Milon Karmaker Raju, Kalapara
Due to increase of water-level in the sea caused by incessant rainfall for nearly a week, the forest regions including Fatra and the Sunderbans near Kuakata Beach in Kalapara of Patuakhali are being thronged by numerous fruits of the Sundari tree.
Being driven away by the high-tide of the sea those fruits are floating and thronging at Kuakata Beaches. Especially at the confluences of Lemburbon and Gangamoti these fruits are arriving en-masse in each high-tide.
Local people are collecting these fruits for using those as fire-wood. Environmentalists, on the other hand, said this was the best time to create a dense forest along the beach by leaving those fruits on the spot.
After visiting various sea-beaches of Kuakata, this correspondent noticed a large number of Sundari fruits have been thronged and are floating on the sandy beaches. Sundari trees are learnt to grow from the seeds inside those fruits. Some of those seeds have already been sprouted to saplings while some others have been rotten or destroyed. But, local people were collecting all those fruits for using those as fire-wood.
Fishermen Sultan Mia and Ibrahim Hossain informed the water did not enter inside the Fatrar Bon (forest) earlier but due heavy monsoon this year, water has also entered there through the high-tide. Moreover, the height of water at the Sunderbans was more this year. As a result fruits of the Sundari trees have been floated to the beach through the waves of the sea.
Local people informed the Fatrar Bon saves the people living near beaches through its 'Natural Green Wall' during any natural disaster and the erosion of the sea. The forest is damaged in every storm and in the strong tidal bores and from the seeds of the Sundari trees, new forest is created every year naturally.
However, due to floating of the fruits in the high tide to elsewhere this year, the number of growing of new trees will be decreased and thus causing an adverse impact on the environment as well. If the fruits thronging at the Kuakata are collected and planted in the erosion-prone areas of Lemburbon and Gangamoti regions of the beaches, it is still possible to create new forest region with the sprouting of the seeds of those fruits.
Members working with Kuakata Environment informed large areas of Narikelkunga, Ecopark, lembur Bon and Gongamoti beaches have been badly damaged due to heightened tidal bore and the high-tide during the last one week. Many trees along the beaches have been uprooted due to the wave of strong tide. The Biodiversity of the beaches is being damaged regularly but no step has so far been taken to save the adjacent forest region. As a result, the area of Kuakata forest is decreasing gradually.
Sagorika Smiri who works as an Assistant Researcher with the Environment of Kuakata under Ecofish-2 Project informed, in addition to save the beaches of Kuakata from the grip of erosion, it is also necessary to take project to create forest to save the beaches. Mangrove forest should be created surrounding the beaches. She added it is the prime time now to collect the Sundari fruits and to create mangrove forests in a planned way.
Dr Jasim Uddin, Professor of the Department of Biology of Dhaka University said it is an issue of research to look into the matter that why the huge number of Sundari seeds is thronging on the beaches every year.
He said that the forest can be created in the beach areas with the seeds of the Sundari trees but it is necessary to follow the correct procedure to create the forest. Also research is required on why the number of Sundari trees is decreasing in Fatra and in the Sunderbans. He also termed the Sunderbans and Fatra as the lungs of the region.
