國家地理:保護(hù)著海岸和生命的消失的森林(3)
Some farmers in Bangladesh -- a country the size of Iowa with a population of 160 million -- refer to their homeland as a divine prank: The soil is fantastically fertile, but you're always in danger of getting washed away. In 1998 an especially monstrous flood inundated about 70 percent of the country.
農(nóng)民把孟加拉國--一個(gè)面積跟愛荷華州差不多大的國家，有1.6億人口--他們的家鄉(xiāng)，當(dāng)作是神開的一個(gè)玩笑。那里的土地十分肥沃，但你卻時(shí)刻處于被河水沖走的危險(xiǎn)之中。1998年，一場(chǎng)洶涌的洪水淹沒了將近70%的國土。
One thing the region's coastal communities felt they could always bank on, though, is the Sundarbans, the world's largest contiguous mangrove forest. Spanning nearly 4,000 square miles on both sides of the Indian-Bangladeshi border, this dense swamp of flood-tolerant trees stands as a green wall, absorbing storm surges and blunting even the worst cyclones. For villagers, the forest is also an abundant source of honey and its waters a source of fish. "The Sundarbans is our mother," said Joydev Sardar, secretary of the fishermen's association in Harinagar, Bangladesh. "She protects, feeds, and employs us."
當(dāng)?shù)厝擞X得唯一一個(gè)可以讓他們長久安居的地方就是孫德爾本斯，它是世界上面積最大的紅樹林。它生長于印孟邊境，占地面積約4000平方英里。這些能抵抗洪災(zāi)的樹就像一面綠色的墻，它能吸收暴風(fēng)雨的侵襲，還能抵擋住最強(qiáng)烈的颶風(fēng)。對(duì)村民來說，樹林中的蜂蜜取之不竭，水中的魚也捕之不盡。孟加拉國哈里納加漁民委員會(huì)的秘書長喬得伍·薩達(dá)說道：“孫德本爾斯就像我們的母親。她保護(hù)我們，養(yǎng)育了我們，還給我們提供了工作?！?/p>
