Mangrove forests razed for business, who to prevent cyclones

One can see rows of tamarisk trees on Sonadia Island in the distance from the bridge over Ghatibhanga canal in Kutubjom Union. A narrow canal flows straight into Sonadia from Ghatibhanga canal. Right after crossing the bridge, a strong earthen embankment can be seen at the mouth of the canal. Salt farming is underway inside the embankment. On one side of the salt pans, 10–12 workers were seen making a medium-sized pile of salt.

Walking a little further, leaving the salt pans to the left, one comes across a medium-sized mangrove tree. Around it, thousands of split tree stumps were scattered everywhere. As far as the eye could see, there were only stumps of mangroves, as if a terrible cyclone had swept through the forest. We returned to the salt farmers to know who cut down those thousands of trees.

Sensing the presence of a journalist, their casual conversation stopped. When asked about salt prices in the market, one of them came forward. His name is Md. Sohel, a local resident of Ghatibhanga.

When asked about the deforestation, Sohel said the land where salt pans now exist was once mangrove forest. This mangrove stretched as far as the distant tamarisk trees. Over the past few years, it has been completely destroyed and replaced with shrimp farms and salt pans. The canal that has now been dammed was once used by fishermen to take boats into Sonadia to catch fish. Today, its course has been altered.

On spot visit, it was found that the narrow canal has been cut into segments to make shrimp enclosures. There is no way to even recognise it as a canal anymore. The entire canal has been turned into several ponds. All around, dried tree trunks, roots, and branches are scattered.

When asked who is behind this, Sohel said it is not possible to disclose their names.

According to Maheshkhali Forest Division’s Gorokghata Range office records, the first case regarding mangrove forestland grabbing was filed in 1989. The accused was Moksud Mia, a resident of Pokkhali Union in Cox’s Bazar. No further details are known about him.

The second case was filed in 2003, again naming Moksud Mia. Another case in the same year mentioned Moshtaq Ahmed as one of the masterminds. In a 2013 case filed by the Department of Environment, Moshtaq Ahmed and his son, Maheshkhali upazila Jubo League’s general secretary Shazedul Karim, were also named.

The name of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Almagir Farid also came up in land grabbing, though he faces no case yet. In 2003, allegedly under his leadership, mangrove land was seized for shrimp farms. Around 2007, the joint forces destroyed shrimp enclosures run by his family members in Sonadia. Names of other alleged local influential figures include Md Shikdar, lawyer Shahabuddin, and Md Ershad also.

Awami League’s former MP Asheq Ullah Rafiq has been accused of patronising the encroachers during his tenure. His cousin Shamsher Ullah has been named as an accused in forest department cases.

Forest officials say whenever they attempted raids or cases against mangrove destroyers, they would receive calls from Asheq Ullah Rafiq, who argued, “If these people cannot make a living from shrimp or salt farming, they will turn to robbery. Let them earn somehow.”

Calls to his phone went unanswered, as he has not been in the area since the July uprising.

Former BNP lawmaker from Maheshkhali–Kutubdia, Almagir Mohammad Mahfuzullah Farid, told Prothom Alo that most of the land grabbing occurred during the final days of the Awami League government, especially after 5 August of last year.

He admitted he once had shrimp enclosures, and joint forces filed cases against him during the 1/11 army-backed caretaker government. Recently, he was acquitted.

In July 2024, the Department of Environment filed a case naming Maheshkhali upazila’s Swechchhasebak League president, Mohsin Anwar.

On 18 May, another case listed Kutubjom Union unit BNP general secretary, Almagir Chowdhury, as the first accused. Others include Maheshkhali unit Jubo League joint secretary and Kutubjom Union Parishad chairman Sheikh Kamal, his younger brother Sheikh Almagir, and 10 more BNP and Awami League leaders from the union.

When asked, Sheikh Kamal, chairman of Kutubjom Union and joint general secretary of the Moheshkhali Upazila Jubo League, told Prothom Alo that what he had said earlier still remains his statement.

On 18 May, he had told Prothom Alo that he had no shrimp farms in Sonadia. He himself had been vocal against the destruction of mangroves.

Sheikh Kamal also claimed that in a meeting of the law and order committee, he had called for the eviction of shrimp enclosures.

Kutubjom Union unit BNP general secretary Almagir Chowdhury claimed he is being victimised, saying it was his father, not him, who owns a shrimp farm.

From 2010 to May 2025, some 196 cases were filed by the forest department, with about 1,000 accused. According to their list, 930 people are involved in grabbing mangrove land.

According to Range Officer Ayyub Ali, his two ranges, Gorokghata and Charandwip, cover 46,210 acres of mangroves. Of these, 12,563 acres are already occupied.

