4,300 acre hills, forests cut down: UNDP study

Desk Report: A joint study has found that 4,300 acres of hills and forests have been cut down at Ukhia and Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar to make temporary facilities and cooking fuel for Rohingyas taking shelter there to flee ethnic cleansing in Myanmar since August 25, 2017, reports The New Age.
About 3,000-4,000 acres of hill land at Teknaf and Ukhia have been cleared of vegetation, said the study conducted by United Nations Development Programme and UN Women in October-December 2017 and released min Dhaka on Tuesday.
Since the beginning of Rohingya influx in August 2017, 1502 hectare of forest land has been used for their makeshift settlements and 793 hectare of natural forest land has already been encroached, said the study.
UNDP and UN Women with the support from the environment, forests and climate change conducted the study on environmental impact of Rohingya influx in Cox’s Bazar, now shelter to about 1.14 million Rohingyas.
According to the study, 14,000 hectare forests were degraded within 5km around the camps within 4-5 months and 26,000 hectare forests became forests of shrubs within 10km around the camps within 12 months of the influx. It said that the Rohingyas needed 6,800 tonnes of firewood a month collected from forests.