Sundarban: an analysis of world’s single largest coastal mangrove forest

Sundarban is the largest delta in India as well as world’s largest delta, formed by the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna., Extending about 260 km along the Bay of Bengal from the Hooghly River Estuary in India to the Meghna River Estuary in Bangladesh. Sunderban covers an area of 4262 sq. km in India. The name may have been derived from the word Sundari or Sundri, the local name of the mangrove species. Its mangrove forest acts as a natural flood barrier, protecting the coastal population from the devastating impact of cyclones that hit the region. However, increased deforestation and damage to the mangrove forests for extraction of resources is not only leaving the coasts progressively exposed and more vulnerable to storms, but also depleting the rich biodiversity of the region. Sundarban is the pride of Bengal for many reasons. The most important is the existence of the black-striped yellow tigers knows as the royal Bengal tiger. Even UNESCO is taking care of this tigers. Now-days the people of Sundarban is facing several severe problems like (1) Very crisis of the safe drinking water (2) Shortage of ground water (3) Saline of surfers and river water(4) Acute poverty (5) Poor health management and sanitation practices (6) gender discrimination (7) Inadequate transport facilities (8) frequent natural calamities (9) Limited livelihood options (10) Ignorance of Government services and many more. The possible solutions are (1) Supporting them in uplifting their income generation capacity and reducing their dependence on the conserved area (2) Need to include integrated efforts for restricting growth of population in the region(3) Policies targeted at universal education (4) Eradication of gender bias and women empowerment (5) To address the region’s conservation challenges, internalization of a development plan with strong components on land management, sustainability of natural resource base, disaster management and livelihood management in the context of climate change is imperative and many more. The Sundarban delta in India has been a priority region for WWF-India since 1973 and it is also an ecologically fragile and climatically vulnerable region that is home to over 4.5 million people. Securing the future of the Sundarbans, its biodiversity and people requires a long term vision that can integrate climate adaptation and conservation strategies. Water salinity simulation and modeling would be a proper tool for decision making and allow planners to protect the Sundarban ecosystems in future.