RESEARCH STARTER

Chittagong Hill Tracts plantation forests

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is a unique and ecologically rich region located in southeastern Bangladesh, characterized by its elevated terrain and diverse plantation forests. Covering an area of approximately 8,000 square miles, this area features steep hills that rise between 2,000 to 3,500 feet above sea level, creating a distinctive landscape. The region experiences a tropical monsoon climate, which supports a wide range of flora and fauna, making it an important ecological zone.

The forests in the CHT are predominantly tropical and subtropical evergreens, covering about 15% of the area. They are home to various tree species, including teak, which is known for its high quality, as well as bamboo and other plantation crops such as rice, tobacco, and tea. However, these plantation activities have led to significant degradation of natural forests, threatening biodiversity.

The unique ecosystem is also home to numerous endangered animal species, including the royal Bengal tiger and various bird species. In response to environmental challenges, local communities have initiated conservation programs aimed at protecting forests and wildlife while promoting sustainable livelihoods. Overall, the Chittagong Hill Tracts represent a delicate balance between agricultural development and ecological preservation, reflecting the complexities of human interaction with nature in this region.

Full Article

  • Category: Forest Biomes.
  • Geographic Location: Bangladesh.
  • Summary: The forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts support a variety of species that are threatened by multiple factors, including deforestation, commercial activities, and mainly by the activities of many groups of indigenous peoples whose hunting and agricultural methods are degrading the habitat.

Chittagong Hill Tracts, formerly Korpos Mohol, are an area in southeastern Bangladesh, located inland from the Bay of Bengal. Its terrestrial borders run along India and Myanmar (formerly Burma) and cover an area of 8,000 square miles (13,000 square kilometers), representing about one-tenth of Bangladesh’s total area. The Chittagong Hills constitute the most extensive elevated area in the country, forming the western shoulder of the mountain ranges of Myanmar and eastern India that run north to south. The Chittagong Hills rise steeply to narrow ridge lines, with altitudes ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 feet (600 to 900 meters) above sea level. The highest elevation in Bangladesh is at Mowdok Mual, at 3,500 feet (1,050 meters) in the southeastern part of the hills.

Fertile valleys lie between the ranges, which generally run north to south. West of the Chittagong Hills is a broad plain, cut by the rivers that drain into the Bay of Bengal, followed by an area of low coastal hills, and finally a narrow, wet coastal plain located between the seaport cities of Chittagong in the north and Cox’s Bazar in the south. The Chittagong Tracts extend into and overlap with Myanmar’s Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin Rainforests to the east. This large rainforest ecoregion represents the semi-evergreen submontane that supports high biological diversity.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts region has a tropical monsoon climate based around a seasonal change in prevailing wind direction. The mean annual rainfall is roughly 79 inches (200 centimeters) in the north and east, and up to 118 inches (300 centimeters) in the south and west. The mean annual temperature is 73 degrees F (23 degrees C). In the summer, air moves from the ocean toward the land, and in winter, air moves from the land toward the ocean. The tropical climates in this area create the conditions that allow a significant amount of vegetative production.

Flora and Fauna

The forests of tropical and subtropical evergreens in the Chittagong Hill Tracts cover about 15 percent of the region. Bangladesh is characterized by extensive forest cover and diverse vegetation. The hills, rivers, and cliffs of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are covered with dense bamboo breaks, tall trees, and creeper jungles. The valleys are covered with thick forest. The vegetation ranges from semi-evergreen to tropical evergreen forests and is dominated by tall trees from families such as two-winged-fruit tree (Dipterocarpaceae), spurge (Euphorbiaceae), laurel (Lauraceae), pea (Leguminosae), and madder (Rubiaceae). Teak (Tectona grandis) is a tropical hardwood that is native to India, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos; the quality of the wood grown here approaches that of the teak grown in Myanmar, and is of much better quality than Indian teak. Seeds from teak in this region have been used to translocate teak outside its natural distribution range, including to places like Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Each season produces its special variety of flowers; among them, the prolific water hyacinth (Eichhornia spp.) flourishes. Its carpet of thick green leaves and blue flowers gives the impression that solid ground lies underneath. Other decorative plants also widely spread here are jasmine, water lily, rose, hibiscus, bougainvillea, magnolia, and a diverse range of wild orchids in the forested areas.

Plantation trees that grow in this area include coconut, mango, banana, jackfruit, teak, palm, and bamboo. Crops of cotton, tobacco, rice, tea, and oilseeds are also raised in the valleys between the hills. Unfortunately, these plantations and croplands contribute to the degradation of natural forests.

