国家地理 保护着海岸和生命的消失的森林(3)（在线收听）

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.

农民把孟加拉国--一个面积跟爱荷华州差不多大的国家，有1.6亿人口--他们的家乡，当作是神开的一个玩笑。那里的土地十分肥沃，但你却时刻处于被河水冲走的危险之中。1998年，一场汹涌的洪水淹没了将近70%的国土。

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."

当地人觉得唯一一个可以让他们长久安居的地方就是孙德尔本斯，它是世界上面积最大的红树林。它生长于印孟边境，占地面积约4000平方英里。这些能抵抗洪灾的树就像一面绿色的墙，它能吸收暴风雨的侵袭，还能抵挡住最强烈的飓风。对村民来说，树林中的蜂蜜取之不竭，水中的鱼也捕之不尽。孟加拉国哈里纳加渔民委员会的秘书长乔得伍·萨达说道：“孙德本尔斯就像我们的母亲。她保护我们，养育了我们，还给我们提供了工作。”