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 foun ...

located in Gowain River, Fatehpur Union,

Gowainghat Gowainghat ( bn, গোয়াইনঘাট) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. History The British Empire conquered the Jaintia Kingdom on 25 March 1835, finally incorporating Gowainghat in its Sylhet Dis ...

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climat ...

, 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

. 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

. 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

. 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 concr ...

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 Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water at its densest ...

, 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 ...

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
/ref>

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 ''Calamus tenuis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is native to India, Assam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Java and Sumatra. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist l ...

'', ''

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'', ''

''.

Banyan Tree A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as ...

is very common in the forest. Besides that, ''Barringtonia acutangula'', ''Dalbergia reniformis'', '' Crateva religiosa'' or ''

Hygrophila (plant) ', commonly known as swampweeds, is a genus of flowering plants in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. There are about 80 Alstonia scholaris ''Alstonia scholaris'', commonly called blackboard tree, Scholar Tree, Milkwood or devil's tree in English, is an evergreen tropical tree in the Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae). It is native to southern China, tropical Asia (mainly the Indian subcon ...

'' 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 ...

can be seen in dry season.

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incom ...

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 ...

also resides in the forest.

Heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

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 buil ...

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 The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical ...

Swan Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

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 primaril ...

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 A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the fac ...

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 t ...

and other

Migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting ...

and

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...

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 A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

. 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