On a humid morning in January 2026, Mahbubul Islam Polash knelt in the soil of Teknaf, the southernmost tip of Bangladesh, and planted a sapling of Anisoptera scaphula—known locally as boilam—completing a journey that spanned 600 kilometers and 64 districts. At 34, Polash, a forestry professor from Sirajganj, had just achieved what no conservation effort in Southeast Asia had done before: establish the endangered boilam tree in every administrative district of the country. Once on the brink of local extinction, this towering dipterocarp—Bangladesh’s tallest tree, reaching up to 45 meters—now has a fighting chance, thanks to one man’s quiet determination and a self-funded campaign that lasted 597 days.
The boilam is more than just a tree. It’s a keystone of hilly ecosystems, offering nesting sites for kites and vultures, sheltering rare orchids, and anchoring fragile slopes with its deep roots. Its durable timber has made it a target for over-exploitation, and by 2019, it was one of 446 threatened plant species identified by the Bangladesh National Herbarium. With no regional conservation blueprint, Polash took inspiration from a forgotten legacy: Professor M. Kamaluddin of Chittagong University, who in 1994 had warned his students that boilam would vanish within decades. Kamaluddin began planting saplings at his institute’s campus, a last refuge for the species. After his tragic death in 2005, that work lay dormant—until Polash revived it.
Polash’s journey began with failure. Seeds collected from mother trees in Bandarban and Khagrachhari resisted germination for years. But in 2023, persistence paid off: 74 of 2,000 seeds sprouted. Nursed in his home garden in Sirajganj, the saplings grew to 30–45 centimeters over a year. Then came the campaign. Launched on World Environment Day in 2024 in Rajshahi, it unfolded district by district, guided by a simple rule: plant where jackfruit trees thrive, a sign of low salinity and good drainage. Polash personally delivered saplings, often using his own savings—246,000 takas (about $2,000)—to cover costs.
Today, those 64 saplings stand as living markers of a new conservation model. Sarder Nasir Uddin, principal scientific officer at the Bangladesh National Herbarium, emphasizes the ethical imperative: “Every species has the right to survive.” But the impact goes beyond morality. The boilam shapes entire forests, supports biodiversity, and offers sustainable timber. With climate change accelerating habitat loss, Polash’s science-informed, community-rooted approach could inspire similar efforts across Southeast Asia.
Now, Polash tends a garden of over 300 rare plant species at his home, a living library of Bangladesh’s botanical heritage. His mission isn’t finished. “Even if it was just one species, I wanted to spread it countrywide,” he says. And now, from the hills of Bandarban to the coastal edge of Teknaf, the boilam is no longer fading—it’s taking root.