Mangroves of Sundarban

Abstract

The Sundarbans are the largest delta of mangroves in the world comprising 10,277 km² at the meeting of two Himalayan rivers, the Ganges and Brahmaputra. The Sundarbans span India’s state of West Bengal (4260 km²) to Bangladesh (6017 km²). The Sundarban mangroves are important in respect of species diversity, richness in mangrove flora and fauna, mangrove abundance and unique succession features. The Sundarbans provide ‘home’ for globally threatened species like Royal Bengal tiger, fishing cat, Gangetic dolphin, estuarine crocodile, horse shoe crabs, water monitor lizard and river terrapins. Mangrove forests provide a large amount of fish catch (up to 80%), thereby supporting the livelihood and ensuring the food security of coastal people. The mangroves of Sundarbans are endangered and are in an alarming state due to present trends of over- exploitation and large-scale dependency of an enormous rural population of the Lower Gangetic Delta. Sundarbans mangrove ecosystems, ecological and socio-economic services have also not been considered in the past and the mangroves have been developed for prawn and fish farms. However, these problems are now being addressed through the Joint Forest Management (JFM) system for better management of mangroves in Sundarbans.