Vast tracts of forest area illegally occupied

Vast expanses of the country's forest area are being gobbled up by powerful quarters. Over the past two years and four months, around 11 thousand acres of forest land has been forcefully occupied. And from the independence of Bangladesh till now, the total area of illegally grabbed forests stands at 280,000 acres, which is equal to the entire Magura district is size.

These influential land grabbers have cleared the forests to set up housing and industries. These facts were revealed in a recent report of the forest department, submitted on Monday to the parliamentary standing committee for the environment, forests and climate change ministry.

According to unofficial records, however, much more forest areas have been occupied than officially acknowledged. According to a report released on 26 July by the international organisation Global Forest Watch, 278,000 acres of forest land in Bangladesh was destroyed from 2001 to 2018. This constitutes almost 8 percent of the country’s forest land. The highest area of forest land was destroyed in 2017, amounting to around 70,000 acres. Over the past five years, 231,043 acres of forests have been wiped out.

The forest department’s report states that 160,000 acres of forest land has been allocated so far to public and private organisations, the armed forces and law enforcement agencies. Of this, 1893 acres used to be reserved forests.

Speaking to Prothom Alo about the matter, environment secretary Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury said, “We have drawn up an initial report of illegally occupied land and further details are being gathered. After that we will take initiative to free these forest lands from illegal occupation.”

There are 6,368,859.17 acres of forest land in the country, according to official records of December 2016. The area of illegally occupied forest land till that time stood at 268,265 acres.

Over the past two years since then, the highest amount of forest land was grabbed in the Chittagong region. This grabbed land totalled 24,332 acres, of which 18,412 was in areas under the Cox’s Bazar North forest department. Also, 2834 acres were taken over in the coastal region, 4992 acres in the Bogura region and 512 acres in the wildlife region.

At the same time, the forest department has freed unlawfully occupied forest land in certain areas over the past two years. This includes 21,977 acres of land in the central zone (Dhaka). However, 141,165 acres of forest land in the zone still remains under illegal occupation.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), trees absorb over half of the carbon dioxide produced in the world. Trees also retain 70 percent of the fresh water from rains and rivers. Around 10 to 15 per cent of the people in this world still depend on forests for their livelihood and it is almost the same percentage in Bangladesh. A country requires 25 percent forest land in order to maintain its overall environmental balance, but according to official statistics, this is only 12 percent in Bangladesh.

Head of the parliamentary standing committee on the environment, forest and climate change ministry, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, told Prothom Alo, forest areas must be increased in the country to maintain its environmental balance. But the forest department report shows that the government-declared forest areas are being unlawfully occupied by powerful and influential grabbers.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury said, “We have asked the forest department not to lease out any forest areas without the prime minister’s approval. We have also recommended a national taskforce to free the large stretches of occupied forest areas.”

Who occupy the forest areas?

The institutions allocated forest land by the government include the army (92,519 acres), the air force (1149 acres), the navy (167 acres), RAB (40 acres), and BGB (47 acres). Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation has been allocated 43,095 acres. Other government and private organisations have been given 23,013 acres.

The state-run Eastern Refinery is setting up an unrefined oil depot in the reserved forests of Maheskhali. Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) has been given land on the Sonadia island. Forest areas are also being used for training and infrastructure construction of various security forces.

Former chief conservator of forests Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo, forest area does not merely mean some trees. It means biodiversity of wild life and varied plant life. These forests are not created overnight. But once these areas are grabbed, the forests are destroyed within a matter of months. We do not even know what resources these forests hold before they are taken over. We do not know what we have lost.”

Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmed, also former country representative of IUCN, added that the government should carry out a full-fledged assessment of the country’s forest areas before leasing out such land. The highest government authority should be used to recover these vast forest areas, he said.