In the Sundarbans delta on the Bay of Bengal, where the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers meet, nearly 10,000 sq km of land and water are shared between India and Bangladesh. On the Indian side, which extends over 4,200 sq km, there are 102 islands, just over half of them inhabited.

Here one physical fact determines everything: 70% of the land is just 1.5 to 3 metres above sea level. There is no high ground to provide refuge, nowhere to retreat when the water rises. In some parts, the flood embankments are already below sea level.

The mangrove forest here is the world’s largest and the last that remains intact. The Indian part was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987, the Bangladeshi section in 1997.

Five million people live in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve’s buffer zone. Until 1973, communities could exploit the forest’s resources by fishing in the inland waterways and collecting honey. But then the Indian government created the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve. This was the first step towards a strict separation of local communities and the forest which was to proceed in stages. In 1984 the core of the forest became a national park and access was completely prohibited. In 1989 the entire Indian section of the delta – protected forest and inhabited islands – was designated a biosphere reserve.

Some parts of the forest in the buffer zone have remained accessible to local fishermen who hold seasonal permits to catch a limited number of species. But at Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, near the village of Pakhiralay on Gosaba island, controls are strict and apply to everyone – fishermen, residents and tourists alike. A line has been drawn between two worlds, with nature managed on one side and human activity restricted to the other. An economy has taken shape around this divide; tourism now embodies people’s hopes of economic development.

The impossibility of planning

The sanctuary ranger who took me on patrol suddenly (…)

Full article: 1 959 words.