Allocation of 700 acres ‘protected’ forest land cancelled

The government has canceled the arrangement of 700 acres of forest land allocated to the Ministry of Public Administration for the establishment of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Academy of Public Administration. This allocation was canceled at the request of Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Ministry of Water Resources.

This information was shared in a special press release signed by the Ministry's Public Relations Officer, Dipankar Bar, on Monday.

The press release stated that, through a letter signed by Aminur Rahman, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Land, dated November 10, the District Commissioner of Cox’s Bazar was requested to take appropriate action on the matter and submit a report to the Ministry of Land.

The 700 acres of land, located in the Jhilongja Mouza of Cox’s Bazar District, was allocated for the academy. Of this, 400 acres were listed under the 'Hill' category (BS 25001) and 300 acres under the 'Stream' category (BS 25010). Since this land has been declared as "Reserved Forest" in the land gazette, the arrangement has been officially canceled by directive.

Earlier, on August 29 this year, the Syeda Rizwana Hasan sent a semi-official letter on this matter. The letter stated that the allocated area had been declared as a protected forest under Section 29 of the Forest Act of 1927, which has been in effect since 1935. The 2,145.02 acres of land in this area are home to various species of trees, including Garjan, Chapalish, and Telsur, as well as wildlife such as elephants, monkeys, and wild boars. Afforestation activities were carried out in the forest in the years 2011-12 and 2012-13 to address climate change.

As the land was not officially listed as a "Reserved Forest" in the records, the Forest Department filed a lawsuit on the matter. Additionally, a writ petition was filed in the High Court seeking the cancellation of the land arrangement. The High Court issued a stay order, which has been upheld by the Appellate Division.

In 1999, Jhilongja Union was declared an environmentally sensitive area, and the cutting of trees in the forest, along with any alteration to its natural characteristics, was prohibited. The 700 acres of reserved forest fall within this environmentally critical area.

Article 18 (K) of the Constitution of Bangladesh and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity emphasize the commitment to forest conservation. Given the country's limited forest cover, this land arrangement was considered against the public interest.