UP chairman’s highhanded action

We are alarmed at the news of auctioning off some 240 live trees beside a road in a village in Lalmonirhat. Going by our report, the UP chairman and a UP member of Patgram upazila, with the help of the local administration and upazila forest officer, have auctioned off the trees—mostly mahogany, neem and eucalyptus—classifying those as dead.

Destruction of forests and illegal felling of trees have become a norm in the country. Global Forest Watch (GFW) and World Resources Institute (WRI)—the two international organisations working with forests—in their joint report in 2018 revealed that 3,32,000 acres of forestland were destroyed in Bangladesh in the last seven years. The natural forests of Gazipur, Tangail, Sylhet, Cox's Bazar and Chittagong Hill Tracts and many other districts have been destroyed for various government and non-government development projects over the years. Only last month, we learned from a Daily Star report that 700 acres of protected forest in Cox's Bazar was sought by the public administration ministry to build a civil service academy. Illegal tree felling by unscrupulous traders and influential local leaders for personal financial gains is also very common. Because of such mindless acts, Bangladesh currently has only 13 percent forestland, whereas it should be at least 25 percent.

We must stop destroying our forests and trees if we want to survive. And for that general people must come forward. In this particular case, it was heartening to note that the villagers protested the illegal move and filed a written complaint with the DC of Lalmonirhat. Now we hope the matter will be properly investigated and stern action taken against those responsible.