THE BIRTH OF AN ISLAND AND EXTENSION OF FOREST IN THE SUNDARBAN AREA OF THE BAY OF BENGAL

The Sundarban is the largest single mangrove in the world. "Sundarban" literally means "Beautiful jungle" or "beautiful forest" in the Bangla language. The name Sundarban may have been derived from the Sundari trees that are commonly found in Sundarban in large numbers.

The forest lies at the mouth of the Ganges and is spread across areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, forming the seaward fringe of the delta. The forest covers about 10,000 sq.km of which about 6,000 are in Bangladesh. It became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997. The Sundarban is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and very small Char area (islands) of salt-tolerant mangrove forests  (Source: Wikipedia). The area is known for the Royal Bengal Tiger, as well as numerous fauna including species of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and snakes. It is estimated that there are now about 450 Royal Bengal tigers and 50,000 spotted deer in the area.  

The forest also has immense protective and productive functions. Constituting 51% of the total reserved forest estate of Bangladesh it contributes about 41% of total forest revenue and accounts for about 45% of all timber and fuel wood output of the country (FAO, 1995). 

A number of industries (e.g. newsprint mill, match factory, hardboard, boat building, furniture making) are based on the raw material obtained from the Sundarban ecosystem. Various non-timber forest products and plantations help generate considerable employment and income generation opportunities for at least half a million poor coastal population. Besides production functions of the forest, it provides natural protection to life and properties of the coastal population in cyclone prone Bangladesh. 

We will tell the story of the development and extension of a jungle adjacent to the Sundarban area. There will be about 30-40 photographs in this story. All of them are shoot by me during the visits in Sundarban from 2008 to 2013. We will show you the process of developing and extension of the jungle by showing you the photographs chronologically. 

If you have anything to share, you may please comment below and share your opinion with us.

                                                                   (Photo: Mohammad Abdullah)

Photo 1:

In the Sundarban area, river carries the silts, land wastage, water hyacinths and other organic garbage from all over the country towards the Bay of Bengal. 

You may notice the water hyacinth floating in the river.