Boats are lined up along the riverbank. Here old planks are being replaced, there tar is being applied. Some men are mending torn nets, others are testing engines. Boats that have sat at the ghat for three months are being readied once more for long journeys into salt water.

This is the scene in Burigoalini, Munshiganj, Gabura and other settlements next to the Sundarbans in Shyamnagar, Satkhira. After three months of waiting, the forest reopens on Tuesday, 1 September. Fishers and bawalis (forest workers) will go back into its rivers and creeks for fish and crabs with Forest Department permits, and the forest's tourist spots will reopen to visitors.

For thousands of coastal families the reopening is not just the end of an administrative ban. It means the certainty of lighting the stove again, a chance to pay for children's schooling, hope of buying medicine for elderly parents and the start of the fight to repay debts piled up over three months.

But the hope of a new season comes with many sums: the cost of repairing boats and nets, debts to moneylenders, NGO loan instalments and, above all, the old fear of pirates inside the forest.

To protect the Sundarbans' biodiversity, fish stocks and wildlife breeding, entry to the forest is restricted every year in June, July and August. Fishing and crabbing, the collection of forest resources and most tourism stop, and no new passes or permits are issued to fishers or bawalis.

According to the Forest Department, June to August is the main breeding season for most fish and aquatic animals in the forest's rivers and creeks. Many wild animals breed at the same time, and seeds of sundari, gewa, goran and other plants germinate and new seedlings grow.

A key aim of the ban is to keep the forest relatively quiet for a few months by reducing human presence, engine noise, the pressure of fishing and resource collection, and tourist traffic. On the recommendation of the Integrated Resource Management Plan the ban at first covered July and August; from 2022 it was extended to run from 1 June to 31 August.

Entry was closed on paper, but there is no way to claim that illegal entry was stopped completely for all three months. The Forest Department's own figures on raids and seizures show that some people tried to enter the forest illegally during the ban.

By the department's count, forest guards carried out 63 operations between June and August this year. These led to 39 cases and 37 arrests. Officials seized 12 trawlers, 50 boats, 55 fishing nets, bottles of poison and liquid poison, and more than 6,000 traps used to catch wildlife. Fish and crabs caught with poison and other illegal equipment were also recovered. The department says forest crime fell compared with the same period last year.

The figures cut both ways. Patrols and raids meant action was taken against illegal activity; but the recovery of so many traps, nets and so much poison shows that attempts at illegal fishing and hunting could not be stopped entirely during the ban.

Local forest workers also allege that while legitimate fishers were kept out, some unscrupulous people slipped into the rivers and creeks and caught fish with poison. They say it is not enough to keep legal forest users out; remote rivers, creeks and sanctuary areas need closer watch during the three months.

The Forest Department says the effect of three months of fewer people and boats is visible inside the forest. Officials say herds of deer were seen roaming the riverbanks relatively undisturbed during the ban. Tigers and crocodiles appeared on the banks of various creeks, birds were active in the trees, and normal wildlife movement increased deep in the forest. Rainwater also helped new plants and seedlings grow.

Officials add that with less human pressure and engine noise, fish bred undisturbed and tigers, deer and other animals found a safe environment. The quiet period also helped new seedlings of sundari, keora, baen and other species to grow.

Most of these positive changes, however, are so far based on the department's observations. Long-term scientific surveys and comparative data on how far fish stocks or particular wildlife populations grew in one ban season would allow the real benefits of the ban to be judged more clearly.

Forest workers have no major objection to the ban as a way to protect the environment. Their question lies elsewhere: if the forest is given three months' rest, how are the people who depend on it supposed to live during that time?

Manik Morol, a forest worker from Burigoalini in Shyamnagar, told Jagonews24: "If closing the forest is good for fish breeding and for the Sundarbans, we want to accept it. But for these three months we have no work and no income. We need rice at home, there are the children's school costs, medicine. We are forced to borrow at high interest. Before the forest even opens we are drowning in big debts."

He said: "Just as we had to borrow to run the household for three months, now we are borrowing again to repair boats, engines and nets to go into the forest."

Bachchu Gain, another forest worker from the same area, told Jagonews24: "The first money we earn when the Sundarbans opens won't be ours. We have to pay the moneylender and the NGO instalments. If anything is left after that, it will run the household. We want the Sundarbans to survive and the fish to increase, but we want regular government support for us during the three months of closure."

Some forest workers try to take up day labour, farm work or other small jobs out of season. But in many of the saline coastal areas next to the Sundarbans, regular alternative work is scarce, so a few months without income quickly leaves them dependent on loans.

According to government figures, of about 18,500 registered fishing families in the Sundarbans area, 8,271 families received 80kg of VGF rice each for July and August in the first phase, a total of 661.68 tonnes. The remaining eligible families are to be brought under the scheme in phases. The ministry concerned described it as the first special food assistance initiative for registered fishers who depend on the Sundarbans.

Forest workers call the initiative positive but say its reach must grow, because not everyone who depends on the Sundarbans is a registered fisher. Bawalis, honey collectors (mouals), boatmen, labourers and crews of tourist trawlers are among the many whose income falls or stops during the three months. If they are not all included, they say, the support will not work.

