World's largest mangrove forest to bear brunt of cyclone Aila

By Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, May 28 -- Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest

in Bangladesh's southwestern part, suffered another blow by cyclone Aila on

Monday before it could fully recover from the hit of cyclone Sidr in November

2007.

Chief conservator of southwestern Bangladesh's Khulna region under the

country's Forest Department Akbar Hossain told Xinhua on Thursday the damage

caused by 6-10 feet (1.8-3 meters) water surges would be an additional burden

for Sundarbans, spreading across parts of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India.

Around 40 percent of the forest is situated in India and 60 percent in

Bangladesh. On the Bangladeshi side, there are a total of 601,700 hectares,

accounting for 4.07 percent of the total landmass of the country and 40 percent

of the country's total forest land, according to the Forest Department.

The Sundarbans delta, at the mouth of the famed Ganges river in South Asia,

harbors 334 species of trees, shrubs and epyphites and 269 species of wild

animals including several hundreds of tigers, Hossain said.

"We've not yet received reports on losses of trees and wildlife in the

forest," he said, but there is information that bodies of many deer and other

animals were found floating.

"We do surmise that this time the death casualties of wild animals in the

forest might be higher than that in 2007 when cyclone Sidr hit as most part of

the forest was reportedly submerged under water due to severe tide," Hossain

said.

He also said saline water had entered almost all the eight big and more

than 14 small sweet water ponds, and around 20 jetties were damaged, partially

or completely.

Hossain said steps are under way to desalinate the sweet water pond on an

emergency basis as they are the sources of drinking water for wildlife,

inhabitants of the forest and more than 1,000 staff and employees of his

department in the forest.

It's another big blow after the cyclone Sidr, he said.

Officials of the Forest Department said cyclone Sidr on Nov. 15,2007 fully

damaged the flora and fauna on about 30,000 hectares of land and on about 80,000

hectares partially, fully damaged 60 jetties and 12 partially, and blew over

about 127 structures.

When the devastating cyclone Sidr hit the forest in 2007, the department

lost 55 vessels and the wireless system there broke down fully, which is yet to

be restored. Saline water entered all the sweet water ponds.

Monday's cyclone Aila's hit came at a time when the forest was almost

recovering from the Sidr damage, all the jetties and structures were repaired

and the ponds were freed of saline water, Hossain said.

He said following Monday's cyclone, instructions have already been made to

carry out an assessment on the extent of losses in the forest at the earliest.