The vanishing pharmacy of the Sundarbans

The Sundarbans stretches across 10,000 square kilometres of Bangladesh and India. Its green canopy shelters the Royal Bengal tiger, saltwater crocodiles and more than 300 plant species. Nearly 2.7 million people live in the coastal districts surrounding the forest on the Bangladesh side alone.For generations, communities here have turned to the forest for food, firewood and medicine. Kabiraj have long provided care in rural areas where formal medical services can be difficult or expensive to access.Their remedies are made from leaves, roots and bark, and their knowledge has traditionally been passed from one generation to the next. A 2011 study of medicinal plants in Barisal Division found that almost one-third of rural households in the coastal area sought help from kabiraj or similar healers.Rising seas and repeated cyclones are pushing saltwater further into coastal ecosystems. Between 2017 and 2021, salinity in tidal water rose from 21 to 33 parts per thousand in the pre-monsoon season, while soil salinity increased by 31 percent.Mangroves are adapted to salt, but tolerance varies by species. The Sundari (Heritiera fomes) is declining. Bain (Avicennia officinalis), an important...