The Madhupur forests have almost disappeared, thanks to encroachment, neglect in preservation, corruption by forest officials, nepotism in leasing forestland and discriminatory attitudes towards indigenous people for decades. Once a large, dense forest and home of tigers, peacocks and langurs, Madhupur has now been reshaped with banana and pineapple orchards where harmful insecticide and chemicals are commonly used. Besides the use of chemicals hampering natural environment and biodiversity, high-pitched noise of sawmills overwhelms the chirping of birds in the forests. The country observes World Environment Day every year on this day while the vast forests continue to shrink due to years of indiscriminate grabbing by locals and influential people. Instead of preserving the natural vegetation, the forest officials have long been encouraging the people to plant alien acacia and eucalyptus trees. According to the Tangail Forest Department, around 58,000 acres of forestland in the district is still in possession of the encroachers. Of this grabbed land, around 20,000 acres lies in Madhupur, 19,500 acres in Sakhipur, 13,000 acres in Ghatail, 3,300 acres in Mirzapur and 150 acres in Kalihati upazilas. The forests in Tangail once stretched over 122,876 acres of land in five upazilas, 45,565 acres of which was in Madhupur, 47,220 acres in Sakhipur, 21,855 acres in Ghatail, 7,576 acres in Mirzapur and 669 acres in Kalihati, forest sources say. Of the total forests in the district, 55,476 acres is for the reserved forests, of which 38,232 acres is in Sakhipur, 7,225 acres in Mirzapur, 7,251 acres in Ghatail, 2,500 acres in Madhupur and 185 acres in Kalihati, the sources add. All these forests have shrunk due to indiscriminate cut and theft of trees and encroachment. Almost two-thirds of the forests in Tangail amounting to around 80,000 acres have already disappeared due to mindless cut of trees in connivance with a section of corrupt officials, the sources allege. The forest officials claim they could not take prompt action against the theft and encroachment on the forestland due to a shortage of workforce and logistics. They add the influential individuals having strong political clout have grabbed a vast stretch of forests using false and forged documents. "We are virtually helpless as about 4,500 forest related cases are pending with the courts," a forest official comments. The sources, however, claim a section of corrupt officials having links with powerful political quarters helped land grabbers encroach on the forests. Wholesale felling of trees had earlier increased following establishment of a number of brickfields and sawmills, most of which were illegal, near the forests. The forest department in the last 10 years also leased around 37,000 acres of forestland in the district under the social afforestation programme. Forestland is supposed to be leased to the local landless and the poor under the programme. But allegations are rife that influential people and outsiders got most of the leaseholds of the land in exchange of hefty sums of bribe. A clique of dishonest forest officials earned a huge amount of money from those leases, the sources allege. Forest officials, however, deny the allegations. Over 20,000 acres of forestlands out of 45,565 acres in Madhupur is still in possession of the encroachers. Besides, rubber gardening started in the area in 1987 on 10,000 acres of forestland. Four gardens have been raised in Pirgachha, Chandpur, Santoshpur and Kamalapur in the upazila after clearing the forests. Only 8,000 acres of land now covers what is left of the Madhupur forest. Outsiders and local influential people grabbed the forestland, felled trees indiscriminately and set up different fruit orchards, say sources in the local administration. They add the deforesters also constructed makeshift structures there to strengthen their position. The forests in Sakhipur, Ghatail, Mirzapur and Kalihati have undergone similar fate. Several markets also sprang up at different places in the district to sell stolen timber openly. Stealing valuable trees from the forests and encroaching on the land continued unabated until the declaration of the state of emergency. The forest department has so far recovered around 10,000 acres of land through motivation and use of force. Interestingly, over half of that land was recovered between January and July in 2007. Contacted, District Forest Officer Shah-e-Alam yesterday told The Daily Star the social afforestation programme continues on the recovered forestland in association with the local people. Only the forest department cannot save the forests, he said, adding the residents of the forest areas need to be involved to create awareness among them to save the forests.