Q1.
Why do you think it is important to take care of places like the Sundarbans?
Answer
Because a mangrove forest does five big jobs at once, and nothing else can do them in its place.
- It stops the sea from eating the land. Mangrove roots grip the mud. Waves break on the tangle of roots and lose their force. Villages behind the forest are safer in a cyclone.
- It is a nursery for fish. Fish, prawns and crabs lay eggs among the roots, where the young are safe. Thousands of fishing families along the coast depend on that.
- It is the last home of some animals. The Sundarbans is the only mangrove forest in the world where tigers live. If it goes, those tigers have nowhere else to go.
- People live from it. Honey, fish, crabs, wood and work all come out of this forest.
- It cleans and cools. Mangroves soak up a great deal of the gas that warms the Earth, and they trap dirt carried down by the river before it reaches the sea.
Why it cannot simply be replaced: A mangrove forest takes many years to grow, and it only grows where fresh river water and salty sea water mix in just the right way. Cut it down and you cannot put it back the following season. Once the roots are gone, the mud starts washing away — and then even the ground it grew on is gone.
For your discussion — name the threats: cutting mangroves for firewood and for building land; ponds dug for prawn farming; plastic and waste carried down the river; oil spilt by boats; and the sea slowly rising. Then ask the more useful question: which of these could children and villagers actually do something about?