Sundarbans opened for tourists Thursday

The tourist centres of the Sundarbans – the largest mangrove forest in the world – were opened for tourists on 1 September after the forest department banned entry to the forest on 19 March last year due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

"A meeting of the Ministry of Forests decided to allow tourists to enter the Sundarbans from 1 September. However, a launch cannot take more than 75 tourists. Besides, the visitors have to follow the restrictions given by the forest department," said Divisional Forest Officer of Sundarbans (East Division) Md Belayet Hossain.

On average, more than one and a half lakh tourists visit various tourist spots in Sundarbans every year, he added.

The forest department lifted the ban on 1 November but imposed it again on 3 April this year. In addition, during the breeding season of hilsa and other fishes, fishermen, tourists and others were prohibited from entering the forest for about three months.

Tour operator owners, officials, and employees, who incurred financial losses due to the closure of the tourist centres, have prepared their launches, boats, trawlers and watercraft with new decorations for the tourists, hoping to make up for their losses.

Due to the closure of tourist centres, the forest department has lost about Tk25 to Tk30 lakh of revenue.

In one year before the Covid-19 outbreak, Tk35 lakh was earned as revenue only from Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre only, which dropped to Tk9 lakh this year as the centre was open from November last year to March this year.

Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre is the main gateway to the Sundarbans which can represent the whole Sundarbans ecosystem to some extent with its wooden trail, wildlife and scenic view of mangroves. Karamjal is one of the most visited tourist hotspots with over one lakh tourists every year and this number is increasing at a significant rate.

As the Padma Bridge has been open for all, the forest department expects that the number of tourists from other divisions and districts will increase two to three times at different spots including Karamjal, Herbaria, Katka, Kachikhali, Nilakamal, Pakhir Char, Dublar Char, Hiron Point, etc.

Md Mizanur Rahman, director of Southern Tour and Travels, said that the tour companies have suffered a lot due to the ban on entering the forest. About 3,000 officials and employees in Mongla, who depended on this industry, were going through extreme hardship during this period. With the lifting of the ban, it will be possible to compensate for the loss to some extent.

Hilal Uddin, Officer-in-Charge of Mongla Tourist Police, said that the Tourist Police have arranged three levels of security for the visitors of the Sundarbans.

The Sundarbans, a paradise of natural beauty not only in the country but also globally, is home to various terrestrial and aquatic animals including the Royal Bengal tiger, Maya and Chitra deer, monkeys and various species of snakes.