotation) from 1989-1990 to 1999-2000 and 2002-2003 to 2012-2013.
The beneficiaries of social afforestation got 45% of the total sale value of the trees grown on 2.5 acres of land.
At the very beginning of the afforestation programme, most people had no faith in the project about their benefit sharing. As a result, participants did not take care of the plants which were planted on the land allocated for them, local sources said.
They did not protect their trees from being stolen even some participants used to steal trees form their own plots, said the sources, adding that after getting money from the first rotation they became conscious of benefit of the plants.
The participants are happy as they are getting their cheques in time.
Officials of forest department are trying hard to create awareness among the participants about how they can increase their profits by taking care of their plants.
Now a day participants of the programme are more passionate to in taking care of their plants to increase the benefit sharing money as they are getting the money of their benefit of share from second rotation.
Rowshan-Ara-Begum, a resident of Chaitar Baid village under Ghatail upaizla, got Tk127,125 from second rotation.
She said: “In the beginning, we thought that the forest department will not give us what they are offering. We were afraid that we may not collect our shearing money from the department. But now we are seeing that they are giving our shearing money properly.”
Baseron Bibi, a resident of Kalikapur village in the same upaizla, got Tk202,500 two months.
She said: “I have bought three bighas of land with the money.”
Expressing regret, she said: “If I took care of my plants properly from the very beginning I could collect more money”.
Tangail Divisional Forest Officer Abu Naser Khan said: “Social forestry got momentum and government is keen to use social forestry as a tool for poverty reduction.”