‘10,000 trees to be cut down if safari park is built in Moulvibazar’s Lathitila forest’
Says Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) today demanded cancellation of a plan to convert Lathitila forest into a safari park in Moulvibazar.
According to BELA's Sylhet Coordinator Shah Shaheda Akhter, the forest department has a plan to build a safari park on 5,631-acre area of the forest.
"About Tk 980 crore has been allocated for this work. If roads are built for such a big project, about 10,000 trees will have to be cut down for implementing the project and hills will be damaged as well," Akhter said.
A 10-member delegation from the organisation visited Lathitila Forest in Goalbari of Juri upazila around noon today. The activists said there is still time to protect this area.
They talked to people of different classes and professions, including those living in the forest. The team includes Nurul Mohaimin Milton, general secretary of the Bangladesh Environmental Journalists Association, and Al Amin Sardar Reza, field officer of BELA.
Lathitila, is a forest beat of Juri Forest Range under Patharia Hill Reserve, is mostly hilly with only some plain land.