DHAKA, Oct 2, 2024 (BSS)- Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has recommended canceling the approval of a safari park project in the Lathitila reserved forest in Moulvibazar.

A letter was sent to the Planning Commission on today to this end, a ministry press release said.

"Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, Moulvibazar (Phase 1)" project was approved on condition in an ECNEC meeting on November 9, 2023.

Following the ECNEC meeting's decision, a four-member committee was formed on August 21, 2024 by the ministry to assess the project's impacts on biodiversity and provide recommendations.

The committee was comprised of former Chief Conservator of Forests Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmed (convener) and Dr Mustafa Firoz, Professor of Zoology at Jahangirnagar University; Farid Uddin Ahmed, former Executive Director of Arannayk Foundation; and Imran Ahmed, Conservator of Forests for Wildlife and Nature Conservation, (members). Later, Pavel Partha, Director of the Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge, was included as a member of the committee.

The committee recommended canceling the project, stating in its report that the Lathitila Forest is part of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot and serves as an elephant corridor. Constructing a safari park in this area would put negative impacts on the forest ecosystem.

After considering the potential effects of the proposed safari park on the forest’s biodiversity and giving importance to the opinion of local stakeholders, the committee concluded that a safari park should not be established in this natural forest. That is why the committee recommended cancellation of the project, the release said.

The Forest Department was instructed to work on conserving the degraded forest areas and its threatened biodiversity.