He said destruction has increased since Sonadia was handed over to BEZA (Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority) in 2021. Recently, the interim government cancelled BEZA’s allotment, and the land is in the process of being returned to the forest department.

Speaking about this, Maheshkhali’s upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Hedayet Ullah said, “We recently identified 45 kilometers of embankments. We have requested Tk 42 million (4.2 crore) from the government for its removal. The Navy is conducting regular drives in Sonadia.”

He added that permanent Ansar camps or forest outposts must be established to protect mangroves, as criminals take advantage of the remoteness.

To occupy mangroves, canals are dammed, cutting off water flow, and trees are felled. Stumps are later uprooted and piled up. Once dried, they are burned, leaving the land cleared like farmland. The whole process takes 1–2 months and requires Tk 5 million (50 lakh) to Tk 10 million (1 crore) in investment for labour and dredgers, according to local environmentalists.

SM Rubel, chief executive of Youth for Ecology Conservation, said the occupation process has multiple layers. Investors are at the top, rarely visible. For 50–100 acres of forest, Tk 5 million (50 lakh) is invested, sometimes the amount surpasses Tk 10 million. Workers are named in most of the lawsuits. If strong action had been taken against the influential, such damage to the mangroves would not have occurred.

He further said the deadly 1991 cyclone killed countless people in Maheshkhali. The mangroves were planted to protect coastal communities. Now they are being destroyed by greed, with the complicity of administration, forest department, and police.

Local teacher and poet Sirajul Haque said, “We still cannot forget the 1991 cyclone that killed hundreds of thousands. These mangroves became a natural shield against cyclones and tidal surges. With them gone, embankments are weakening and collapsing. With global warming, natural disaster risks are rising. If a major natural disaster strikes in the future, a catastrophic outcome awaits us.”

Local influential people have been destroying thousands of acres of mangroves in Sonadia mainly to build salt fields and shrimp enclosures. Shrimp farming in the monsoon season and salt cultivation in the dry season—the lure of income from these two sources has made them reckless.

None of the owners of the shrimp enclosures and salt cultivators, established by clearing mangroves, agreed to talk about profits.

However, a person from Maheshkhali with the knowledge of salt business told Prothom Alo that 1,000 to 1,300 maunds of salt are produced per acre. Each maund of salt is sold at Tk 500 to Tk 600 directly from the fields. Some people take the salt directly to the mills and sell it there; in that case both the quantity and price of the salt increase. On average, the annual income per acre is Tk 800,000.

By that calculation, if someone occupies 20 acres of mangroves, then from salt alone his income would be about Tk 16 million (1.6 crores). Added to that is shrimp farming during the monsoon, which yields several times more profit than salt.

In the monsoon season, bagda (prawn) are farmed on areas ranging from about 100 acres to 1,000 acres. In Sonadia, there are around 50 such shrimp projects. There are about 15 more shrimp projects in the surrounding Ghatibhanga and Bara Maheshkhali mouzas of Sonadia. Locals said mangrove cutting is still going on to the west of Ghatibhanga.

Each shrimp project has been established on about 500 acres of land. Each such project generates an annual income of around Tk 20 million (2 crores) to Tk 25 million 2.5 crores). However, no one could provide information about shrimp production.

Although the Coastal Forest Department has filed 196 cases over mangrove destruction, the Coastal Forest Department’s Maheshkhali Range Office has no idea about the status of these cases.

Range Officer Ayub Ali told Prothom Alo, “I have no clear idea about the disposal of cases. Cases drag on for 10–15 years. Since I took charge, I have not seen any instance where punishment has been delivered.”

Md Kashem, who handles forest cases in the Maheshkhali Range, told Prothom Alo, “It is difficult to say how many verdicts we have received. Getting a verdict is a long process. It takes a long time. There are various kinds of challenges as well.”

Md Kashem explained that once a case is filed, it remains stalled until the accused surrenders to the court. If they surrender, a warrant is issued. If they do not surrender, the court issues a proclamation. That has to be published in newspapers. The trial begins in the absence of the accused. These processes take many years. Most of the time, the officer who files the case is transferred elsewhere within a couple of years. Witnesses also get transferred to different places. All in all, these cases proceed through a very complicated process.

Since the deforestation of Sonadia island, migratory birds are no longer seen. A recent survey by “Waterkeepers Bangladesh,” an organisation working on environment and nature conservation, stated that until 2015, the world’s rare spoon-billed sandpiper was sighted on Sonadia island. Since 2015, this bird has disappeared from Sonadia.

In the island’s mangroves, there used to be 250 species of fish, 150 species of snails and oysters, 50 species of crabs, 40 species of shrimp, 170 species of birds, 50 species of dune plants, 15 species of mangrove plants, three species of dolphins, as well as sea turtles, fishing cats, foxes, snakes, monitor lizards, and various other species. Now, more than half of them have become extinct.