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Ecology under threat

M JAHIRUL ISLAM Jewel, ihalakathi
**Timber trees replace fruit and medicinal ones.Fifty species of fruits disappeared from Jhalakathi, Barisal in three decades.**
Timber trees are replacing fruit and medicinal trees in the district and adjacent areas, posing threat to ecological balance.
People are more interested to plant timber trees that can be sold for good prices when those mature after 20 to 30 years, said agriculturist Tilok Ghosh, agriculture extension officer of Rajapurupazila under the district.
Visiting 10 plant markets in the district, this reporter found that around 90 percent of the sold plants are of timber trees.
He talked to over 20 people who planted 200 to 500 trees in different areas of the district this year.
None of them planted more than ten fruit or medicinal plants this year.
"I have to take special care if I plant fruit trees. This season I have planted only two saplings of hog plum and two of coconut out of three hundred trees,' said Abdus Sattar, a tree planter of Bhatkathi in Rajapur.
"Every year 1 plant many timber trees, especially rain tree, mahogany and chambol, which will bring good cash aftera longtime," saidSobuj ofNachhity.
'I sell about 10,000 plants in every haat (market sits two days a week),
mostly mahogany, chambol and rain tree while the number of sold fruit plants ranges between 60 to 100.1 can hardly sell any medicinal plant," said Md Isahak, a plant seller of Bagri Bazar in Rajapur.
'On each haat day, I sell 5,000 to 10,000 plants of timber trees with
only 80 to 100 of fruit trees," said Monir Hossain at Jhalakathi Old Stadium Market.
Birds are facing food crisis due to lack of fruit trees, said environmentalists and veterinarians.
Mahogany makes the environment
dark and gloomy which is the prime cause of Newcastle disease of poultry during winter.
Fish are also badly affected when mahogany leaves fall into water and spoil it.
'It is surprising that people are cutting fruit trees for planting timber plants. It requires 20 to 25 years for growing a timber tree for sale while fruit trees need two to three years to produce fruits," said Sheikh Abu Bakar Siddik, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension in Jhalakathi.
'People plant such trees on roadside areas, homesteads, even on their agricultural lands. The whole district will be a dark forest if the mahogany trees are planted at the same speed," he said.
All want to get fresh fruits but they are not interested to plant the trees, he commented.
'Planting only timber trees poses threat to the ecological diversity. In last three decades, around fifty species of fruit trees have disappeared from the areas due to this practice, which affects people, birds and animals," said Suvroto Kumar Das, chairman of botany department of Barisal University.