The Indigenous people of Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh have used medicinal plants for generations to treat a variety of diseases. These plants are an important part of the region’s biodiversity. Indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts rely on medicinal plants to treat various health conditions, including diarrhea, dysentery, snake bites, wounds, injuries, and chronic illnesses. These plants are an integral component of their traditional healthcare practices and local livelihoods. Efforts to conserve medicinal plants, led by organizations such as the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Bangladesh, aim to preserve both biodiversity and the Indigenous knowledge of these plants. Such conservation initiatives protect ecological balance and contribute to sustainable community development.

Many animal species in the Chittagong Hills have become critically endangered due to indiscriminate poaching and rapid depletion of forests; these include rare species such as the gayal (Bos frontalis), the Royal Bengal tiger, panthers, large and small civet cats, pangolins, hoolock gibbons (Ulluk), barking deer, sambar deer , slow lorises (Lajjabati Banor), and peacocks. Some of these animals may already be threatened or on the verge of extinction in the Chittagong Hill Tracts forests. Meanwhile, many common animals such as deer, wild pigs, and wild birds are also fleeing the forests across the border as increasing population, illegal poaching, and degradation of forest reserves are causing habitat destruction. Satellite-based monitoring indicates that forest loss in the Chittagong Hill Tracts continues due to shifting cultivation, logging, and infrastructure expansion.

Other animals that are only rarely seen in the Chittagong Hills in the twenty-first century are migratory elephants, wild buffalo, bears, and porcupines. Reptiles that can be found in this ecosystem include the mud turtle, river tortoise, tiki-tik gecko, crocodile, python, king cobra, and a variety of venomous snakes. There are more than 250 bird species in the area, including little grebe, heron, egret, common moorhen, common coot, Asian openbill stork, white-winged wood duck, and a variety of other waterfowl.

Water scarcity has forced many Indigenous peoples to relocate to places where they could find water during the dry season. Realizing their forests were in peril, residents of Chittagong Hills communities started an initiative with conservation programs in 2021. These programs provide funding to train individuals to work in new occupations to stop them from relying solely on forests for sustenance. Community members also assigned some individuals to serve as forest guards to help prevent illegal poaching and forest destruction.

Conservation efforts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts gained momentum with the launch of Phase II of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Watershed Co-Management Activity (CHTWCA II) in 2024, which focused on preserving the region’s natural resources and biodiversity, including forests, rivers, and wetlands. Programs like the Creative Conservation Alliance and support for Village Common Forests (VCFs) empowered local communities to manage resources through agroforestry, communal forest management, and traditional crafts. Additional initiatives, like strengthening border security and improving infrastructure, aimed to reduce illegal activities while enhancing trade and connectivity across the region.


Bibliography

Ahammad, Ronju, and Natasha Ellen Stacey. “Forest and Agrarian Change in the Chittagong Hill Tracts Region of Bangladesh.” Agrarian Change in Tropical Landscapes, edited by Liz Deakin et al., Center for International Forestry Research, 2016, pp.190–33.

Alam, Md. Khairul. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge on Non-Wood Forest Products Management and Biodiversity Conservation: A Focus on Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs), Bangladesh.” Non-Wood Forest Products of Asia, Knowledge, Conservation and Livelihood, edited by Md. Khairul Alam, July 2022, pp. 41–69, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-99313-9_3. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Chowdhury, Khairul. “Politics of Identities and Resources in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: Ethnonationalism and/or Indigenous Identity.” Asian Journal of Social Science, vol. 36, no. 1, Jan. 2008, pp. 57–78, doi:10.1163/156853108X267567. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Gain, Philip, editor. The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Life and Nature at Risk. Society for Environment and Human Development, 2000.

Gunter, Bernhard G., et al. “How Vulnerable are Bangladesh’s Indigenous People to Climate Change?” Bangladesh Development Research Center, 2008, lib.icimod.org/records/bazp0-cx450. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.

Hansen, O. K., et al. “Worldwide Translocation of Teak—Origin of Landraces and Present Genetic Base.” Tree Genetics & Genomes, vol. 13, no. 87, 2017, doi:10.1007/s11295-017-1170-8. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Kadir, Mohammad Fahim, et al. “Ethnopharmacological Survey of Medicinal Plants Used by Traditional Healers and Indigenous People in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, for the Treatment of Snakebite.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 2015, no.1, 23 Mar. 2015, p. 871675, doi:10.1155/2015/871675. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Kamal, A. S. M. Maksud, et al. “Land Use Transformation and Carbon Sequestration in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh.” Discover Sustainability, vol. 5, no. 27, 20 Apr. 2026, doi:10.1007/s44246-025-00251-3. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Siddique, Abu. “In Bangladesh, a Community Comes Together to Save a Lifegiving Forest.” Mongabay, 19 May 2022, news.mongabay.com/2022/05/in-bangladesh-a-community-comes-together-to-save-a-life-giving-forest/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

