Ratargul Swamp Forest is a

freshwater swamp forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are found ...

located in Gowain River, Fatehpur Union, Gowainghat, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Ratargul was once thought to be the only swamp forest in Bangladesh, and one of the few freshwater swamp forests in the world. Later, more swamp forests namely Jugirkandi Mayabon, Bujir Bon and Lokkhi Baor swamp forest were discovered in Bangladesh. The forest is naturally conserved under the Department of Forestry, Government of Bangladesh. Its area is 3, 325.61 acre including 504 acre declared as the animal sanctuary in 2015. It is known as the Sundarbans of Sylhet. This only swamp forest in Bangladesh is located far from Sylhet. The forest's name comes from the word, "Rata" or "Pati" tree, used by the locals of Sylhet. The evergreen forest is situated by the river ''Goain'' and linked with the channel ''Chengir Khal''. Most of the trees growing here are the ''Dalbergia reniformis'' (করচ গাছ ''Koroch tree''). The forest is submerged under 20–30 feet water in the rainy season. For the rest of the year, the water level is about 10 feet deep.

Location

Ratargul is about 26 kilometres from Sylhet. There is a 3,325 acres wetland in Sylhet range-2 under the forest department and in that wetland Ratargul swamp forest is about 504 acres It is located in Gowainghat. After reaching Gowainghat, tourists reserve local engine boat namely "traller" to reach forest. There are two

haor A ( bn, হাওর) is a wetland ecosystem in the north eastern part of Bangladesh which physically is a bowl or saucer shaped shallow depression, also known as a backswamp.MK Alam; ''Wave attack in Haor areas of Bangladesh and cement conc ...

s, ''Shimul Bil haor'' and ''Neoa Bil Haor'', in the south part of the forest.
Swamp Forest Ratargul
', Istiak Hasan; spotlight, Daily Kaler Kantho; Publish date: 28 August 2011. Access date: 13 October 2015.

Climate

Tropical air from the northwest of Sylhet causes heavy rainfall. According to Sylhet Weather Centre, average annual rainfall is 4162 millimeters. July hosts the most rainfall, with measures averaging 1250 millimeters. December is the driest season with 74% relative density, compared to more than 90% in July and August. The forest is linked with the Gowain River through the lake Chengir Khal. During the rainy season, water from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

overflows into the lake from the Gowain River and the forest becomes flooded. This continues through the wet season from May to early October. During this time of the year, the average high temperature hits 32° Celsius (~90° Fahrenheit), and in January, the coolest month, the average high sits around 12°C (~54°F). During the rainy season, the trees of the swamp submerge about 10 ft (somewhere even 15–20 ft) under water but the forest emerges during the dry season.Ratargul Swamp Forest climate
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Plant diversity

73 species of plants could be found in the forest till now. 80 percent of the forest area is covered with umbrella of the trees. Two layer of plants can be seen in the swamp forest. The upper layer consists of trees and the lower one consists of intense Schumannianthus dichotomus. The canopy of the plants spreads up to 15 meters of height. Though the forest is natural, the Forestry Department of Bangladesh has planted some watery plants like '' Calamus tenuis'', ''

Neolamarckia cadamba ''Neolamarckia cadamba'', with English common names burflower-tree, laran, and Leichhardt pine, and called kadam or cadamba locally, is an evergreen, tropical tree native to South and Southeast Asia. The genus name honours French naturalist Jean- ...

'', ''Barringtonia acutangula'', '' Calamus tenuis''. Banyan Tree is very common in the forest. Besides that, ''Barringtonia acutangula'', ''Dalbergia reniformis'', '' Crateva religiosa'' or '' Hygrophila (plant)'', '' Alstonia scholaris'' can also be seen.

Animal diversity

Snake and worm snake can widely be seen in this water-drowned forest.

Mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...

can be seen in dry season. Monkey and

Water Monitor The Asian water monitor (''Varanus salvator'') is a large varanid lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. It is one of the most common monitor lizards in Asia, ranging from coastal northeast India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, mainland Southeast A ...

also resides in the forest. Heron,

Egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

Kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

, Parrot, Bulbul, Swan,

Dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

Water fowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating ...

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

and Kite Bird are some of the birds of the swamp forest.

Cotton Pygmy Goose The cotton pygmy goose or cotton teal (''Nettapus coromandelianus'') is a small perching duck which breeds in Asia, Southeast Asia extending south and east to Queensland where they are sometimes called white-quilled pygmy goose. They are among ...

and other Migratory birds and Vulture visit the forest in winter. Name of some local fishes available in the forest are

Batasio ''Batasio'' is a genus of catfish of the family Bagridae. These small fish are found in fast-flowing hillstreams throughout South and mainland Southeast Asia. Taxonomy ''Batasio'' was first described by Edward Blyth in 1860 with ''Batasio buchan ...

, Rita, Pabda,

Rohu The rohu, rui, ruhi or roho labeo (''Labeo rohita'') is a species of fish of the carp family, found in rivers in South Asia. It is a large omnivore and extensively used in aquaculture. Description The rohu is a large, silver-colored fish o ...

etc.

Tourists attraction

Tourists mostly go to see the forest in monsoon. One needs to take permission from the forest office to visit the forest. A local boat needs to be hired to travel through the swamp forest. There is a building tower inside the forest. If you go up there, you can see the whole view of the forest.

References

External links

* {{Sylhet District Forests of Bangladesh Wetlands of Bangladesh Swamps of Asia Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests