Indigenous knowledge of fish farming comes into play

The government is planting swamp forest trees -- Hijol and Koros -- in five haor districts to boost fish production and enhance earning of the fishermen.

Around 2.65 lakh trees will be planted on the banks of water bodies in haor districts covering 25 hectares of land owned by the government.

So far, 1.93 lakh trees have been planted and more 71,640 will follow suit.

“Leaves bark and branches of Hijol and Koros are the best nest for fish. The trees produce food for fish and keep them in targeted areas in beels,” said Bakul Bishwas, a fisherman and a member of beel user group in Santinagar upazila under Sunamganj.

“Hijol and Koros can do what none can do in nature,” he told The Business Post.

According to the Local Government and Engineering Department, 1,01,000 trees have been planted in Kishoreganj, 39,900 in Sunamganj, 34,000 in Netrokona, 12,600 in Brahmanbaria and 6,000 in Habiganj.

More 46,320 trees will be planted in Sunamganj, 1,0,020 in Kishoreganj, 7,000 in Habiganj, 4,800 in Brahmanbaria and 3,500 in Netrokona district.

Hijol and Koros are long known to be natural booster for fish production in almost everywhere in the country, especially in haor, beel, wet and low lands.

Taking cognizance of this indigenous knowledge, LGED is implementing the tree plantation scheme titled “Haor Infrastructure and Livelihood Improvement Project” funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

A Tk 10.1 million has been allocated for the plantation from the total outlay of $ 133 million for the project.

“Birds can sit on these trees, which will protect soil erosion and play a key role in the preservation of environment and biodiversity, apart from increasing fish production in the planted areas which will be used as fish sanctuary during monsoon,” Project Deputy Director Md Ahsanuzzaman told The Business Post.

“This will help beel users maintain the fish sanctuary while at the same time make the project a success,” added he.

In this regard, Change Initiative Executive Director M Zakir Hossain Khan stressed the importance of development of the tree varieties to cope with the adverse impact of climate change.

“Besides, satellite monitoring need to be introduced not only for this project, but also for every social forestry related project where trees are grown naturally. It will ensure proper outcome and accountability of the public spending,” he said, adding that involving local community in this initiative is instrumental.

According to the project officials, around 80 per cent of trees are Koros that dominate the lucrative and enriched ecosystem Ratargul Swamp Forest in Sylhet.