- Relevance of the Action
Bangladesh occupies an area of 144,863 km². The hilly areas cover about 17,342.km² mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts districts, Chittagong, Habigonj and Moulavibazar. Hills constitute about 12 per cent of the total area of Bangladesh. Chittagong Hill Tracts districts alone covers 13,184 km² which is about 9%.Based on geology and landform, the hills of Bangladesh may broadly be subdivided as: 1. High hill ranges (about 70%) and 2. Low hill areas (about 30%). The high hill ranges, about 200-1,000 m above mean sea level (msl), are steep to very steep hills and usually have a rather youthful soil mantle ranging from a few cm to several metres in thickness over bedrocks. In contrast, the low hill areas, about 15-200 m above msl are nearly flat or rounded topped and usually have old and deep soil. The whole hilly region receives more than 2000 mm precipitation annually about 80% of which receives in 4 months (June-September) and the region was covered by tropical climax forest with diversified flora and fauna just a century back. Due to human pressure, the deep forests were deforested to denuded hills. Moreover, introduction of tillage cultivation practices and uses of chemicals a good number of indigenous flora and fauna have lost their habitats. Continue reading →
