Deforestation in Bangladesh

This article considers the narratives of power acting upon the Madhapur forests of Bangladesh. Power is unequally distributed amongst the actors involved: the native people, the national government, international agencies. This article will first consider this issue in the context of political ecology, and then discuss the resources within the forest and the settlement of the local forest dwellers. It will demonstrate that the power within narratives have been effectively utilised as weapons by the more powerful groups against the vulnerable to seize their lands, livelihoods and homes, and to mobilise planning development and its subsequent deforestation, with relative ease and even impunity.