The Role of Customary Laws and Traditional Beliefs in Environmental Management in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

While it is important to highlight the customary laws and the local governance system, it is equally important to understand the local beliefs and values which have been crucial part of the sustainable livelihood of the indigenous people in CHT for centuries. [...] The livelihood of the indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is dependent on the nature and the natural resources. [...] To meet the demand of electricity for industrialization the government of Pakistan constructed the hydro-electric dam on the Karnafuli, river in the early 60’s. [...] First, the nationalization of forests and declaring one fourth of the CHT land as reserve forests by the British colonial government denying the customary rights of the indigenous people have restricted most of the open access resources to the tribal communities and eventually opening the forest for commercial exploitation where the government encouraged the extraction of forest products and invit. [...] The Ajhas are also important source of minerals for the wild deer, the deer come to the Ajhas to drink the minerals.