How planned plant distribution could make Dhaka more livable

Bangladesh is grappling with an intense heatwave, with capital Dhaka having recorded its highest temperature of the season at a scorching 40.1 degrees Celsius on Saturday. 

In recent years, scenes of heatwaves have become an annual occurrence, with urban life becoming unbearable in the scorching heat. With nowhere to hide under, it is hard to find a place of relief in the city. 

"This is what happens when a city does not have enough trees. We have been feeling it over the past few decades," said Dr Mohammad Zashim Uddin, professor of Botany at Dhaka University and Secretary General of the Bangladesh Botanical Society, in a seminar at Nayapaltan organised by non-profit organisation Toru Pallab, on Saturday.

Apart from the extreme weather, Dhaka has also turned into an unlivable city by all means. In fact, the city ranked as the sixth least liveable one in the Global Liveability Index 2024. As it continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, Dhaka's urban landscape faces pressure from rapid development, overcrowding, and environmental degradation. 

Green spaces are vital for maintaining a healthy ecosystem of a city. But amid these challenges, such spaces are slowly diminishing. 

A study conducted by Buet's department of Urban and Regional Planning revealed that Dhaka city has less than 8.5% green spaces, significantly less than the ideal 20%. 

Environmental experts say the key to transforming Dhaka into a more livable, sustainable, and resilient city lies in a balance of plant distribution, biodiversity conservation, and seasonal planning.

"Plants and animals depend on each other — that's how an ecosystem is formed. The large trees we often talk about naturally give rise to smaller plants, grasses, and shrubs underneath them. And these, in turn, support the lives of many other creatures," said Dr Md Monwar Hossain, professor of Zoology at Jahangirnagar University.

"Therefore, without these large trees, the lives of many animals are put at risk."

Dr Monwar mentioned that we do not necessarily need to create large parks to preserve biodiversity. Birds naturally visit specific trees based on their needs and habits. To protect our seasonal rich diversity, he suggested we must focus on seasonal tree planting.

But one major systemic crisis in our country is that trees are often planted without proper planning or ecological consideration.

"When there is a flood, water surrounds everywhere, yet there is a scarcity of drinking water; the situation of urban greenery today is similar to that. Even if Dhaka is becoming greener, it's not becoming so in the right way," noted Dr Zashim Uddin said.

Mokarram Hossain, general secretary of Toru Pallab, added that hundreds of trees have been cut down for the construction of the metro rail and the elevated expressway. Instead of planting native trees, foreign species have been planted to compensate for the loss. 

On top of that, botanists and naturalists are not involved in urbanisation projects.

"We must be inclusive when making policy decisions. It's a good sign that, very recently, I've sensed a bit of change. However, expert opinions were not properly valued in the implementation process before," Dr Zashim Uddin added.

Ainun Nishat, professor emeritus of Brac University, believes that there are several locations in Dhaka where we can build a natural ecosystem. "One of them is Dhaka cantonment and the other is Bangabhaban. These are restricted areas with a lot of space. We can plant various types of plants there," he said.

The prominent water resource and climate change specialist added that there is ample opportunity to plant a variety of trees in public parks as well. We often assume that parks must be filled with exotic plants like zinnias and cosmos. But in reality, we should focus on planting our native species.

"Planting trees has become a trend. But we need to come up with proper expert suggestions and make plans accordingly before planting them. If we can turn this into a social movement, we will begin to see real change," he concluded.

All mega cities around the world have dedicated departments for urban forestry. Mokarram Hossain urged that our city corporation should also establish a separate cell for working on statistical data to promote urban greenery, develop seasonal floral diversity, and conserve biodiversity.