Roots of Resilience: The Women Preserving Asia’s Ancient Mangrove Forest

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Moreover, ecologists working on the bio-restoration of mangroves in the Sundarbans are deeply critical of the use of vetiver grass to stabilize embankments, as it is not native to the area. Ray is one of them. “Vetiver is not at all salt-tolerant,” she says, adding that plantation areas are inundated with saltwater every six hours because of the Sundarbans’ unique tidal cycle. “In the intertidal zone, which is the actual abode of mangroves, this vetiver will never, ever grow.”

Back in her home on the water’s edge, Bhunia waits for her migrant son to return home and worries about the next big cyclone. But every time they sell a mangrove sapling, she feels happy as she is earning with dignity — all without leaving her village.

She and others in her SHG plan to reinvest some of their income in mangrove restoration, save some for emergencies and put the rest into nest eggs to fund future small businesses. While building living mangrove walls could take years to show tangible, large-scale impact in the Sundarbans, their work goes to show that linking the local economy to restoring local ecology is a smart defense against the impacts of climate change.