The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), long known for its rich biodiversity and indigenous heritage, is facing an escalating environmental crisis as rapid deforestation, unregulated resource extraction, and unsustainable development reshape one of Bangladesh’s most ecologically significant regions.
For generations, the indigenous communities of the CHT lived in close harmony with nature, depending on forests for food, shelter, and spiritual identity.
Their traditional rotational farming system, or jhum cultivation, reflected a sustainable relationship with the land.
But from the British colonial period to the present, that relationship has been repeatedly disrupted—first through colonial forest laws, later through post-independence development projects that prioritized state control over community stewardship.
Under British rule, nearly a quarter of the CHT was declared “reserved forest,” stripping indigenous residents of access to ancestral lands.
That policy legacy continues today, as modern conservation and commercial projects often proceed without consultation or compensation for local communities.
Satellite data and environmental studies suggest that between 1999 and 2016, roughly 70 percent of forest cover in the region was lost due to large-scale logging, rubber and tobacco plantations, and stone extraction.
In Bandarban, the district contains three major reserve forests — Matamuhuri in Alikadom, Bamu Bilchhari in Lama, and Sangu in Thanchi upazila — covering a combined area of 104,881.42 acres in Matamuhuri and Bamu alone.
At many locations, these forests have been rendered barren by indiscriminate logging and the relentless felling of trees, according to two senior forest officials in Bandarban who requested anonymity.
Lumberjacks have already destroyed nearly two-thirds of the Matamuhuri and Bamu reserves through the continuous cutting of valuable mother trees.
Declared protected in 1880, the Sangu Reserve Forest remains Bangladesh’s only surviving virgin forest, home to 36 species of mammals, 48 species of reptiles, 19 species of amphibians, and 11 rare bird species.
However, experts warn that even this biologically rich sanctuary is increasingly under threat from encroachment and illegal extraction.
Experts say that deforestation has intensified soil erosion and triggered frequent landslides, which now claim dozens of lives each monsoon season. In 2017, a series of landslides killed at least 120 people in Rangamati alone.
Environmental researchers warn that indiscriminate felling and hill cutting are also accelerating the impacts of climate change.
The CHT’s evergreen forests once played a crucial role in retaining rainfall and stabilizing the microclimate.
As these forests disappear, so too does the region’s natural capacity to store carbon and regulate temperature and water flow.
According to the Asian Development Bank, forests cover about 11.2 percent of Bangladesh’s total land area—far below the regional average.
Analysts believe the figure has since declined further, as unplanned development and agricultural expansion continue to erode natural habitats.
Deforestation in the CHT is often linked to commercial monoculture plantations such as rubber and pulpwood, as well as tobacco cultivation backed by powerful companies.
These ventures, established in the name of economic progress, have displaced many Indigenous families from their customary lands.
Critics argue that so-called “social forestry” programs, intended to restore degraded lands, have instead facilitated the privatization of common forests and undermined traditional land rights.
The environmental toll extends beyond tree loss. Local water sources are drying up as forested watersheds vanish, leaving hill communities to face chronic water shortages.
Springs that once supported villages are now depleted, forcing families to relocate. The loss of vegetation also threatens wildlife and the overall biodiversity of the region.
The CHT’s environmental challenges are not new. The construction of the Kaptai Dam in the early 1960s, one of Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure projects, submerged vast tracts of forest and fertile valleys, displacing an estimated 100,000 indigenous residents.
Conservationists say the dam permanently altered the area’s ecosystem and set a precedent for development at the cost of ecological balance.
Despite repeated court directives to curb deforestation and regulate stone extraction, enforcement remains weak.
Local environmental groups accuse sections of the Forest Department and law enforcement agencies of collusion with powerful business interests.
Trucks carrying illegally extracted logs and stones are a common sight on hill roads, even as official reports highlight ongoing “reforestation” initiatives.
Geographers and climate scientists say the CHT is now among the most vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change in Bangladesh.
With heavier rainfall patterns and eroded hillsides, the risk of flash floods and landslides is growing.
As deforestation intensifies, experts fear that natural disasters in the region will become both more frequent and more severe.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts’ environmental degradation also reflects a broader national dilemma: the tension between rapid development and ecological sustainability.
Bangladesh has pledged to expand its forest cover under global climate commitments, yet the continuing destruction of hill forests undermines those goals.
Sustainable development in the CHT, experts say, requires more than afforestation programs or regulatory pledges.
It demands genuine recognition of indigenous land rights, community-led forest management, and strict oversight of industrial and plantation expansion.
Without such measures, the country’s southeastern hills—once its most verdant region—could become an emblem of ecological collapse.
Source : The Chittagong Hill Tracts
