Bamboo resources are being plundered without regulations threatening ecological balance and biodiversity as 23 estates across four ranges in Moulvibazar left without lease.
Organised syndicates are reaping benefits of this vacuum by cutting bamboo and cane during nights and smuggling across the country by gloating them down the streams.
Once a major source of government revenue, Forest Department has failed to attract bidders Despite several tenders.
According to Forest Department sources, Moulvibazar district’s four forest ranges collectively host 23 bamboo estates covering approximately 40,055 acres. Rajkandi and Juri ranges each have seven estates, Barlekha four, and Kulaura five.
The Sylhet Forest Division invited tenders on 20 April for the 2025–26 fiscal year, but no registered lessee participated. With no official lessees, large-scale looting continues unchecked across all estates.
Rajkandi is the largest range in the district.
A recent visit to Rajkandi Range’s Lewachhara, Baghachhara, Kurmachhara, Sonaraichhara and Daluachhara estates revealed a grim scene: freshly cut stumps, barren hills, and ashes from burnt areas where evidence of illegal logging had been destroyed.
With no leases in place, bamboo worth crores of taka are being cut and sold indiscriminately. As most of the estates lie deep inside the forest with little human movement, the smugglers easily evade surveillance, floating the bamboo through streams.
Assistant Forests Conservator of Sylhet Forest Division Mohammad Nazmul Alam acknowledged the leasing stalemate.
“There are some administrative and legal complications behind the absence of leases,” he said.
“A field team is now assessing the available bamboo stock and regeneration capacity of each estate. Once the report is received, tenders will be invited for sustainable leasing where feasible. We are also conducting regular drives against illegal logging and smuggling,” he added.
Several former lessees said the government’s tender pricing has made leasing unprofitable, as the official rate for bamboo is now higher than its selling price.
“It leads to inevitable losses, so no one is interested anymore,” one of them, seeking anonymity, said.
They also alleged that a few previous lessees plotted with forest officials to inflate bid prices, creating complications that now discourage new participants.
To conceal evidence of theft, smugglers often set fire to the forest. Such fires not only destroy traces of the crime but also devastate biodiversity.
In March 2023, a massive blaze ravaged the Patharia Hills Reserve Forest’s Somanbag Beat in Juri and Barlekha upazilas after extensive bamboo cutting. Forest Department officials claimed only two hectares were damaged, but on-site observation revealed at least 12 hills burned across an estimated 40 hectares in Dholchhari, Makaljhora and Alambari areas.
Locals alleged that some forest officials are indirectly involved in the trafficking.
“Their backing allows the cutting and arson to continue unchecked,” one villager said, adding that the forest, once home to wild elephants, has turned into a wasteland.
“Once the harvest is done and the bamboo floated away, the fires start the next day, killing countless wild animals,” one resident said.
Sadeq Ali, a bamboo trader from Sagar Dighi in Sreemangal, said, “We sell bamboo in the market every day, but we haven’t been able to buy from official bamboo estates for a long time. The big traders have taken over.”
Environmentalists say Moulvibazar’s natural bamboo forests were once among Bangladesh’s biggest supply sources, but poor management and rampant illegal logging have brought them to the brink of collapse.
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) Moulvibazar unit president Saleh Sohel said, “Illegal bamboo trading has become a lucrative business. With no enforcement of law, nobody wants to take leases anymore. If it continues, bamboo and cane will disappear within a few years. It’s time to abolish the leasing system and introduce sustainable bamboo management.”
Moulvibazar Environmental Journalists Forum president Syed Mohsin Parvez echoed the concern.
“The bamboo estates are not just a source of revenue; they are part of our hilly ecosystem. Administrative weakness and departmental negligence are destroying these forests,” he said.
