LIFE OF SUNDARBAN

Nypa palm (Nypa fruticans), locally known as Golpata, by the river side of Sundarban. It is very popular among the people of Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira districts in Bangladesh. It is used as roofing material for poor people.
Taking permission from forest division, Bawalies, a class of people engaged in extracting wood, timber and honey, have already started to collect Golpata, leaves of small trees, big sized and used in that ching.Poor and low income groups of people of Bagerhat, Khulna, Pirojpur, Barguna and Barisal districts use Golpata for making their houses.

Fishing is the main occupation of many coastal people at Sundarban. It is the only source of income for most of them. But everyday they cannot go to the river or sea to catch the fishes. During rainy season, it is very risky to get into the river or sea. Since fishermen do not have any other way to earn money, they have to go to the river or sea as often as possible. There have been several instances where fishermen have dared to get into the river and sea in dangerous circumstances and landed up losing their lives. Most of them were found to not even have any insurance policy, leaving their family members without any source of income. Fishing is mostly continued as an inherited profession.They are very hard working and simple.

As the fishermen move about in search of beehives in the wild, they run the risk of meeting a deadly foe - the Royal Bengal tiger.

  The largest mangrove forests in the world, have been collecting wild honey from April to June every year.

The annual honey gathering season brings lots of expectations in the south-west of the country, as it provides people with much needed extra income.

On average, the fishermen earn around $70 to $80 (£42 to £49) each during the season.

They use the extra money to repay their debts or to repair their boatsHoney gathering may sound like a normal rural occupation but here it is perhaps the most dangerous job in the world.If a tiger kills anyone of us, we cannot be afraid and stay at home. If we don't come here, we cannot feed our parents and children. It's our life”