Forests vanishing in Patuakhali coasts

Beauty and bountry disappearing..Roots of dead trees (left) and a thief in action. at the Char Gangamoti beach. The photos were taken last week. PHOTO: STAR

Local people alleged that the gangs are stealing valuable timber trees from forests in coastal areas of Kalapara and Galachipa upazila in connivance with a section of forest department staff and law enforcers.

Scores of valuable trees like Sundary, Kewra, Garan and Karai are being taken away from reserve forests in Fatrar Ban, Char Gongamoti, Souar Char, Nishan Baria and Kachop Khali lake every night. These are loaded in trawlers and sent to different areas including Dhaka and Chittagong. Parts of these are also sold at nearby sawmills.

Forest officials sometimes recover stolen timber and arrest people, but this is only an eyewash, they alleged.

When contacted, Patuakhali Forest Division sources said they are trying their best to stop the illegal felling of trees.

"We recovered about 500 cft Sundary timber from three trawlers on Kalagachia river on February 17 and arrested 15 people", one official said.

On the other hand, trees in reserve forests along the coasts are dying in large scale.

Forest officials and local people said thousands of timber trees in vast areas of Char Gongamoti, Kuakata, Khajura, Lambun Char and Kawer Char under Kalapara upazila have died.

Death of trees was noticed about six years back. Trees are dying in large scale now, local people said.

Some officials suspect that the trees are dying as their roots can not suck sweet water because of deposit of two to three feet sand in the beach, carried by tidal wave.

Forest officials said excessive deposit of sand is harmful for mangrove forest.

The forests can be saved if the sand layer is removed. But it is costly.

But other officials differ with the view. There could be other reasons they said but could not specify.

This correspondent during a visit to Kuakata sea beach last week saw hundreds of left over roots after people took away dead trees.

Abdul Mannan, 40, of Char Gangamoti said the withering process starts four to five months after their roots are covered with sand.