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Download PDF Sidr victims may be compelled to resort to the ravaged Sundarbans left untouched for natural regeneration if they are not provided with adequate support for livelihood, forest officials apprehend.
A visit to the Sundarbans under the hard-hit Bagerhat’s Sharankhola Forest Range will reveal a shocking picture of the world’s largest single unit of mangrove forest.
The world heritage site appears to be roasted in an inferno as trees are shorn of leaves and branches with large trees uprooted.
If the Sundarbans, which provides livelihood to more than two million people in the region, is not given adequate time to regenerate, the loss caused to it might be permanent, the officials warn.
The government in a bid to save the forest has already barred all activities there except fishing.
Restriction has been slapped on the collection of honey and woods from the fallen trees. But the move may fail if the affected are not rehabilitated when the relief distribution draws to an end.
“People are not turning to the Sundarbans now as there is a flow of relief,” says a forest official asking not to be identified.
“But they will resort to the forest to earn a living and rebuild their houses and other structures after the ongoing relief phase is over.
“It will then be very difficult for us to protect the Sundarbans without adequate management and logistic support,” he adds.
Sidr has not only affected the trees but also the food sources and grazing land for the wild animals.
“Each of the Royal Bengal Tiger maintains its own territory,” says Kamal Uddin Ahmed, forest ranger of Sharankhola Range. “These territories are now all messed up. We’ve noticed these tigers randomly shifting from places to places.”
Another forest official says, “We usually did not come across any tigers before. But now forest officials often report seeing tigers. We have to fire blank shots to shoo the tigers away to ensure that they don’t enter the localities.”
“The devastation has transformed the domains of the wildlife so much that they cannot recognise their own territory and food sources. But the forest has been saved and we believe it will regenerate again,” another forest staff points out.
Assistant Conservator of the Sundarbans Bipul Das however believes it will take a lot of preparations and intensive management to help the forest regenerate.
“If the forest continues to be harmed, in future the people won’t have its protection any more from cyclone or other natural disasters,” Das observes.
“Rather the southwestern region will become more vulnerable to damage due to cyclones or tidal waves.”
The 600,000-hectare Sundarbans offers more than 400,000 hectares of forest, while the remaining part includes water bodies.
About one-fourth of the 400,000 hectares of the forest has been affected by the cyclone. Had the Sundarbans not been where it is now, the devastation would have taken place in the localities with much higher intensity.
The Sundarbans is Bangladesh’s guardian angel as long as storms and tidal waves are concerned. “No Sundarbans means the cyclone would have caused havoc intensely in Bagerhat, Khulna and even up to Dhaka; and thereby inflicted damage across Bangladesh,” says Kamal Uddin.
Like many international experts, the forest officials and even some enlightened coastal people believe a cyclone like Sidr is the result of global warming. Such cyclones are likely to happen in future and therefore, the forest must be protected to ensure that the people are protected.
But such a task is too challenging for the forest department, which has the ‘reputation’ of being one of the most corrupt government agencies.
The forest officials themselves admit this. But they claim they need sufficient logistic support side by side with uprooting corruption from the department.
They further say the department even cannot ensure proper monitoring and security of the Sundarbans due to insufficient logistic support, which includes short supply of fuel to run water vehicles.
Sidr has damaged many of the department’s vessels. Some of its boats have been swept up to the land and the officials cannot bring those damaged boats down to water.
In addition, the forest department’s own infrastructure has also been badly damaged, leaving many officials homeless.
Despite such a situation, the department has alerted all its officials about not letting anyone cut a tree or move out the fallen trees.
The department is putting number marks on the damaged trees for a proper damage assessment. The officials have been warned that if any tree is stolen, responsible ones, if found, will be suspended.
The huge responsibility of protecting the forest with inadequate logistic support may become impossible for the department to comply with if the affected people turn to the forest to save their own lives.
“We’ll need stronger management to save this forest, or else theft of trees will sharply increase soon after the relief phase is over. We won’t be able to handle that with the current human resources. And our failure will be the most unfortunate for the nation,” quips a forest official.
December 9th, 2007 at 4:59 am
[...] Hurricane Sidr: Sundarbans‘ fate hinges on well-being of Sidr …By Bangladesh NewsSidr victims may be compelled to resort to the ravaged Sundarbans left untouched for natural regeneration if they are not provided with adequate support for livelihood, forest officials apprehend. A visit to the Sundarbans under the …Bangladesh News - http://www.bangladeshnews.com.bd [...]