Environmentalists and rights organizations have demanded the cancellation of a decision by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to allocate 20 acres of forest land for the construction of a technical centre of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF).
They also urged that all forest land in Cox's Bazar be protected.
This demand was made at a press conference organized under the banner of 11 organizations, including the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), at the National Press Club on wednesday.
Speakers alleged the government had already de-reserved 20 acres of the Khuniapalang reserve forest in Cox's Bazar and allocated it to BFF in a completely illegal manner.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of BELA, said the de-reservation of the forest conflicted with Section 27 of the Forest Act.
Social activist Khushi Kabir said: “Not only plants, but also other wildlife, air pollution and environmental pollution are related to the forests of Cox's Bazar. We want the development of football, but it must not destroy the country's natural resources.”
About 30,000 small and big trees have to be cut down in this important forest area of Ramu Upazila of Cox's Bazar to establish the BFF centre. The forest is home to critically endangered Asian elephants listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Besides, there are numerous species of plants and birds in this forest, including deer, wild boar, and monkeys.
Following a gazette notification on the de-reservation of the forest, the land was handed over to BFF by the forest department on July 4 this year.
Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, Cox's Bazar chief of the local environment rights organization Green Cox’s Bazar, said there is a constitutional commitment to protect the country's forests.
“There are laws, policies, court orders and administrative decisions. It is not understandable why the forests of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar districts are repeatedly being selected for deforestation in the name of development, despite the availability of cultivable fallow land and non-agricultural land in various districts of the country,” he said.
He added that the total area of khas land in Cox's Bazar is 68,000 acres, of which 12,000 acres are under illegal occupation. “Why isn’t this land being recovered for development work?”
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said: “FIFA did not order the construction of the centre by destroying the environment. The authorities should consider what embarrassing situations may arise, like the stoppage of FIFA funding after the approval of the construction of the BFF's center.”
A study in 2021 showed that the total forest area of Cox's Bazar district was 260,046 acres, of which 76,986 acres have been expropriated by recognized means. About 30% of the land was already occupied and 18% was grabbed by 43,568 illegal squatters and 696 institutions.