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Download PDF Ruining the beautiful, green landscape, cyclone Sidr has dealt a severe blow to the Sundarbans, destroying 1,528 square kilometres of the forest out of around 6,000 square kilometres, according to forest officials’ primary assessment.
Of the devastated areas totalling about one-fourth of the forest, 1,200 square kilometres are land and the rest water bodies.
The officials assess that more than Tk 1,000 crore worth of forest resources have been lost in addition to another Tk 20 crore in infrastructure damage.
Though a chunk of the forest has been completely destroyed carcasses of only one tiger, 38 deer and one monkey have so far been recovered, officials say.
The situation is so bad that the Department of Forest is considering not permitting anyone to collect nypah, goran and honey from the Sundarbans this year.
Every year, the government earns Tk 60-65 lakh in revenue by giving permission to honey and nypah collectors.
The forest officials say the devastation is severe and it will take years to recover from the loss. Special attention from both home and abroad to restoration is also required, they add.
“It will take years to restore the forest to its previous state. We need national and international support to recover from the loss occurred there,” Chief Forest Conservator AKM Shamsuddin told The Daily Star.
“A programme officer from the Unicef will visit the forest tomorrow [today] to see the devastation of the world natural heritage site,” he added.
During a visit to the Terabeka point in the Sundarbans, it was found that trees were shorn of leaves, with most of them either uprooted or twisted.
According to the officials, the Department of Forest is mulling restoration plans for the Sundarbans in three phases.
Their plans include rebuilding infrastructure and arranging supply of drinking water at different forest beat offices in the initial stage.
The sources say 90 percent accommodation facilities for the 1,100-strong forest officials there have been completely destroyed. The government is going to allocate Tk 34 crore in the initial stage.
The officials say they need to run assisted natural regeneration (ANR) programme as the forest’s ground surface is covered up by leaves and other rubbish.
“So we might launch cleaning operation on the ground so that seeds anchor on the forest land and regenerate the forest automatically,” said the chief conservator.
“If we find automatic regeneration is not working properly, we would go for enrichment plantation of the Sundarbans species including nypah, sundari and goran in the forest.”
Seedling time of keora, one of the largest tree species in the Sundarbans, starts in April, May and June. Experts from the forest department express the hope the regeneration process will start within one year.
Besides, the forest officials say they are going to launch a prey survey on deer, wild boars and rhesus monkeys.
Some experts, the forest conservator said, have advised to provide food for the wildlife in the Sundarbans, but that might change the food habit of the carnivorous animals.
Sources say the government is looking forward to doing everything to restore the world heritage site.
However, a number of experts from non-government sector express their concern that the government has to ensure the forest officials don’t take it as an opportunity to make quick money from felled trees.
“Over the years, the forest officials have been felling trees in the Sundarbans. This time the government should monitor it so that they just don’t fell trees and sell those,” said a high official of a private organisation who has been working on the Sundarbans for years.
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