“USAID and UNDP Unveil Second Phase of Chittagong Hill Tracts Conservation Project.” UNDP Bangladesh, 4 June 2024, www.undp.org/bangladesh/press-releases/usaid-and-undp-unveil-second-phase-chittagong-hill-tracts-conservation-project. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Full Article

  • Category: Forest Biomes.
  • Geographic Location: Bangladesh.
  • Summary: The forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts support a variety of species that are threatened by multiple factors, including deforestation, commercial activities, and mainly by the activities of many groups of indigenous peoples whose hunting and agricultural methods are degrading the habitat.

Chittagong Hill Tracts, formerly Korpos Mohol, are an area in southeastern Bangladesh, located inland from the Bay of Bengal. Its terrestrial borders run along India and Myanmar (formerly Burma) and cover an area of 8,000 square miles (13,000 square kilometers), representing about one-tenth of Bangladesh’s total area. The Chittagong Hills constitute the most extensive elevated area in the country, forming the western shoulder of the mountain ranges of Myanmar and eastern India that run north to south. The Chittagong Hills rise steeply to narrow ridge lines, with altitudes ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 feet (600 to 900 meters) above sea level. The highest elevation in Bangladesh is at Mowdok Mual, at 3,500 feet (1,050 meters) in the southeastern part of the hills.

Fertile valleys lie between the ranges, which generally run north to south. West of the Chittagong Hills is a broad plain, cut by the rivers that drain into the Bay of Bengal, followed by an area of low coastal hills, and finally a narrow, wet coastal plain located between the seaport cities of Chittagong in the north and Cox’s Bazar in the south. The Chittagong Tracts extend into and overlap with Myanmar’s Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin Rainforests to the east. This large rainforest ecoregion represents the semi-evergreen submontane that supports high biological diversity.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts region has a tropical monsoon climate based around a seasonal change in prevailing wind direction. The mean annual rainfall is roughly 79 inches (200 centimeters) in the north and east, and up to 118 inches (300 centimeters) in the south and west. The mean annual temperature is 73 degrees F (23 degrees C). In the summer, air moves from the ocean toward the land, and in winter, air moves from the land toward the ocean. The tropical climates in this area create the conditions that allow a significant amount of vegetative production.

Flora and Fauna

The forests of tropical and subtropical evergreens in the Chittagong Hill Tracts cover about 15 percent of the region. Bangladesh is characterized by extensive forest cover and diverse vegetation. The hills, rivers, and cliffs of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are covered with dense bamboo breaks, tall trees, and creeper jungles. The valleys are covered with thick forest. The vegetation ranges from semi-evergreen to tropical evergreen forests and is dominated by tall trees from families such as two-winged-fruit tree (Dipterocarpaceae), spurge (Euphorbiaceae), laurel (Lauraceae), pea (Leguminosae), and madder (Rubiaceae). Teak (Tectona grandis) is a tropical hardwood that is native to India, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos; the quality of the wood grown here approaches that of the teak grown in Myanmar, and is of much better quality than Indian teak. Seeds from teak in this region have been used to translocate teak outside its natural distribution range, including to places like Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Each season produces its special variety of flowers; among them, the prolific water hyacinth (Eichhornia spp.) flourishes. Its carpet of thick green leaves and blue flowers gives the impression that solid ground lies underneath. Other decorative plants also widely spread here are jasmine, water lily, rose, hibiscus, bougainvillea, magnolia, and a diverse range of wild orchids in the forested areas.

Plantation trees that grow in this area include coconut, mango, banana, jackfruit, teak, palm, and bamboo. Crops of cotton, tobacco, rice, tea, and oilseeds are also raised in the valleys between the hills. Unfortunately, these plantations and croplands contribute to the degradation of natural forests.

The Indigenous people of Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh have used medicinal plants for generations to treat a variety of diseases. These plants are an important part of the region’s biodiversity. Indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts rely on medicinal plants to treat various health conditions, including diarrhea, dysentery, snake bites, wounds, injuries, and chronic illnesses. These plants are an integral component of their traditional healthcare practices and local livelihoods. Efforts to conserve medicinal plants, led by organizations such as the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Bangladesh, aim to preserve both biodiversity and the Indigenous knowledge of these plants. Such conservation initiatives protect ecological balance and contribute to sustainable community development.

