Forest Minister: The indigenous people will not be exempted in any way if they damage the forest
Dhaka: Md. Shahab Uddin, the Minister of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change said, ‘Forests and wildlife are still abundant in Bangladesh and we have to keep it in any way. If there is a forest then there will certainly live the wildlife. And if there is no forest, there is no way to protect wildlife.’
The Minister said all this while speaking as chief guest in the discussion meeting on ‘Sustainable Forests and Prosperous Bangladesh’ topic on Thursday (March 11) at 12 noon in the Capital’s Hoimonti Auditorium of Bana Bhaban, Agargaon. The discussion was jointly organized by the Forest Department and Nature and Life Foundation.
Mentioning that there are many claimants in the forest, the minister said, the Indigenous of our country lives in the forest. If they damage the forest instead of protecting then they cannot be called Indigenous in any way.
So, it will be our request for the Indigenous, the forests of the country will not be damaged by you and if you damage instead of protecting the forests, then we will no longer consider you as Indigenous.
The minister said, ‘Many people are destroying the balance of the environment by building houses in the reserved forests. We have taken a policy decision regarding these issues. They all must come out of this reserved area in accordance with the law and regulations and inspire the people of the country.’
He said, the Sundarbans beside the Bay of Bengal are our barrier or protecting charm. If the Sundarbans are not protected, then the day is not far away when some parts of Khulna, Barishal, Patuakhali will be submerged in the sea.
Once the Sundarbans are destroyed, then the Bay of Bengal will start to break. It can no longer be saved. The Sundarbans have protected us from Aila, cyclones and everything that has happened in the country.
Mr. Mahmud Hasan, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Muqeed Majumder Babu, Chairman of Nature and Life Foundation, Dr. A. K. M Rafiq Ahmed, Director General of the Department of Environment and many more people attended the function presided by Md. Amir Hossain, the Chief Forest Conservator of the Forest Department.
