1998 Volume 44 Issue 3 Pages 1-6
This study seeks to identify the process of forest loss of Madhupur sal forests in Bangladesh. The results indicate that the main factor of forest loss is the destructive activities by the migrated population rather than shifting cultivation. Illegal logging by the timber businessmen in close collaboration with the dishonest forest officials as well as theft of trees by local gangs are accelerating the loss of forests. The situation has become more worse as the poor hungry for land have followed the illegal loggers and local gangs to convert the cleared lands into permanent crop fields.