Many animal species in the Chittagong Hills have become critically endangered due to indiscriminate poaching and rapid depletion of forests; these include rare species such as the gayal (Bos frontalis), the Royal Bengal tiger, panthers, large and small civet cats, pangolins, hoolock gibbons (Ulluk), barking deer, sambar deer , slow lorises (Lajjabati Banor), and peacocks. Some of these animals may already be threatened or on the verge of extinction in the Chittagong Hill Tracts forests. Meanwhile, many common animals such as deer, wild pigs, and wild birds are also fleeing the forests across the border as increasing population, illegal poaching, and degradation of forest reserves are causing habitat destruction. Satellite-based monitoring indicates that forest loss in the Chittagong Hill Tracts continues due to shifting cultivation, logging, and infrastructure expansion.

Other animals that are only rarely seen in the Chittagong Hills in the twenty-first century are migratory elephants, wild buffalo, bears, and porcupines. Reptiles that can be found in this ecosystem include the mud turtle, river tortoise, tiki-tik gecko, crocodile, python, king cobra, and a variety of venomous snakes. There are more than 250 bird species in the area, including little grebe, heron, egret, common moorhen, common coot, Asian openbill stork, white-winged wood duck, and a variety of other waterfowl.

Water scarcity has forced many Indigenous peoples to relocate to places where they could find water during the dry season. Realizing their forests were in peril, residents of Chittagong Hills communities started an initiative with conservation programs in 2021. These programs provide funding to train individuals to work in new occupations to stop them from relying solely on forests for sustenance. Community members also assigned some individuals to serve as forest guards to help prevent illegal poaching and forest destruction.

Conservation efforts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts gained momentum with the launch of Phase II of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Watershed Co-Management Activity (CHTWCA II) in 2024, which focused on preserving the region’s natural resources and biodiversity, including forests, rivers, and wetlands. Programs like the Creative Conservation Alliance and support for Village Common Forests (VCFs) empowered local communities to manage resources through agroforestry, communal forest management, and traditional crafts. Additional initiatives, like strengthening border security and improving infrastructure, aimed to reduce illegal activities while enhancing trade and connectivity across the region.


Bibliography

Ahammad, Ronju, and Natasha Ellen Stacey. “Forest and Agrarian Change in the Chittagong Hill Tracts Region of Bangladesh.” Agrarian Change in Tropical Landscapes, edited by Liz Deakin et al., Center for International Forestry Research, 2016, pp.190–33.

Alam, Md. Khairul. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge on Non-Wood Forest Products Management and Biodiversity Conservation: A Focus on Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs), Bangladesh.” Non-Wood Forest Products of Asia, Knowledge, Conservation and Livelihood, edited by Md. Khairul Alam, July 2022, pp. 41–69, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-99313-9_3. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Chowdhury, Khairul. “Politics of Identities and Resources in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: Ethnonationalism and/or Indigenous Identity.” Asian Journal of Social Science, vol. 36, no. 1, Jan. 2008, pp. 57–78, doi:10.1163/156853108X267567. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Gain, Philip, editor. The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Life and Nature at Risk. Society for Environment and Human Development, 2000.

Gunter, Bernhard G., et al. “How Vulnerable are Bangladesh’s Indigenous People to Climate Change?” Bangladesh Development Research Center, 2008, lib.icimod.org/records/bazp0-cx450. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.

Hansen, O. K., et al. “Worldwide Translocation of Teak—Origin of Landraces and Present Genetic Base.” Tree Genetics & Genomes, vol. 13, no. 87, 2017, doi:10.1007/s11295-017-1170-8. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Kadir, Mohammad Fahim, et al. “Ethnopharmacological Survey of Medicinal Plants Used by Traditional Healers and Indigenous People in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, for the Treatment of Snakebite.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 2015, no.1, 23 Mar. 2015, p. 871675, doi:10.1155/2015/871675. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Kamal, A. S. M. Maksud, et al. “Land Use Transformation and Carbon Sequestration in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh.” Discover Sustainability, vol. 5, no. 27, 20 Apr. 2026, doi:10.1007/s44246-025-00251-3. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Siddique, Abu. “In Bangladesh, a Community Comes Together to Save a Lifegiving Forest.” Mongabay, 19 May 2022, news.mongabay.com/2022/05/in-bangladesh-a-community-comes-together-to-save-a-life-giving-forest/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

“USAID and UNDP Unveil Second Phase of Chittagong Hill Tracts Conservation Project.” UNDP Bangladesh, 4 June 2024, www.undp.org/bangladesh/press-releases/usaid-and-undp-unveil-second-phase-chittagong-hill-tracts-conservation-project. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

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