Dreams and reality around the Sundarbans

Dreams and reality around the Sundarbans

By Dr.Fourkan Ali

There has always been a sustained kind of interest in die Sundarbans, the mangrove forest in the country‘s southwestern shores. And of course there are all the reasons for it, the most fundamental of those being the preeminent position the forests hold in Bangladesh’s not so happy environmental scene. Over the years, indeed over the decades, the news coming out of the Sundarbans, has been anything but good. There are, first of all, the cumulative stories of lawlr5sne§ which has characterized the forests over a span of time, Elements not particularly environment-friendly has been indulging in what is clearly an indiscriminate felling of trees in the Sundarbans. Early in 2001, reports appeared in the nations newspapers to the effect that as many as 250 people had been held to ransom deep inside the forests. At the same time, ten wood-cutters had been kidnapped by people who had clearly encroached on the resources of the forests.

Apart from the question of crime making its surreptitious way into the Sundarbans, there has forever been the thought of what has been done to the forests over the years, to a point where today it is a national concern in Bangladesh to go full-steam into the job of saving the forests. That was probably an important reason behind a two-day seminar, early in 2001, in the southwestern city of Khulna on the issue of ensuring the safety of the Sundarbans. But me idea that even as important a social issue as saving a woodland can throw up politics of a dark sort surfaced when the entire Cabinet stayed away from the inaugural of the seminar The country’s President justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, ceremonially declared me seminar open, but what became rather conspicuous was the government’s reluctance to be a party to the exercise. The reason was simple enough: the organizers had decided that Save the Sundarbans would be an appropriate theme for the seminar. Miffed, the authorities suggested that Conserve the Sundarbans would be more to the point. The organizers disagreed. Hence, the ire of the government.

That, at least, is one way of showing the degree to which the Sundarbans is today in peril, despite their status as die largest mangrove forest in the world. To be sure, a considerable part of the forests happens to be wid1in_IndiZ.n geographical territory But the portion which lies within Bangladesh happens to be of immense beneath to the country Observe the figures which explain the reason why that is so. The Sundarbans covers as much as 51 per cent of the total reserved forest area in Bangladesh. In addition, the forests provide the state with 41 per cent of the nation‘s total forest revenue. The figures thus speak for themselves. And there is more: the Sundarbans account for approximately 45 per cent of timber and fuel wood output in Bangladesh. Where employment is the matter the forests are directly responsible for the economic welfare of half a million, if not more, people. But if a broad view of the employment aspect of the Sundarbans is taken, the estimates show an increase: as many as 2.5 million people are directly as well as indirectly benefited by the forests in terms of economic well-being.

There is quite a bit of history that comes with the Sundarbans. In 1869, the forests were taken under the control of the British colonial authorities. Nine years later; in 1878, the Sundarbans was officially designated a reserve forest. The total area of the Sundarbans, the part of it now within Bangladesh, covers 6,017 square kilometers, Of the total area, land covers 4,145 square kilometers while water (and that includes rivers, wetland and streams) is to be found on 1,874 square kilometers, The Sundarbans, declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997, is home to 354 plant species together with 165 algae, No fewer than 13 orchid species have been spotted in the forests. Containing some 373 species of fauna, the Sundarbans have 75 per cent of the land area covered by the Sundari, the tree from which it is said to have derived its name. About 16 per cent of the area is given over to the Gewa, another breed of trees. As well as being a safe habitat for the legendary Royal Bengal Tiger the forest also provide a home to a variety of other animal species, such as the spotted deer barking deer foxes, et al.

So where is the point of concern, or call it worry, about the Sundarbans at present? The response to that query is that at present the forests are under assault, both from the environment and the people. Or one could say that the environment in the forests has in the recent past been gravely affected by the depredations carried on by people or organized groups of people. Illegal felling of trees as well as unlawful hunting of animals placed a great deal of pressure on the Sundarbans, That was one reason why the Bangladesh government, in 1989, placed a ten-year moratorium on the harvesting of timber in the forests. Early in 2001, a new five-year moratorium was imposed, the objective of course being a further conservation of resources in the Sundarbans. That is as it should have been. For the Sundarbans happens to be the focal point of livelihood for as many as 45,000 people every day. All across the forests, 150,000 boats are seen to ply with each boat manned by two boatmen. The assumption then is clear: the Sundarbans serves as a strong lifeline to the poor, It is tl1ese poor whose future is in need of security both from ill-intentioned individuals and a corrupt bureaucracy As a step towards sustaining, indeed buttressing the resources of the forests, a programme of planting 42,00,000 saplings was undertaken for the fiscal year ending in the middle of 2001, At the same time, the need for a prevention of salinity creeping into the Sundarbans necessitated, in the not too distant past, the undertaking of a programme, the Gorai River Restoration Project.

All of which goes to show the many dreams which Bangladesh continues to shape around the Sundarbans, A slip, a minor failure to keep priorities on the right track, can only cause nightmares to environmental planners in Bangladesh.