My Publications

The story of a dying forest According to the book ‘With the Wild Animals of Bengal’ there was once panthers at the Madhupur forest. Today, there are timber thieves, banana and rubber plantations, dacoits, a shooting range, and blaring speakers. It won’t be long before someone will need to write its obituary, writes Faizul Khan Tanim Photo by Philip Gain Hiking down the highway from Dhaka to Mymensingh and Tangail, trees line both sides of the road giving a semblance of abundance to the Madhupur forest. Monkeys venture out in small groups to steal bananas that are travelling on the back of vans, heading to different marketplaces. The image of abundance is, however, an artificial front. A few steps inside the forest lies hundreds of hectares of barren land, dead roots sit in place where large trees once stood, while banana trees, pineapple trees and other fruit trees, cultivated for human consumption, have replaced the age-old indigenous trees of the forest. Thousands of priceless and ex...