Southwest Bangladesh is a watery world. Houses perch on steep riverbanks. Storms pummel fragile coastlines. It’s hard not to see this starkly beautiful place as engaged in a battle between water and land, with the water winning. But the land has a new ally, a living hem of mangrove forests made possible by Winrock International’s Climate Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL) project, funded by USAID. “If we don’t have trees, we are flooded,” says Bharati Rani Bishwash, who was left homeless after a typhoon in 2009. It’s a view that many Bangladeshis share. “I’m taking care of the trees now,” says Bishwash, “and in time the trees will take care of me." Subject: Bharati Rani Bishwash Location: Koyra, Bangladesh August 17, 2017