Take measures against the perpetrators

In the mountainous regions of the country, there are primarily four categories of forests: protected, reserved, privately owned, and uncategorized. Most of the protected and uncategorized forests are being indiscriminately deforested. Even under the vigilant supervision of the Forest Department, the activities of the offenders remain unchecked. In some areas, mountains are being cut down and destroyed. The unchecked destruction of mountain forests is not only causing environmental devastation but also leading to the extinction of various species inhabiting these forests, which is extremely alarming.

According to information from the international organizations Global Forest Watch and World Resources Institute, Bangladesh has lost 332,000 acres of forest land over the past seven years. Among the regions, Chittagong division is leading in terms of deforestation.

Usually trees are cut from the mountains and taken to various places including brick kilns, tobacco kilns and sawmills. However, in the mountainous Chittagong region, government approval is required to cut trees. Despite this, due to lack of supervision and enforcement, some individuals are illegally cutting down trees in the forests without permission.

Recently, though the forest department has increased special vigilance on protected forest areas, unclassified forest areas are completely unprotected. There has been no survey of these forest areas yet. The forest area that develops naturally in the land of these hills is included in the scope of unclassified forest area.

In addition, more than two hundred illegal sawmills have emerged haphazardly in the district. Half of them do not have permits from the Forest Department or the Department of Environment. Local political and regional influential leaders own most of these illegal sawmills. Despite the absence of any regulations regarding the establishment of sawmills within a 10-kilometer radius of protected forest areas as per forest and environmental laws, forest encroachers do not hesitate to establish them. Illegally, sawmills are being set up around protected forest areas, and timber is being illegally harvested day and night from these protected forests.

On the flip side, over six hundred hectares of land are converted to tobacco cultivation annually in the Khagrachari region. To produce the necessary tobacco leaves, approximately four million cubic meters of wood are required. And to meet this demand, trees of various sizes are being cut down in the mountains and transported to each tobacco kiln. As a result, forests and their environments are deteriorating rapidly. Additionally, due to deforestation, hundreds of species of trees and climbers are being lost. The decreasing habitat area is also leading to the extinction of dependent wildlife species in the forests. Moreover, due to deforestation, the water source has diminished by almost 61 percent.

Due to deforestation and tree cutting on the mountainsides, the risk of landslides intensifies every year. In 2007, landslides resulted in the deaths of 127 people, and in 2018, the toll rose to 160. After these human disasters, various initiatives were announced by the government. However, in reality, the effectiveness of these initiatives has not been observed.

According to the Forest Department, the total area of mountains in the country is approximately 13,77,000 hectares, accounting for about 9.33 percent of the total land area of the country. Of this, 6,70,000 hectares of mountain forests are under the control of the Forest Department. However, due to ruthless deforestation and tree cutting, the current area of mountains is not available from any government or non-government organization.

It is known that in connivance with a corrupt clique of the administration, the local rulers and businessmen have been destroying the hills and forests here for years. When such issues are highlighted in the media, some initiatives and attentiveness can be observed from the relevant authorities. Then everything returns to its previous state. Therefore, if we are to prevent the cutting of trees and mountains in mountainous regions, there is no alternative but to take strict measures against those involved in these activities in accordance with existing laws.