Saving the vital forest resources
Friday, 25 December 2009
E. R. Bhuiyan
TREE plantation activities have been better in recent years compared to the past. But in the absence of equal enthusiasm to stop deforestation, the goals of afforestation are not getting fulfilled. Bangladesh has to perform in this vital area of resisting deforestation to make and consolidate gains in its afforestation programmes. There is still a long way to go for this country to reach the environmentally safe goal of having at least 25 per cent of its land territories under forests and vegetation.
As it is, even in the country's reserved forest areas, trees are still being cut down and this fact is admitted by the officials who ought to be concerned. They attribute such illegal actions to insufficient number of forest department guards and their inability to counter sometimes well armed gangs who engage in illegal tree felling. But as the arrest of the Chief Conservator of Forests two years ago showed, the problem is largely the corruption of forest department officials and not so much a shortage of manpower.
A new dimension has been added recently to tree cutting activities in reserved forests from opportunists taking political shelter and engaging in such illegal acts of a most reckless and uncaring kind. The recent such incidents in which many thousands of trees were cut down in the coastal areas of Cox Bazar and elsewhere in Chittagong, are cases in point.
In this backdrop, the Prime Minister last Wednesday suggested the formation of a tough law with no bail provisions to create deterrent effects against unauthorised tree felling. The relevant ministers in charge have been also warning such tree fellers with dire consequences. But all of these sayings are proving to be like empty threats devoid of results in the absence of actual demonstrated resolve to move unsparingly against the offenders. This heightens the need for introducing the proposed law at the fastest, followed by its stringent enforcement to really make an impact.
As for general supervision over forest resources, the relevant ministry needs to arrange it with the police for the latter to increase their presence and patrolling in the reserved forest areas and take other measures on its own to face up to the situation With locally produced coal becoming available, it should be easier to use coal in the brickfields. Besides, the government should also increase and extend supplies of natural gas extensively throughout the country -- as new gas reserves will reportedly come on stream -- so that use of the same in brickfields and other enterprises can lead to non use of wood. Furniture-making industries should be encouraged to use wood substitutes and even regulated to some extent to compulsorily use such substitute products.
Solar panels have been successfully introduced in some rural areas. With the government facilitating the import of solar panels and other equipment on easier terms, the use of these panels will rise swiftly in the rural areas with costs of their use coming down substantially. Such a development will ease the pressure on rural households to use firewood to meet their energy needs. Even power can be generated from small turbines to be run by winds and the same can meet the needs of energy widely in the rural areas and thus lead to significant reduction in the felling of trees. In sum, it is not enough to encourage only tree plantation ; it is very important to adopt the above and other measures and enforce them dedicatedly and scrupulously for the cumulative positive impact to occur in the long run.
Even population control is seen linked to afforestation. The clearing of vegetation and forests in the last three decades was seen directly linked to the rapid rise of population and their consumptive habits. Thus, even better results in population control will help afforestation.
TREE plantation activities have been better in recent years compared to the past. But in the absence of equal enthusiasm to stop deforestation, the goals of afforestation are not getting fulfilled. Bangladesh has to perform in this vital area of resisting deforestation to make and consolidate gains in its afforestation programmes. There is still a long way to go for this country to reach the environmentally safe goal of having at least 25 per cent of its land territories under forests and vegetation.
As it is, even in the country's reserved forest areas, trees are still being cut down and this fact is admitted by the officials who ought to be concerned. They attribute such illegal actions to insufficient number of forest department guards and their inability to counter sometimes well armed gangs who engage in illegal tree felling. But as the arrest of the Chief Conservator of Forests two years ago showed, the problem is largely the corruption of forest department officials and not so much a shortage of manpower.
A new dimension has been added recently to tree cutting activities in reserved forests from opportunists taking political shelter and engaging in such illegal acts of a most reckless and uncaring kind. The recent such incidents in which many thousands of trees were cut down in the coastal areas of Cox Bazar and elsewhere in Chittagong, are cases in point.
In this backdrop, the Prime Minister last Wednesday suggested the formation of a tough law with no bail provisions to create deterrent effects against unauthorised tree felling. The relevant ministers in charge have been also warning such tree fellers with dire consequences. But all of these sayings are proving to be like empty threats devoid of results in the absence of actual demonstrated resolve to move unsparingly against the offenders. This heightens the need for introducing the proposed law at the fastest, followed by its stringent enforcement to really make an impact.
As for general supervision over forest resources, the relevant ministry needs to arrange it with the police for the latter to increase their presence and patrolling in the reserved forest areas and take other measures on its own to face up to the situation With locally produced coal becoming available, it should be easier to use coal in the brickfields. Besides, the government should also increase and extend supplies of natural gas extensively throughout the country -- as new gas reserves will reportedly come on stream -- so that use of the same in brickfields and other enterprises can lead to non use of wood. Furniture-making industries should be encouraged to use wood substitutes and even regulated to some extent to compulsorily use such substitute products.
Solar panels have been successfully introduced in some rural areas. With the government facilitating the import of solar panels and other equipment on easier terms, the use of these panels will rise swiftly in the rural areas with costs of their use coming down substantially. Such a development will ease the pressure on rural households to use firewood to meet their energy needs. Even power can be generated from small turbines to be run by winds and the same can meet the needs of energy widely in the rural areas and thus lead to significant reduction in the felling of trees. In sum, it is not enough to encourage only tree plantation ; it is very important to adopt the above and other measures and enforce them dedicatedly and scrupulously for the cumulative positive impact to occur in the long run.
Even population control is seen linked to afforestation. The clearing of vegetation and forests in the last three decades was seen directly linked to the rapid rise of population and their consumptive habits. Thus, even better results in population control will help afforestation.