Dying forests

Azizur Rahim peu / DRIKNEWS

Once our country was noted for its lush greenery. People from all over the world would call this country the “daughter of nature”. But the matter of great regret is that over the years our country has lost its beauty. For example now if we go to Madhupur we will see that most of those Sal trees of this area have been demolished. Only a few Sal trees can be seen in the Madhupur forests. The same appalling situation can be seen in the CHT and in the greater Sylhet district. Unlawful encroachment, illicit trade in forest-produce, incompatible use of forest land, lack of conservation initiatives to protect the flora and fauna, increased salinity, lack of accountability of the forest officials, absence of people's involvement in forest managementall these are the main reasons behind deforestation. This deforestation has severely affected our economic and ecological stability, forest dwellers and wildlife. We know well that a country needs 25% forest on its total land mass. But we have only 8% or 9% forests. So from this we can easily realise that very soon our country will turn into a desert, unless we, the citizens, do something to protect our forests.