"In the Sundarbans, an ecological treasure straddling India and Bangladesh that is now on the front lines of climate change, local women are leading an effort to mitigate the dangers of rising waters."
"LAKSHMIPUR, India — The women adjusted their binoculars around their necks, secured their bright green saris and climbed onto a motorboat to begin their weekly patrol in the Sundarbans, one of the largest deltas in the world and an urgent case study on the effects of climate change.
As sea levels rise, eroding embankments and pushing water closer to their doorsteps, the residents of the hundreds of villages in the Sundarbans — an immense network of rivers, tidal flats, small islands and vast mangrove forests straddling India and Bangladesh — have found their lives and livelihoods at risk.
In the absence of much government support, women like Aparna Dhara, with help from a nonprofit environmental conservation organization, have devised their own solution: planting hundreds of thousands of additional mangrove trees to bolster their role as protective barriers.
“Our land and livelihoods have been battered many times over by raging cyclones and unpredictable, heavy rains,” said Ms. Dhara, 30, as she and the other women in the boat discussed where they needed to plant more trees. “The rhythm of our lives is dependent on the ebb and flow of the water around us, making the mangroves our lifelines.”"
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