Hakaluki Haor and its winter birds

The largest haor in Bangladesh is a seasonal wetland of hundreds of beels and a key wintering ground for migratory birds.

Hakaluki Haor spreads across Moulvibazar and Sylhet districts. In the monsoon it becomes a single sheet of water; in the dry season it breaks into more than two hundred beels, or lakes, separated by grassland and swamp forest. It is the largest haor basin in Bangladesh. Each winter large flocks of ducks and other waterbirds arrive from the north. The haor also supports fishing and farming communities, and its health depends on balancing their needs with conservation. It was declared an Ecologically Critical Area in 1999.