Ratargul Swamp Forest is the only freshwater swamp Bangladesh. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country.

It is situated at Fatehpur Union of Gowainghat Upazilla, Sylhet, Bangladesh, 45Km in the North-West of Sylhet, lies at 25°00.025′N latitude and 91°58.180′E longitude.

The total area of swamp forest is about 204 ha. However, approximately 118.50 ha has been declared as the “reserve forest” (Choudhury et al., 2004). The floor of this forest is 35 m above from the mean sea level where maximum areas are plain.

One river named Shari-Goyain has crossed the boundary line of this forest area. Another river named Kafna has just flowed outside of this forest. In addition to this, there are several ponds and natural depressions and canals inside the forest.

The average depth of the river is 12 m and the depth for canals and ponds are 5 m and 2.5 m respectively. The level of water varies in the rainy season (May to September) and dry season (December to March).

During the rainy season, the bank of rivers, canals, ponds, and natural depressions go down underwater. On the other hand, in the dry season, the average depth of water in the rivers and canals is 3.5 m and 2 m respectively.
However, the ponds and natural depressions are seen completely dry or occasionally reserve water for few days based on rainfall. Therefore, during the dry season the forest floor is also dry completely except some bodies of rivers and canals. In the rainy season, the level of water depen