**2.2 Methods**

184 Sustainable Forest Management – Case Studies

knowledge. However, they suffer from discrimination, marginalization, poverty, hunger and conflicts. More importantly, their indigenous belief system, cultures, languages and ways of life continue to be threatened, sometimes even vulnerable to extinction (United Nations, 2009). There are about 5,000 such tribes/ethnic races worldwide representing 5% of the World's population (Zeppel, 2006). Indigenous people embody and nurture 80% of the World's cultural and biological diversity, and occupy 20% of the World's land surface

In Bangladesh, except for the mangrove forests of Sundarbans, the other major natural forests are the dwelling place of the most of the indigenous communities. Due to lack of substitute products, people in Bangladesh depend on forests and forest resources especially, for fuelwood and timber. Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) are known to be important reservoirs of forests and forest resources in Bangladesh. Apart from the forest resources, this hilly region of the country is bestowed with magnificent natural landscapes, lakes, hilly streams and rivers. Besides, the indigenous people and their huge cultural diversities and unique handcrafts attract clients from home and abroad. So the CHTs are quite important from both economic and ecological standpoints. The Forest Department, being the State agency responsible for forest management in Bangladesh, considers the indigenous people as a major threat to forest management (Roy, 2004). Therefore, an antagonistic relationship has been in existence between indigenous people and Forest Department since long before. Besides, the indigenous people of the CHTs are in constant conflict with Bangladesh Government with regards to land ownership, resource use, and settlement of nonindigenous migrants and other socio-cultural and political discourses, which has made the

The indigenous people of the CHTs are alienated from the mainstream society. Hence, it is not possible to utilize properly the forest resources as well as to accrue the full potential of the CHTs under the prevailing circumstances. It is perceived that if a meaningful solution of the problems of the indigenous people of the CHTs can be achieved, forest and indigenous resources may be properly managed to harbour maximum economic gain that could significantly contribute to the economy of Bangladesh. As both the forests and indigenous people of the CHTs are struggling, it was thought necessary to conduct a study in order to explore the root causes and corollaries of the problems with recommendations for possible solutions through several problem-solving approaches. The specific objectives of this study

b. Historical review of the root causes and corollaries of the conflicts of the indigenous

d. Suggest recommendations for conflict resolution scrutinizing past as well as on-going

Geographically, Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh (Fig. 1) lie between 90°54´ and 92°50´ East longitude and 21°25´ and 23°45´ North latitude (Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility [CHTDF], 2009). It is bordered with Indian States of Tripura on the North, Mizoram on the East, Myanmar on the South and East, and Chittagong district of Bangladesh on its

c. Review and analysis of the on-going efforts of conflict resolution in the CHTs.

a. A brief review of the forests and indigenous people in Bangladesh.

(United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development [UNCSD], 2002).

area unstable and very sensitive.

people of the CHTs in Bangladesh.

were as follows:

efforts.

**2.1 Study area** 

**2. Materials and methods** 

Forest dependent indigenous communities of the CHTs in Bangladesh were the main focus of research. Initially a review on Bangladesh forestry and indigenous people are done discussing contemporary global concern. The CHTs region as a part of the undivided India was ruled by the Mughals (1666-1757) followed by the British rulers (1757-1947). Later this region became a part of Pakistan (1947-1971) and finally, it has become a part of Bangladesh since 1971. History suggests that ignorance and abuses to the indigenous people of the CHTs have a long root of development (Uddin, 2010). In analyzing the conflict, a historical review of the three regimes has been made in order to have clear understanding of the root causes and nature of the conflict.

Fig. 1. Study area

Conflict and Corollaries on Forest and Indigenous People: Experience from Bangladesh 187

total area of Bangladesh, agricultural land makes up 64.2%, forest lands account for about 17.8% (2.53 mill ha), whilst urban areas are 8.3%. Water and other land uses account for the remaining 9.9%. However, the last National Forest and Tree Resources Assessment 2005- 2007 for Bangladesh (GOB, 2009) indicates a total forest area of about 2.33 mill ha (Table 1) which is about 15.8% (0.02 ha person-1) of the total landmass of Bangladesh. This forest area is categorized as natural forests (1.2 mill ha), forest plantations (0.23 mill ha), Shrubs/other wooded land (0.29 mill ha), wooded land with shifting cultivation (0.33 mill ha) and village forests (0.27 mill ha). Of this forest land, the Forest Department (FD) directly controls 1.44 mill ha with the legal status of Reserved Forest (RF) and Protected Forest (PF), and the District Administration controls more than 0.73 million ha (forest management activities

entrusted with FD) of Unclassed State Forests (USF).

Fig. 2. Map of Bangladesh showing the distribution of forests areas

Final part of the historical review encompasses an analysis of the Bangladeshi regime. This part of the research was conducted through literature collection and review, empirical analysis based on community survey with open ended and semi - structured questionnaire, key informant interview and focus group discussion. A total of ninety individual respondents were interviewed from nine villages of the three districts viz. Rangamati, Bandarbans and Khagrachari of the CHTs. In order to grasp the problem clearly and to know their opinion, three focus group discussions were held. A total of twelve key informants including three educationists, four political leaders, three cultural activists and two representatives from the Local Administration were interviewed in order to obtain expert opinions about the subject. A qualitative evaluation was done in order to know the respondent's opinion about the factors affecting forest and forest resources in the CHTs. Along with listing the factors, respondents were given a scale of magnitude from 1-5 indicating 1 as very low, 2 as low, 3 as moderate, 4 as high, and 5 as extreme to express the magnitude of effect for each factor.

The survey data encompassed demographic and biophysical data, ethnicity, religion, migration patterns, chronology of conflict, land ownership, etc. An extended and closer stay in the study areas helped particularly to observe, photograph, record the rituals and stories, and also to share experience on the CHTs issues. Additionally, we tried to explore available conflict resolution theories and checked the applicability of such theories in the CHTs context. Current conflict resolution efforts of the Government have been reviewed and analyzed critically to identify its limitations. Based on the analysis, a conflict resolution model has been developed for this region.
