Part of the Modhupur National Park. This is the forest many would like to see throughout Modhupur and Banana garden on the forestland after felling. Photo: Philip Gain
The war against “illegal” banana plantation in the Modhupur sal forest has been resumed from August 1, 2007. Throughout August, the Forest Department (FD), with support of the security personnel, has engaged hundreds of non-local labourers everyday in chopping down the banana gardens and planting acacia.
The Forest Department (FD) carried out the first round of its war against banana on 13, 14, 15 and 22 February, and 7 March. After 7 March, the government gave time to the banana cultivators and advised them to voluntarily stop banana plantation on the forestland after the harvest of their standing crops.
In a meeting on 9 March, the forest and environment adviser Dr. C.S. Karim, formed a 12-member committee (two chairmen of two union councils in forest area were later co-opted to the committee) including the Garos and sought suggestions from the committee as regards eco-park, protection of sal forest, land use practices, etc.
On the day of the first meeting of the committee, on 18 March, the alleged killing of Chalesh Ritchil took place. Four meetings of the committee took place ever since. However, none of the members from among the Garos and NGOs got minutes or report of any meeting.
A high official in the Forest Department (FD) said on 17 August, “Illegal banana gardens are being cut again and plantation is being carried out on land where illegal banana gardens were cut months ago. Such land amounts to 3,600 acres. Our target of chopping banana plantation this year will be fulfilled by the end of August.”
“In our current raid against banana plantation the main targets are the Bengalis who have engaged the Garos in illegal cultivation on the forestland. We will not spare any marauder on the forestland,” warned the FD official. “We want the Adivasis to participate in forestry programmes and stay protected. A Garo household participating in the forestry will get one ha of land and share benefits from plantation. We are yet to work out the details of the participation mechanism. We will consider the suggestions from the committee and experts in this regard.”
In the war against banana, the Garos find themselves in an inept condition. In the recent years, they have been indeed got heavily engaged in banana plantation that brings them quick and handsome cash. However, the top players behind the banana cultivation are the Bengali traders who brought the idea of banana cultivation on a massive scale. They also provided cash. The Garos in most of the forest villages in Modhupur even replaced their age-old gardens of pineapple, jackfruits, lemon, etc. with banana. Now they find that hope for big and quick cash banana further complicates their land questions.
With typical vegetation disappearing with the invasion of banana, the Garos are in real difficult situation in establishing their traditional rights over the high land. They normally have title deeds for the low land (baid) but in most cases, they do not have title deeds for the highland they have been occupying from time immemorial. These highlands with native vegetation were gradually declared as protected or reserved at different times after the abolition of the Zamindari system.
The Garo representatives on the committee to resolve the problem in the Modhupur sal forest say they were surprised when the raid against banana resumed on 1 August. As the days passed by the intensity of raid increased and the number of hired labourers raised.
To give an idea how the daily raid against banana takes place let us see the picture of one day. On 17 August, approximately 500 labourers, with dao (homemade chopper) and spade in hands swooped on banana gardens in Atashbari-Nayanpur area. The security personnel were present on the spot. Present on the spot were also officials of the Forest Department and administration. Few hundred Garos, most of them women, assembled and helplessly appealed to the government officials to spare the banana gardens. Their appeal was ignored and the banana plants in the area were felled.
On the same day, a similar group of hired laborers was reportedly engaged in another part of the forest to clear banana gardens. The top cats behind the banana plantation, the Bengali traders who make heavy investment in banana, remained largely unseen.
The government officials were telling the Garos that they were recovering forestland and planting trees with the consent of their leaders on the committee. However, one Garo leader on the committee refuted the claim. “The FD has not followed our decisions about planting trees in place of banana gardens,” said the leader. He complained that he has not received any reports of any of the meetings although he has asked for it repeatedly. “We agreed to plant trees ourselves; not the way it is being done now”. He also complained that no village demarcation or survey was conducted.
A high official in the FD says it is because of dearth of saplings of local species that acacia is being planted. He claims some local species have also been planted. “From next year we will plant more local species,” says the FD official.
Bringing back the forest: A tough task
Ideally, the forest of native species, especially sal, must be established after the termination of banana plants. Why? Because the exotic species — acacia and eucalyptus (planting of this alien was stopped after the first rotation) — in particular planted under “social forestry” in Modhupur have proven to be politically and ecologically mistaken. The “social forestry” itself has been blamed to be a sugarcoat for plantation.
The Garos who are seemingly innocent victims of commercial banana plantation, now find that after chopping down of banana plants acacia is being planted. The environmentalists are also very unhappy. Although some FD officials would call acacia a “soldier tree” meaning it can survive tough climate condition, this alien is perhaps good for fuelwood but cannot be a replacement for the native sal or other local species. The ADB and World Bank that funded massive-scale plantation of this alien species have withdrawn from the forestry sector altogether leaving the Forest Department and other stakeholders on a hotspot, very difficult to manage.
