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Ali told this correspondent that the plot had been in his family’s possession for nearly three decades.

When asked if he had any documents, he said he had none.

Tanveer Ahmed, beat officer in Sreepur upazila, said they recently recovered 10 acres out of at least 18 acres of forest illegally occupied by locals in Barmi mouza under the upazila. Around 10,000 saplings of 20 species of plants have already been planted on the recovered land.

Forest department data show that out of about 20,000 acres of forest in the upazila, 4,000 acres remain under illegal occupation.

Grabbing of forest land has been going on in Gazipur for decades. Out of 65,000 acres of forest in the district, 11,900 acres are still illegally occupied by individuals and entities.

Between August 2024 and February 2025, a total of 90 acres of forest were grabbed, and the forest department recovered 35 acres during the tenure of the interim government.

Gazipur has also become a deforestation hotspot, with 60 percent of forests cleared over the past two decades.

This was revealed in a recent study titled “Environmental Condition of Gazipur District: Consequences and Trajectory”.

In 2000, tree coverage in Gazipur was 98,701 acres, which declined to 39,966 acres by 2023, said the study conducted by the River and Delta Research Center, in collaboration with Bangladesh River Foundation, Prakriti O Jibon Foundation, and Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association.

Not only the forests in Gazipur, but also those across the country are under serious threat.

According to the forest department, Bangladesh has more than 63 lakh acres of forest, covering 15.58 percent of the country’s land area. Of this, 2.37 lakh acres are still illegally occupied by individuals and public and private entities despite the recovery of 38,142 acres from grabbers till April 2026.

Amir Hossain Chowdhury, chief conservator of forest (CCF), said the forest department intensified efforts to recover encroached forest lands over the last few years, but the main responsibility lies with deputy commissioners.

“Since 2021, we have sent 17,381 documents to the district administrations concerned to recover 2.37 lakh acres of forest. But we have managed to recover 38,142 acres so far and have taken up afforestation programmes for those areas.”

He further said the process of recovering forest lands gets delayed if grabbers file cases against the department’s move. “Then we have to wait till cases are disposed of.”

Pointing out lax monitoring and weak enforcement of the law, experts said that the country has been facing deforestation due to agricultural expansion, illegal logging, human settlements, urbanisation and infrastructure development.

Environmental activist Sharif Jamil, also member secretary of environmental organisation Dhoritri Rokhhay Amra (Dhora), said the Forest Act of 1927 was formulated with the objective of regulating trade of forest resources. Later, changes were made to the law, putting focus on conservation.

However, forest lands are being encroached upon due to lax monitoring and weak enforcement of the law, he said.

“Destruction of natural forests causes irreparable damage to the environment. Afforestation is commendable, but the protection of existing forests and biodiversity is more crucial,” he added.

When contacted, Sheikh Farid, state minister for environment, forest and climate change, said the present government is determined to save forests.

“We take immediate action once we receive any allegation,” he said, adding that the government will gradually recover all the encroached forest lands.