In the Sundarbans, livelihood is inseparable from ecology. Families earn from a braided economy—Aman paddy behind embankments, pond and brackish-water fisheries, river/creek fishing, crab collection/fattening, and forest-linked work like honey and wax. But every income source is “taxed by risk”: cyclones, embankment breaches, waterlogging, rising salinity, market volatility, and wildlife conflict. As local work shrinks after repeated shocks, seasonal and long-distance migration becomes a survival strategy.