The rapid expansion of resorts in Sreemangal Upazila of Moulvibazar is putting pressure on the area’s hills, hillocks and forests, threatening biodiversity and disrupting wildlife habitats.
As cottages and tourist facilities spread into forested areas, hills are being levelled, vegetation cleared and roads built, forcing wild animals to venture into nearby settlements in search of food and safer shelter.
The number of resorts across Moulvibazar has risen to around 200 in recent years, but government offices have no comprehensive records of the approval or legal status of most of these establishments.
While some resorts were initially developed in an organised manner, the trend has changed over the past five years, with residential houses and structures built after cutting hills increasingly being marketed as resorts.
The expansion is particularly visible in Sreemangal, a major tourism destination known for its tea gardens and evergreen forests.
Environmentalists warn that continued encroachment will shrink wildlife habitats, obstruct natural movement corridors and reduce access to food.
Lauachara National Park, established in 1996, covers 1,250 hectares of protected forest land in Kamalganj Upazila.
One of Bangladesh’s leading evergreen forest and nature conservation areas, it is increasingly exposed to pressure from tourism-related development in surrounding areas.
After Moulvibazar was declared a tourism district, Grand Sultan Tea Resort & Golf, the country’s first five-star-standard resort of its kind, began operations in Sreemangal in 2013 across 13 acres.
Since then, resorts and cottages have proliferated across the area’s hills and hillocks, with more than 100 reportedly operating in Sreemangal. The Radhanagar area alone has around 40 to 45 establishments.
Major companies from Dhaka and Chattogram, wealthy individuals, lawyers, bank officials, government officers and celebrities have entered the business, often in partnership with local landowners.
Mainstream resort operators allege that many investors buy just two to three acres of land and then run businesses under the resort label, without meeting the standards expected of proper resorts. Some investments reportedly amount to crores of taka.
Swapan Deb Sajal, director of the Bangladesh Wildlife Service Foundation, and environmental activist Rajdeep Deb said significant numbers of snakes and other wild animals had been rescued from Lawachara and surrounding areas in August and September this year after straying into human settlements.
Rescued species included pythons, monocled cobras, banded cat snakes, green vine snakes, civets, monkeys and fishing cats. The animals were handed over to the local forest department.
They said indiscriminate hill cutting and forest clearance, combined with growing human encroachment, were making natural habitats increasingly unsafe for wildlife and driving animals towards inhabited areas.
ASM Saleh Suhel, a former member of the National Council of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), said every animal needed a safe habitat, but indiscriminate destruction of hills and forests was undermining that security.
He also warned that powerful artificial lights from resorts spread over wide areas, disturbing wildlife and threatening the safety of their habitats.
The resulting disruption restricts animals’ natural movement, while food shortages in Lawachara and nearby forests add to the pressure.
“The situation might have been different had there been only 10-20 resorts, but the number has now reached nearly 200,” he said, adding that animals preferred their natural habitats but were being pushed into human settlements by the loss of privacy, food and safe living spaces.
S K Dash Sumon, general secretary of the Sreemangal Tourism Service Association, said there were approximately 103 resorts in the upazila.
Establishing a resort in hilly or other areas requires permission from the deputy commissioner, the Department of Environment and the Union Parishad.
However, he estimated that only 10 to 12 establishments qualified as full-fledged resorts.
A resort owner in Sreemangal, speaking anonymously, said Grand Sultan’s launch had helped promote tourism in Moulvibazar, after which establishments of different categories began to emerge.
“We operate our resort in compliance with all government regulations,” he said, calling for closer monitoring of how new resorts were being established and whether they had proper authorisation.
Selim Ahmed, proprietor of Grand Selim Resort in Sreemangal, similarly estimated that only 10 to 15 establishments in the area genuinely qualified as resorts.
He said legitimate operators, who paid taxes and followed government regulations, were suffering losses because of illegal establishments using the resort label.
Md Maidul Islam, assistant director of the Department of Environment in Moulvibazar, said around 50 resorts had obtained environmental clearance from his office.
Legal action, including fines, had been taken against establishments operating without the required clearance.
He said legal loopholes made it difficult to stop some hill-cutting activities.
The department issues environmental clearance only for resorts with 20 or more rooms; those with fewer than 20 rooms do not require such clearance from the department.
Sreemangal Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Ziaur Rahman said the administration investigated complaints of hill cutting and was compiling a comprehensive database of resorts, land ownership, approvals and licences.
Permission to change the classification of land or hillocks was being withheld where required authorisations were absent.
The authorities had recently shut down two establishments for violating regulations.
Moulvibazar Deputy Commissioner Touhiduzzaman Pavel said the administration oversaw five-star and three-star hotels and resorts, but did not have detailed information on the approvals obtained by all establishments.
“Those developing resorts may be obtaining permission from some department or another – or perhaps they aren’t. We do not have information regarding these specific details,” he said.