Saving forests from plunder

WITH an understaffed department lacking in adequate logistic support to look after forests, the government is oddly matched against poachers and land grabbers to protect what is left of the country's forestland of about 1.50 million hectares.  The tree coverage of the country now stands at around 10 per cent which is far below the necessary level of 25 per cent of the total land area. It is hardly surprising that Bangladesh is fast losing its forests along with the flora and fauna they contain thereby leaving its environmental balance in grave peril.  
Reports have it that to meet the manpower shortage, the forest department, as a makeshift arrangement, has placed a large number of boatmen as forest guards. Worse still, these boatmen-cum-guards are provided with guns that they are not trained to use. Small wonder our forests are victims of its own gatekeepers turned poachers, let alone by robbers coming from outside.
This adhocist and stopgap approach to conserve our forest sounds like a dangerous joke. The government must act fast to put an end to this state of affairs.
It's indeed unacceptable that out of some 10,240 approved posts, the forest department is at present running short of 2668, which is around 26 per cent of the total. The government must fill these vacant positions with special attention to field level personnel. At the same time, to keep loggers, poachers and land grabbers away, there should be adequate logistic support including firearms, transports as well as necessary training for the forest guards. In addition, steps need to be taken to introduce modern forest conservation technology replacing the existing outmoded one.