The upazila administration in Alfadanga, Faridpur, has made government approval compulsory for cutting trees on privately owned land, in the name of protecting the environment and stopping unplanned felling. From now on anyone wishing to fell a tree on their own land must obtain prior permission, and the administration has warned of legal action against those who do not.

A special public notice from the administration states that under the Forest and Tree Conservation Act 2026, any person must obtain a permit from the tree conservation officer — the divisional forest officer — before cutting a tree on land they own. Anyone who fells trees without approval will face a case directly under section 10 of the Act.

To make the rule and its penalties known, the administration ran a day-long loudspeaker campaign on Wednesday through the upazila's markets and villages, on the instructions of the upazila nirbahi officer.

Sheikh Liton, the upazila forest officer, said the requirement is not meant to subject people to administrative harassment; its purpose is to protect the ecological balance and to stop indiscriminate, illicit felling. The administration expects the campaign and the stricter stance to reduce tree cutting in Alfadanga substantially.

In rural Bangladesh the trees on homesteads and field boundaries are both a family's savings and its fuel; applying the new law adds a permit step before such trees can be sold or cut, with direct consequences for homestead forestry.

Based on reporting by Ekattor TV's Faridpur correspondent. Source: Ekattor TV