We must protect Tengragiri forest at any cost
We are outraged to learn that another reserved forest is being plundered by timber thieves who are felling and stealing trees indiscriminately, with no visible steps to stop them. According to a recent report by Prothom Alo, an organised criminal gang has been stealing trees from the Tengragiri mangrove forest and setting the stumps on fire to destroy evidence, in the process causing damage to the trees that still remain standing. Locals complained that this has been going on for a long time, alleging that these thieves are working in cohort with forest officials.
The Tengragiri forest, situated along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, stretches from Taltali upazila of Barguna to Kuakata in Patuakhali, covering 13,644 acres of area, according to data from the Forest Department. In 1960, it was designated as a reserved forest based on a survey done in 1927. Home to an incredible biodiversity system, Tengragiri is the second largest mangrove forest in Bangladesh, and is often called the "second Sundarbans."
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Such an invaluable gift of nature—which, much like the Sundarbans, acts as a natural barrier to calamities and protects the locals—already faces a host of threats to its survival, such as the rising sea level and increasing salinity due to global warming, erosion, etc. Its chances of survival are being further jeopardised because of the greed and recklessness of local influentials. A recent visit has revealed that 3,000 trees have been felled and stolen in the forest's Behular Char area. According to the Prothom Alo report, in March, a fire broke out there and burned as many as 10,000 trees, damaging a lot of others. What really puzzles us is that after the fire was reported, it took local forest officials 18 hours to reach the scene and bring the fire under control. Another fire incident happened in the Disirkilla area in April, but that was put out quickly enough, so the damage was minimal. For the March incident, the Forest Department filed a case against three suspects, who are already accused in a number of cases for tree robbery and smuggling, according to the report. However, the accused are out and about as all of the cases against them are still on trial.
When asked about their failure to prevent tree robbery and fire incidents, forest officials in Tengragiri cited lack of manpower and necessary resources, as well as logistical inconveniences. This seems to be their go-to excuse whenever there are reports of timber theft from reserved forests. We must ask: how difficult is it to ramp up the capacity of the Forest Department so that it can protect at-risk forest areas? Or is the concept of "reserved forest" lost on them? This lackadaisical attitude is totally unacceptable, especially considering Bangladesh's dwindling forest coverage. We urge the authorities to ensure that no further damage is done to what's left of our precious forests.
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