They want the ban to be seen not only as a forest conservation programme but to be paired with a coordinated "closed-season support" programme for forest-dependent people. Alongside food aid, alternative work, easy-term loans, training or cash support would reduce their reliance on moneylenders and high-interest loans.

As they talk, many forest workers raise, along with their worries about debt, another old dread: safety.

Shahidul Gazi, a forest worker from Kalinchi next to the Sundarbans, said: "I built my boat and fixed my nets on borrowed money. If we can fish safely in the forest now, we can get back on our feet. But if inside the river we again have to pay extortion to pirates, if they stop boats or kidnap people, where will we go? We have one demand: if we go into the forest with a legal pass, let us work safely and come home."

Several forest workers allege that last season they had to pay extortion to pirates on some Sundarbans waterways. They also allege that, as proof of payment or identification, they were sometimes given banknotes with particular serial numbers, which were used as a kind of "code".

Forest workers say that in some areas anyone unable to show the right signal or identification risks having their boat stopped, being questioned, beaten or kidnapped.

They say that once the new season starts, joint patrols by the Forest Department, Coast Guard and river police must be stepped up, especially on remote waterways. They want not just pass checks at the ghat but quick security help inside the forest as well.

It is not only fishers and bawalis who are busy; Sundarbans tourism is also coming back to life. Tourist trawlers and vessels idle for three months are being cleaned. Wood and parts damaged by salt water are being repaired, engines tested, hulls painted and seats and safety equipment put right. Once the ban is lifted, tourist spots including Kalagachhia in the Satkhira range, Dobeki, Katka, Kochikhali, Hiron Point, Dublar Char and Nilkamal will reopen. These spots have Forest Department offices and are guarded by department staff. The department says new walkways, bridges and information centres have also been built for visitors.

A group of Dhaka University students visiting the Sundarbans said the forest is not just a place to tour but a chance to see nature at close quarters. They planned to go into the forest the next day after its three-month closure, but said they wanted stricter arrangements for tourists' safety, cleanliness and rules to protect the forest environment.

Anisur Rahman, president of the Munshiganj Forest Ghat Trawler Owners' Association, told Jagonews24 that maintenance costs do not stop even when trawlers sit idle for three months. Drivers, workers and many others depend on the business. If tourist numbers rise after the reopening, economic activity will pick up across the area, he said, but safe waterways, good communications and tourism run under Forest Department rules must be ensured.

In the Satkhira range, hundreds of tourist vessels and trawlers support the livelihoods of drivers, assistants, cooks, guides, shopkeepers and many others. Traders hope the start of the tourist season will give the local economy new momentum.

The three-month ban gave the forest temporary relief from human pressure, but after 1 September fishers, boats and tourists will be moving again. People working on the environment say this is the biggest challenge.

Along with growing tourism, the number of vessels, noise pollution, plastic and waste management, and tourists' behaviour near wildlife habitats must be strictly controlled, they say. Otherwise part of the rest nature gained in three months could be undone by a few months of unregulated tourism.

The Forest Department has also urged tourists and forest workers to follow the set restrictions. Officials say fishers, bawalis and tourist vessels will be allowed into the Sundarbans with valid passes and permits from 1 September, while control of vessel movement, entry management and surveillance to protect the forest's biodiversity and resources will be kept tight.

AZM Hasanur Rahman, divisional forest officer of the Sundarbans West Forest Division, told Jagonews24 that the main purpose of the three-month ban was to keep the Sundarbans quiet for the breeding of fish, wildlife and plants. Passes (permits) would be issued under the rules from 1 September, he said, but regular patrols and surveillance would continue for the safety of forest workers and to stop illegal entry, poison fishing and hunting. The department would coordinate with other law enforcement agencies as needed to curb piracy and prevent crime.

He added that smart patrolling, special operations and technology-based surveillance in remote areas during the ban had brought forest crime much further under control than before.

People connected with the Sundarbans say, however, that saving the forest and saving the people who live off it are two challenges facing the Sundarbans at once. On one side, three months of quiet lets fish breed in the rivers and creeks, wildlife roam freely and new vegetation grow, and the need for this rest to sustain the world's largest mangrove forest cannot be denied. On the other, for the forest-dependent people who have lived off it for generations, these three months bring no income, debt and uncertainty.

In their view, a ban alone will struggle to make conservation of the Sundarbans succeed in the long run. If genuine forest workers are given alternative livelihoods and regular support, they can stay away from the pressure of illegal harvesting, and firm action against forest crime and piracy would make earning a legal living easier.

The three-month wait ends on Monday. From dawn on Tuesday, boats will head for the Sundarbans again, some carrying nets, some crab-catching gear, and tourist trawlers carrying visitors.

But much more will travel with those boats: three months of debt, calculations about the children's future, families' expectations and prayers for a safe return home. For forest workers, 1 September is not only the day the Sundarbans opens its doors but the day the wheel of life turns again. Their hope is that the life of the Sundarbans survives, and so do the people who live by it.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.