A 100,000 and counting! We met the Bangladeshi farmer who has planted a village full of trees for free. Almost every tree along this road, and even several other roads, at Dakhkhin Sinduna village in northern Bangladesh has been planted by Abdur Razzak. In this neighborhood, this 37-year-old farmer goes by his nickname, ‘Gach Pagol’, literally meaning tree crazy.
This shy man has been persistently spreading his madness for trees for the last 15 years. Till date, he has planted or distributed saplings for at least 100,000 trees in this area.
Razzak has witnessed the wrath of climate change and deforestation firsthand. The mighty Teesta river engulfed his ancestral house when he was just a child. His family made another house and that too was lost to the river. Razzak and his family have been displaced as many as six times so far. But that didn’t stop him from salvaging what he can, with the bare minimum he could afford. He had to take a loan of about $300 for purchasing saplings to get started.
More than devoutly planting trees, Razzak is also working to sow the madness for trees among the new generation. He distributes saplings among schoolchildren, educates them about the importance of medicinal and fruit trees and trees in general. He also gives away crests and a seedling to whoever tops an exam, gets a job or is selected for civil services. In the long run, each sapling adds up.