Bangladesch, December 6th, 2007. „Water is my life", says Rustam Ali Howladar. „But it nearly meant my death". The 55-year old fisherman was fishing in the Sundarbans, one of the biggest mangrove forests in the world. Suddenly he sensed a strong storm coming. It was cyclone Sidr and it swept over Southern Bangladesh at 240 kilometers an hour.

"No one warned me before I started fishing that morning, " says Rustam . " The only thing that I could do was to hide under my boat." As the cyclone developed its full force - it eventually blew Rustam's boat away. "I was scared. I had nothing to protect myself. I clung to a tree and the storm almost blew me away."

Luckily, Rustam had the strength to withstand the storm for several hours. When the wind finally slowed down, the forest fell silent. Rustam was alone. "I didn't have my boat to get back to my village," he says. "I saw many trees uprooted and broken."

The storm had struck at the Sundarbans, the world's largest and most precious forests of mangrove trees. Until Cyclone Sidr, the trees had served to protect the coast from winds and cyclones and to avert soil erosion. The Sundarbans cover a vast area and provide refuge to thousands of rare birds and animal species, including the West Bengal tiger.

"The Sundarbans were my work place, my sole source of income", sighs Rustam. Rustam stayed in the forest for what felt like days. Then he heard people calling out the names of those who were still missing, and searching through the forest for survivers. They finally found the fisherman. He was weak and hungry, after more than twelve hours lost in the mangroves. The rescuers were also on the lookout for hungry tigers, roaming through the area. They had attacked villager's cattle in search for food.

When Rustam finally reached his village, another shock waited for him: "When I came back I found my house destroyed." The corrugated metal roof had come apart and buried his home underneath. "I crawled into what used to be my house and tried to recover my belongings," the fisherman cries, reaching with his arms towards the sky. "Why did mother nature do this to us?" He tears at his long grey beard as if he could exchange his long hair for a new house.

Because he is one of the poorest inhabitants in his village, all his neighbors collected some money and gave him 100 Taka - roughly 1.5 Dollars. He also has received some food from CARE, which distributes rice, potatoes, onions, pulse, salt and oil. But he has no income any longer. "I would take any job to earn money", he says. And he hopes that one day he will have enough earnings to buy a new fishing boat and drive into the Sunderbans, the forest that gives and shatters lives.