Participants in a workshop on Thursday stressed the need for disaster-resistant sustainable forestation to save the country's coastal belt from natural calamities. There is no alternative to forestation to protect the country's coastal belt from disasters, they told a workshop on the newly invented technology of the Bangladesh Forest Research Institute. The deputy commissioner of Barisal, Manjur-e-Ilahi, inaugurated the workshop at Caritas auditorium with the principal research officer (forest resource) of the BFRI, AKM Wazih Ullah, in the chair. ABM Enamul Huq, Barisal divisional forest officer (social forestation) was present as special guest. Some 84 participants including forest officials, partners of social forestation movement, BFRI researchers and Patuakhali Science and Technology University, teachers and students of different educational institutes and nursery developers attended the programme. Several keynote papers on disaster-resistant social forestation in coastal areas was presented the workshop. Paramesh Nandi, divisional officer of Barisal BFRI, presented the keynote on process and procedure of social forestation, Masudur Rahman, divisional officer of Khulna BFRI (mangrove culture) on natural mangrove forestation, Wahed Baksh, divisional officer of Chittagong, on process and procedure for rehabilitation of plantation in Sidr-hit region, AKM Wazih Ullah, principal research officer (forest resource) of BFRI, on forestation management, Khurshid Akter, divisional officer of Chittagong BFRI on forestation development, Rafiqul Haider, senior scientific officer of Chittagong BFRI, on transfer of technology invented by BFRI in the country's different regions.