Marma Traditional Land-Based Practice in Building Community Resilience-Perspective from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh

Abstract

This chapter explores how the Marma Indigenous community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) utilizes land-based knowledge and practices to build climate resilience amid increasing environmental challenges. Unplanned infrastructural development, land grabbing, and deforestation have exacerbated the community’s vulnerability to extreme climate events, such as flash floods and water scarcity. The chapter adopts a decolonial approach, centering Marma voices and addressing historical injustices and sociopolitical marginalization. It highlights the community’s traditional land and forest management techniques, the impact of anthropogenic environmental degradation, and the diminishing natural resources that threaten their livelihoods and cultural practices. The chapter concludes with community-driven solutions for sustainable land, forest, and water resource management.