New safari park amidst already shrinking forests

We, along with environmentalists and forest inhabitants, are concerned about the government's plan to build the country's third safari park in the hilly, 5,141-acre Lathitila forest of Moulvibazar, Sylhet. Building this park will disrupt or even endanger the habitats of the existing wildlife and add to the shrinking of forest cover that has been happening over the last few decades. Though authorities claim that "environmental issues will be addressed and no one will be evicted", the history of not properly maintaining safari parks in our country and the government's seeming lack of concern for nature conservation in any regard makes this claim hard to believe.

According to the Forest Department's Forest Sector Master Plan natural hill forests were found to be occupying only 79,160 hectares of land in 2015, down from 128,630 hectares in 1990. Experts, such as the former chief conservator of forest, opine that the government's current focus should be "on preserving whatever forestland we have" instead of building structures and making them into tourist spots.

Safari parks can be established without further harming the biodiversity of a forest if they are maintained properly. In a DS report on this issue, Dr Mohammed Abu Sayed Arfin Khan, associate professor of forestry and environmental science at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, has been quoted saying that the key objective in this case seems to be bringing in exotic wildlife (belonging to foreign habitats) and promoting tourism, both of which will destroy the forest's biodiversity and environment. He thinks safari parks in Bangladesh fail because authorities focus more on constructing the park rather than managing the park sustainably.

While the study to find out the "environmental, physical and economic suitability for establishment of the safari park on the proposed site" is still being conducted by BETS Consulting Services Limited, both locals and experts are not keen on the idea of the safari park being built. The general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) in Sylhet, for instance, has told DS that Lathitila is not the ideal place for building the park as it is in a remote area and its nature requires conservation. He instead suggests areas such as the Barshijora Eco Park in Moulvibazar town, which is much more accessible. But he also believes that even then, nature conservation must still be the government's priority.

It should be no secret to the government that the country's forests are at great risk of being lost to unsustainable development. We would urge the concerned authorities to preserve whatever we have left of our natural forests, especially in the face of such rapid and mindless forest loss. It is a given that tourists will not treat the environment of the forest with as much care as do its inhabitants, unless the authorities ensure ecotourism.