Thapa Gopal B, Rasul Golam
School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand.
J Environ Manage. 2006 Dec;81(4):441-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.12.002. Epub 2006 Mar 20.
Land use in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh had undergone changes over the past several centuries. The landscape, which was mostly covered with forest with interspersed shifting cultivation plots until the beginning of the colonial period, has gradually changed into a landscape with a blend of land uses. Overall, the forest area has gradually declined, while the area under shifting cultivation and sedentary agriculture has expanded. The process of the change was multi-directional. National forestry, land use, land taxation, population migration policies, and development activities, such as construction of a hydroelectric dam and roads, played an important role in this process. Shifting cultivation had inflicted little damage on the forest until the beginning of the colonial period. The pace of deforestation accelerated with the nationalization of forests which abolished tribal people's customary use and management rights to the forest, and allowed large-scale commercial logging both legally and illegally. The pace was further intensified by the policy encouraging population migration to CHT and construction of a reservoir on the Karnafuli River. Efforts were made to replace shifting cultivation with more productive types of sedentary agriculture. However, much change could not take place in the absence of secure land rights, supportive trade policies, and the required support services and facilities, including infrastructure. Locationally suitable land use evolved in areas where transportation facilities were available and farmers were granted land title with the necessary extension services and credit facilities. These findings have important policy implications for the promotion of environmentally and economically sound land use in CHT.
孟加拉国吉大港山区（CHT）的土地利用在过去几个世纪中发生了变化。在殖民时期开始之前，该地区大部分为森林，其间散布着轮作耕地，如今已逐渐转变为多种土地利用方式混合的景观。总体而言，森林面积逐渐减少，而轮作耕地和固定农业的面积则有所扩大。这种变化过程是多方向的。国家林业、土地利用、土地税收、人口迁移政策以及诸如修建水电大坝和道路等发展活动在这一过程中发挥了重要作用。在殖民时期开始之前，轮作耕种对森林造成的破坏较小。随着森林国有化，森林砍伐速度加快，这一举措废除了部落居民对森林的传统使用和管理权，并允许合法和非法的大规模商业伐木。鼓励人口迁移至吉大港山区以及在卡尔纳普利河上修建水库的政策进一步加剧了森林砍伐速度。人们努力用生产力更高的固定农业取代轮作耕种。然而，在缺乏土地安全权、支持性贸易政策以及包括基础设施在内的所需支持服务和设施的情况下，变化不大。在交通便利且农民获得土地所有权并享有必要推广服务和信贷设施的地区，形成了因地制宜的土地利用方式。这些研究结果对促进吉大港山区环境和经济可持续的土地利用具有重要的政策意义。
