29. (1) The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare the provisions of this Chapter applicable to any forest-land or waste-land which is not included in a reserved forest, but which is the property of Government, or over which the Government has proprietary rights, or to the whole or any part of the forest -produce of which the Government is entitled.(2) The forest-land and waste-lands comprised in any such notification shall be called a "protected forest".(3) No such notification shall be made unless the nature and extent of the rights of Government and of private persons in or over the forest-land or waste-land ¹[or charland] comprised therein have been inquired into and recorded at a survey or settlement, or in such other manner as the Government thinks sufficient. Every such record shall be presumed to be correct until the contrary is proved:Provided that, if, in the case of any forest-land or waste-land, ²[or charland] the Government thinks that such inquiry and record are necessary, but that they will occupy such length of time as in the meantime to endanger the rights of Government, the Government may, pending such inquiry and record, declare such land to be a protected forest, but so as not to abridge or affect any existing rights of individuals or communities.

30. The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette,- (a) declare any trees or class of trees in a protected forest to be reserved from a date fixed by the notification; (b) declare that any portion of such forest specified in the notification shall be closed for such term, not exceeding thirty years, as the Government thinks fit, and that the rights of private persons, if any, over such portion shall be suspended during such term, provided that the remainder of such forest be sufficient, and in locality reasonably convenient, for the due exercise of the rights suspended in the portion so closed; or (c) prohibit, from a date fixed as aforesaid, the quarrying of stone, or the burning of lime or charcoal, or the collection or subjection to any manufacturing process, or removal of, any forest-produce in any such forest, and the ³[breaking up, clearing or use] for cultivation, for building, for herding cattle or for any other purpose, of any land in any such forest.

31. The Collector shall cause a translation into ⁴[Bengali] of every notification issued under section 30 to be affixed in a conspicuous place in every town and village in the neighbourhood of the forest comprised in the notification.

32. The Government may make rules to regulate the following matters, namely:- (a) the cutting, sawing, conversion and removal of trees and timber, and the collection, manufacture and removal of forest-produce, from protected forests; (b) the grating of licences to the inhabitants of towns and villages in the vicinity of protected forests to take trees, timber or other forest-produce for their own use, and the production and return of such licences by such persons; (c) the granting of licences to persons felling or removing trees or timber or other forest-produce from such forests for the purposes of trade, and the production and return of such licences by such persons; (d) the payments, if any, to be made by the persons mentioned in clauses (b) and (c) for permission to cut such trees, or to collect and remove such timber or other forest-produce; (e) the other payments, if any, to be made by them in respect of such trees, timber and produce, and the places where such payment shall be made; (f) the examination of forest-produce passing out of such forests; (g) the clearing and breaking up of land for cultivation or other purposes in such forests; (h) the protection from fire of timber lying in such forests and of trees reserved under section 30; (i) the cutting of grass and pasturing of cattle in such forests; (j) hunting, shooting, fishing, poisoning water and setting traps or snares in such forests, ⁵[* * *]; (k) the protection and management of any portion of a forest closed under section 30; and (l) the exercise of rights referred to in section 29.

33. ⁷[(1) Any person who commits any of the following offences, namely:- (a) contrary to any prohibition under section 30, quarries any stone, or burns any lime or charcoal, or collects, subjects to any manufacturing process, or removes any forest produce other than timber; (b) leaves burning any fire kindled by him in the vicinity of any protected forest; (c) causes any damage by negligence in felling any tree or cutting or dragging any timber; (d) trespasses or pastures cattle, or permits cattle to trespass; (e) enters a protected forest with fire arms without prior permission from the Divisional Forest Officer concerned; (f) infringes any rule made under section 32 ⁸[;] ⁹[(g) any offence or damage committed against social forestry programme will be deemed as an offense,] shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to two thousand Taka, in addition such compensation for damage done to the forest as the convicting court may direct to be paid. (1A) Any person who commits any of the following offences, namely: (a) sets fire to a protected forest or, in contravention of any rules made by the Government in this behalf, kindles any fire, or leaves any fire burning, in such manner as to endanger such a forest; (b) fells, girdles, lops, taps or burns any tree reserved under section 30, or strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, any such tree; (c) contrary to any prohibition under section 30, clears or breaks up any land for cultivation or other purpose ¹⁰[or cultivates or attempts to cultivate any land in any other manner] in the protected forest; (d) in contravention of any rules made in this behalf by the Government, hunts, shoots, sets traps or snares or catches or kills any wild animals and birds, fishes or poisons water; (e) establishes saw-pits or saw-benches or converts tree into timber without lawful authority in a protected forest; (f) removes any timber from a protected forest; shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and shall not be less than six months and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to fifty thousand Taka and shall not be less than five thousand Taka, in addition such compensation for damages done to the forest as the convicting Court may direct to be paid.] (2) Whenever fire is caused wilfully or by gross negligence in a protected forest, the Government may, not withstanding that any penalty has been inflicted under this section, direct that in such forest or any portion thereof the exercise of any right of pasture or to forest -produce shall be suspended for such period as it thinks fit.

34. Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to prohibit any act done with the permission in writing of the Forest-officer, or in accordance with rules made under section 32, or, except as regards any portion of a forest closed under section 30, or as regards any rights the exercise of which has been suspended under section 33, in the exercise of any right recorded under section 29.