Therefore, while the government officials keep telling the Garos that they are out there to protect them and bring back the native vegetation, the first people of the forest who have the knowledge of traditional forest management see no direction and become even more worried.
The participation of the Garos in afforestation proposed by the FD is also not welcome by the Garos. They have the bitter experience of woodlot and agroforestry that have rapidly eaten up the native forests. Almost the same model the FD talks about brings no better option for them.
Invasion by banana
Many see the massive-scale banana plantation on the forestland as a multiplier effect of manmade “forests” among other things. The idea of this so-called manmade forest sugarcoated as “social forestry” came along the loans from the concessional window of the Asian Development Bank. In Modhupur monoculture plantation of primarily exotic acacia and eucalypts took place under two ADB funded projects — Thana Afforestation and Nursery Development Project (TANDP) and Forestry Sector Project (FSP). TANDP with two major components — woodlot and agroforestry — started in 1989 and ended in 1995. When monoculture started with the ADB loan, the local people were appalled to see that the native sal coppices were indiscriminately cut to prepare grounds for the manmade forests.
Ten years later people found most of the plantation stolen or officially harvested. The land became vacant, perfect ground for invasion by banana and papaya plantation. Pineapple was already there. Outsiders invaded the forestland for large-scale banana and papaya plantation. They lured the Garos even to convert their home gardens into banana gardens. This process started largely due to ADB’s investment strategies in the forestry sector, it is generally believed.
After the first rotation of plantation, the government awaited another loan from ADB for the Fores
try Sector Project (FSP). The project that was supposed to start in 1997 was much delayed. In the meantime, ADB made Bangladesh Government to amend the Forest Act of 1927 in favor “social forestry” that is essentially plantation. The delay caused the forestland to remain vacant for a longer period. The banana, papaya and pineapple cultivators took control of the forestland and spoiled it thoroughly in a short period. The allegation that the corrupt FD officials turned out to be accomplices for extra cash is not unfounded.
For the last few years, the Modhpur Salbon (sal forest) has gained an infamous image as Modhupur Kalabon (banana forest). According to a top FD source, the sal patches in the Modhupur survive only on 6,000 acres today (2007). According to the DFO of Tangail [in 2004] who is now hiding with corruption charges, out of 46,000 acres in Tangail part of the Modhupur sal forests 25,000 acres had gone into illegal possession and the FD controlled only 9,000 acres by 2004.
How come such massive-scale grabbing of the forestland occurred? Why did the FD [that now takes advantage of the state of emergency in recovering the forestland] stay passive? These questions need to be seriously addressed in understanding what have gone wrong in Modhupur.
The FD has apparently targeted 3,600 acres of forestland for recovery and plantation this year. What about the bigger chunks of the forestland illegally grabbed? There are many evidences how the forestland given out for plantation has been abused by the banana and papaya cultivators. There are indeed many papaya gardens illegally established on the forestland. In the war against banana, papaya plantations also illegally established on the forestland, remain unattended for now.
However, a top FD official says that they will deal with the illegal papaya plantation at a later stage.
What really need to be done?
A look over the protected parts of the Modhupur National Park from the two towers recently built in Dokholoa and Lohoria gives us a ray of hope. The monsoon greenery of the native vegetation is absolute. This is what we want gradually expanded in other parts within the forest boundaries. For that, here are some suggestions to ponder.
Thorough inventories:
Inventories as regards exactly how much of the Modhupur sal forest is left today and how much of the forestland has been illegally occupied can provide handles for right direction in saving native patches and expanding them. It is not just the banana, an inventory of papaya and pineapple gardens need to be done. A complete list of the marauders on the forestland should be made public, Then the crusade against them will become transparent and effective with public support. Different stakeholders, environmentalists, and experts should participate in inventory exercise without fear.
Caution about choice of exotic species: One harsh reality about forests is that man can plant trees, but cannot create a native forest. In the Modhupur sal forest area, native vegetation had been cleared for planting exotic ones such as rubber, acacia and eucalyptus. External resources played an important role in it. While eucalyptus plantation was stopped after the first rotation of plantation, acacia continued in the second rotation that started around 2002. The invasive acacia remains to be a dominant species in plantation to date. For the sake of creating some forests, which is difficult indeed, local species — sal and others — must be preferred. In plantation efforts, seeds of local species must be fully utilised from the next season. The forest professionals including those in the Forest Department say, ‘complex’ or mixed plantation must be preferred to ‘simple’ or monoculture plantation.
Protection of Adivasis:
The Garos and the Koch are the original inhabitants of the Modhupur forest. Their traditional rights over highland need to be recognised. What the authority says overtly about their protection and that of the forest, must be materialised concretely. The Adivasi communities cannot survive without state protection. If they are protected, the forests are better managed.