Encroachment and illegal structures are eating into the forests of Gazipur, yet an important part of the administration charged with protecting them is run from Dhaka. Local environmental campaigners have now demanded a separate forest division for Gazipur, among five demands.
Gazipur Paribesh Andolon and the Janashartha Unnayan Trust made the demands at a news conference at the Shayla Community Centre on Shaheed Niamat Road in Joydebpur at about 11am on Tuesday, 6 October.
Speakers said people living beside the forest have to travel to offices in the capital to apply, make contact or get administrative work done, wasting time and money. The present structure does not fit the realities of protecting Gazipur's forests, they said; monitoring and decision-making should sit as close as possible to the forest itself.
Md. Mehedi Hasan, managing trustee and chief executive of the Janashartha Unnayan Trust, said the future shape of the Dhaka forest division was not their concern; their demand was a separate Gazipur forest division for the district's woodland. Mosaddikur Rahman, president of Gazipur Paribesh Andolon, said laws and policies alone cannot save a forest without an effective administration, regular field monitoring and quick enforcement.
A separate division, the speakers said, would shorten the distance between the forest administration and the public, bring in local people and make protection more effective. Frederick Mukul Biswas, Enamul Haque, Md. Ismail Molla and Rafiqul Islam Rubel of Gazipur Paribesh Andolon were also present.
Photo: Salim Khandoker / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: samakal
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