Bangladesh, March 26 -- Encroaching on forests and building habitats and other establishments has been a major human trait since the dawn of civilisations. As humans came out of their improvised primitive shelters and began cultivating lands, the woodlands started thinning out. Later, livelihood-related activities requiring land masses dealt a major blow to forests. The phase of the disappearance of the forests started in earnest. However, large countries with vast expanses of forest-cover were able to face up to the process of this depletion --- its pace increasing with time. Against the backdrop of the continued rise in environmental awareness, many of today's industrialised countries took steps to make up for the losses already incurred....