Felling 6,000 Trees in Srimangal: Forest dept scraps plan after outcry

The forest department has halted its move to cut 6,632 trees in Srimangal, including natural fruit trees which are the source of food for wildlife, after it led to protests and drew flak from environmentalists.

The trees had been marked for felling under a social forestry programme in Chautali beat, close to the Lawachhara forest, in Srimangal upazila of Moulvibazar.

Visiting the Chautali beat area in mid-December, this correspondent found that Chapalis, Bohera, Dumur, Haritaki, Amlaki, Jamrul, Ritha, Dewwa, Lotkon, Lukluki, and wood nut trees, among others, have been marked and numbered in red.

Mohammed Shafiul Alam Chowdhury, chief forest conservator of the department, said they had already instructed the tree felling to be stopped when they came to know about the move.

“But we will still probe as you have raised the matter,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.

Local forest department officials earlier said the plan to cut the trees was made under the social forestry programme. But after media reports and local protests, they started saying the trees were marked for counting.    

The department undertakes social forestry programmes across the country, involving locals in planting quick growing trees which are cut down after a certain period. The proceeds are shared between the government and the participants.

The common trees planted under these programmes include non-native timber trees like Acacia, which are fast-growing and sold for wood.

Anisur Rahman, assistant conservator of forest of the wildlife management and nature conservation circle in Moulvibazar, made a visit to the area recently and submitted a report to the forest department’s central office.

On Monday, local forest department officials were told that the decision to cut the trees had been cancelled, he said yesterday.

“A meeting will be held with the participants who planted the timber trees before they are cut down,” he said.

“And no fruit trees will be felled.”

“In this meeting,” he added, “we also hope to decide that the Chautali beat will not be used for social forestry programmes in the future.”

‘WHY SOCIAL FORESTRY HERE?’

Lawachhara National Park is a reserved forest, well known for being home to primates including globally threatened species such as the Northern Pig-tailed Macaque, Phayre’s Leaf Monkey, Capped Langur, and the Western Hoolock Gibbon.

The Chautali beat, adjacent to the park, is spread over a 32-hectare land. Most of the plants here are around 100-year-old and these plants provide the daily diet of rare wild animals, said Saju Marchiang, a forest guide.

“We have seen rare animals feeding off fruit trees in Chautali beat and returning to Lawachhara. Cutting down these fruit-bearing trees will threaten their survival.”

Jabed Bhuiyan, joint convener of the Lawachhara Bon O Jib Boichitro Rokkha Andolon, said the number of large trees in the forest has decreased because of illegal logging and other human activities.

“Due to deforestation, sources of food for wildlife -- various fruits, leaves and flowers -- have dwindled, pushing many species to the brink of extinction. Now the forest department appears to be doing the same by marking trees to be cut down.”

“Why is social forestry being undertaken in a natural forest?” he asked.

Wildlife lover Biswajit Bhattacharjee Bapon, also member of a local wildlife conservation organisation, said trees like Acacia were not fit for this protected forest.

He also asked, “Why were the fruit trees marked?”

Abdul Karim Kim, executive member of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), said the Lawachhara forest was a precious asset of Bangladesh and should be protected by legal measures and proper management.

“Good laws are there but these are only facilitating more corruption instead of being properly implemented,” he said.

“The government should have considered the biodiversity of the rainforest before making such plans to cut these trees.”