DHAKA, July 19, 2025 (BSS) - The Society for Environment and Human 
Development (SEHD) will organize a kick-off workshop of a new initiative and 
discussion on protecting the customary rights of the indigenous and forest-
dependent communities and natural forests in the north-central districts of 
the country and the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

The workshop will be held at the auditorium of Centre on Integrated Rural 
Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) in the capital tomorrow, said a 
press release here today.

The SEHD will share its long-standing research findings and analysis on 
forests, underlying factors for phenomenal forest loss, and forest-dependent 
people, along with the goal, objectives and mission of the new initiative.

Professor Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, an eminent economist and Planning Adviser to 
the interim government, will grace the workshop as the chief guest while Dr. 
Hossain Zillur Rahman, another distinguished economist, will chair the 
session. 

Philip Gain, director of SEHD, will present the keynote paper. Forest 
experts, university faculties, rights activists, and representatives of 
indigenous communities will join the discussion.