Felled Roots, Shattered Lives: Mro Plantations Ravaged by Forest Department

Our Correspondent, Bandarban

Indigenous Mro families in the remote hills of Alikadam upazila, in southern Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), allege that officials of the Forest Department razed their fruit-bearing banana and papaya plantations without prior notice, decimating their only source of livelihood and deepening fears over ancestral land rights.

On June 21, a team from the Alikadam Range office, assisted by 16 hired labourers, reportedly cleared nearly six acres of land in Menthok Mro para under Noyapara Union.

The land had been cultivated by four Mro families for over two years and contained more than 1,200 mature banana trees and 70 papaya plants.

Villagers say the forest department did not issue any formal notification or engage in consultation before initiating the clearance operation.

“These trees were not just plants — they were our sustenance, our survival,” said Meng Kring Mro.

“We nurtured them with our own hands. Now, overnight, everything is gone.”

“We have cleaned the area for plantation under the afforestation programme, as the area is part of the Mathamuhuri Reserve Forest,” said Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Lama Forest Division.

However, affected families said the land has been used for jhum cultivation for generations under their ancestral customs and traditional use rights.

“We have used this land for jhum cultivation since the time of our ancestors. It was never officially declared a reserve forest—no gazette notification was issued, no land acquisition process was ever carried out,” said Aung Hla Mro, a resident of the area. “This land carries our heritage and identity.

The Bangladesh Forest Act of 1927 mandates that the government must issue a formal notification in the official gazette, specifying the land’s situation and limits, before designating it as a reserved forest.

Furthermore, the act allows for public objections and inquiries before the final declaration. 

The Constitution of Bangladesh enshrines the right to property under Article 42 and explicitly prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of life or livelihood without due process of law, as stipulated in Articles 31 and 32.

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the 1900 Regulation further recognises customary indigenous land occupation and usage rights.

“This act undermines both legal procedure and the dignity of indigenous communities,” said an indigenous human rights defender from CHT.

“No authority has the right to destroy livelihoods without legal grounds and accountability.”

Mro villagers said their plantations were their only source of livelihood, and the timing—just before harvest—has dealt a crippling economic blow. Some also allege threats from forest officers warning them not to speak to journalists.

“The forest staff said if we resisted or spoke out, we’d be arrested,” said one villager, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisal.

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, decades-long land disputes compounded by the lack of formal legal recognition have plunged Indigenous communities into deep crisis, as forest authorities’ actions devastate livelihoods and provoke sustained allegations of rights abuses, said the locals.