Like in the past, the Sundarbans one again played the role of a natural shield to the coastal area protecting people and properties from the super cyclone Amphan.
The most powerful cyclone to strike Bangladesh and eastern India in over a decade killed at least 82 people, leaving a trail of destruction and flooding over large tracts of land.
The cyclone Amphan over Jenaidah district and adjoining areas moved northwards and now lies over Rajshahi-Pabna region and adjoining area at 9 on Thursday morning as a land deep depression.
In Bangladesh, 12 people were killed by the cyclone.
On Wednesday evening, cyclone Ampan wreaked havoc on the coast with winds at a maximum speed of 112 kmph, heavy rainfall and high tides and crossed Khulna district after six hours of destruction.
Experts, however, said there is no official data on how many natural disasters the world’s largest mangrove forest so far has endured.
The strong enclosures of various trees including Sundari-Gewa and innumerable rivers have been protecting the living beings for years despite the forest itself endured damages.
Terming the Sundarbans as a shield to the coastal area, Professor Anwarul Qadir, executive director of The Sundarbans Academy, said cyclone Amphan lashed out less after crossing the forest, which always protects people and properties in the coastal areas.
Authorities, however, are yet to assess the damage left by the cyclone since the forest department staff was moved to the safer places, said Amir Hossain Chowdhury, acting Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF).
They have evacuated all staff from nine offices, including in Kotka, Kochikhali, Shelarchar, Pashakkhali, Baherakhali, Puspakathi, Notabeki, Kachikata, Kawakhali, located near the coast.
"Nearly 60 to 70 staff members are posted in those forest offices and we moved all of them," he added.
Authorities also asked the honey collectors, who could not return from the forest, to take shelter at the nearby forest offices, he said.
The forest department was set to start assessing damages caused by the cyclone in a day or two.
The cyclone hit the eastern parts of the forest, especially Chandpai range -- which includes Kochikhali, Kotka, Hiron Point, and Dublarchar -- leaving a trail of destruction. Trees were uprooted and houses destroyed as much as similar to that of the destructions left by another cyclone in 1988, according to local sources said.
But, the Sundarbans eventually recovered and turned into green.
The forest act like a “shock absorber”, said Khasru Chowdhury, who has working to save the Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans for the last 40 years.
Once again the Sundarbans proved its important to us in the backdrop of the government's unwillingness to abandon industrial project in Rampal, Mongla, Taltoli and Kalapara, said Sharif Jamil, secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, one of many organizations those are vocal against the establishment of a coal-fired power plant in near the forest since the beginning.
If the Sundarbans did not exist, entire Khulna division could be left like a desert without a tree or human habitation since the cyclone comes with saline water from the sea, said wildlife and forest ecology expert Dr Reza Khan.
The contribution of the forest can’t be determined in financial terms, he said urging the government to stop all kind of economic and commercial interventions near the Sundarbans immediately.
"Only thing the government should do is to save the forest," he insisted.
Bangladesh and India jointly share the world’s largest mangrove forest, with 6,017sqkm falls in Bangladesh.