THE country has witnessed deforestation and the loss of forested land as successive governments have been ineffective in protecting the forests. It has seen a concerning loss of 8,390 hectares of humid primary forest, accounting for 3.5 per cent of all tree cover depletion, over the past two decades. The deforestation rate is almost double the global average because of changes in land use and encroachment of the forested land. In 2021, the forest department prepared a list of a total of 160,566 individuals and organisations that grabbed 2.57 lakh acres of forest land across the country. A majority of the encroachers have been linked with politically and financially influential quarters. Forest department officials, with no legal authority, for years have struggled to recover grabbed land from the influential quarters. The environment, forest and climate change adviser, who has for long been into environmental activism, has sadly failed to reverse the trend and recover the forest land. Of the total recovered land, only 2 per cent has been recovered since the fall of the Awami League regime in August 2024. In this context, the government鈥檚 plan to empower the forest department with the legal authority to enforce eviction orders is a welcome move, if implemented without delay.
The legal empowerment of the forest department is a positive move, but the amendment to the laws alone is not enough to protect the forest. The government needs to revisit its development policy, which often shows no regard for the environment. In 2019, the environment, forest and climate change ministry reported that about 1.6 lakh acres of forest land were handed over to various government agencies and establishments or used for development projects. The fallen Awami League regime took up many development projects on the forested land between Mirsharai in Chattogram and Teknaf in Cox鈥檚 Bazar. Successive governments have also failed to find a balance between agricultural productivity and environmental protection. In recent years, Chittagong Hill Tract forests have been illegally razed for cassava farming, destroying rich biodiversity. There are reports that forest department officials are often involved in the encroachment on land or the felling of trees. Legal empowerment of forest officials alone will not stop the deforestation unless the government takes action against the encroachers and revisits its ecocidal development policy.
The government鈥檚 plan to legally empower the forest department is commendable and must be realised without delay. At the same time, the government should take strict action against encroachers on forest land keeping to the list prepared by the forest department. Equally important is to revisit its development policy that allows acquisition of forest land for agricultural expansion and infrastructure development that has led to the degradation and fragmentation of forested land.
