Bangladesh’s forest recovery drive is continuing alongside scrutiny over thousands of acres allocated to government-linked institutions and concerns over illegal occupation.
Bangladesh has recovered about 2,300 acres of forest land in the five months since the current government took office, the state minister for environment, forest and climate change told parliament on Sunday, while 4,817.02 acres have been leased to several government-linked institutions.
State Minister Sheikh Faridul Islam gave the figures in response to a question from reserved-seat lawmaker Mosammat Shammi Akhter concerning forest land encroachment in Habiganj district.
Akhter asked whether any forest land in Madhabpur and Chunarughat upazilas of Habiganj had been leased to individuals.
In reply, Islam said there was no provision for leasing forest land to individuals and that no forest land in the two upazilas had been leased to any person.
He said 4,752 acres had been allocated for rubber plantations operated by the Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation, a government institution, while 45.39 acres had been given to a gas field company, six acres for telephone and telegraph services and 13.63 acres to the Bangladesh Power Development Board.
The total area leased was 4,817.02 acres of forest land, the state minister said.
In a supplementary question, Akhter said government data showed that Habiganj had 11,444 hectares of forest land, of which about 4,590 hectares were being used officially. She said most of the remaining forest land had been illegally occupied and asked what steps the government was taking to address the issue.
Islam said about 2,300 acres of forest land had been recovered between February 17 and July 31 after the current government assumed office, adding that the process was continuing.
“Lists have been sent to the district administrations to identify forest land under illegal occupation. The process of recovering these lands will continue in phases,” he said.
Reserved-seat lawmaker Bithika Binte Hossain also asked about government action over allegations of illegal resort construction on Saint Martin’s Island, a coral island in Bangladesh.
Islam said he had visited Saint Martin’s on August 8 and that the issue of illegal construction had been brought to the attention of the local and district administrations.
“I hope we will be able to stop this within a very short time,” he said.
In response to a question from Md Mobasher Alam Bhuiyan, a lawmaker from the Cumilla-10 constituency, Islam, speaking on behalf of the environment, forest and climate change minister, said global warming was increasing because of climate change, along with heat-related illnesses and deaths.
According to the Global Climate Risk Index 2026, Bangladesh ranks 13th among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, he said.
