Description
The world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarbans, spans 10,000 square kilometers across Bangladesh and India. India accounts for 40% of the total. Numerous rare and endangered wildlife species live there. Including the Gangetic dolphin (Platinista gangetica), the estuarine crocodile (Crocodilus porosus). Not only that but also the royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris), and the water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator). Also the olive ridley turtle (Platinista) (Lepidochelys olivacea). Only the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in the 24 Parganas (South) Forest Division is home to tigers. additionally be located in Bangladeshi forests. The Sundarbans are the biggest continuous mangrove forest in the world.
River channels, canals, and tidal streams with widths ranging from a few meters to several kilometers. This covers nearly a third of the forest’s total area. Towering mangroves and a tropical marine environment with a lot of rain during the monsoon season are features of the forest on the Bangladeshi side. It’s pleasant and dry during the winter.
Tigers in Largest Mangrove Forest
Sundarban also has the world’s only tiger population, making it the world’s only tiger-inhabited mangrove forest. A 2004 survey determined that there were around 2,000 tigers living in the Indian Sundarban. There are 58 mammalian species, 55 reptile species, and 248 avian species.
Numerous rare and endangered species of animals call it home. Such as the estuary crocodile (Crocodilus porosus), and the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris). The water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator), Gangetic dolphin (Platinista gangetica), and olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) are also present. The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve and the 24 Parganas (South) Forest Division of India’s forest are the only mangrove forests in the world where tigers may be found, in addition to the forest in Bangladesh. Here, sharks and rays of six different kinds can be spotted.
Quick facts about the largest mangrove forest Sundarban
- In 1987, the Sundarbans National Park has declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- The Sundarbans Jungle is named after the Sundari mangrove plants.
- The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve is home to 400 beautiful and ferocious Royal Bengal Tigers, according to estimates. So, go out of the city jungles and see the only area on Earth with the highest concentration of this enormous cat.
- Sundarban is one of South Asia’s poorest and most densely inhabited areas. It has an estimated population of 8 million people.
- On the Indian side of this vast mangrove forest, Gosaba is the largest and last inhabited island.
About The NGO “Unnayan Onneshon”
The NGO “Unnayan Onneshon” has completed a decade-long study on the Sundarbans’ forest acreage and density, which found that the number of trees in the forest has been falling substantially. The amount of fallow land is increasing as the forest disappears. Over the previous two decades, the thick forest has practically halved (2000–20). The tree density has thinned out and the forest area has begun to diminish as a result of the massive removal of thick forest in the first decade (2000–10). The growth in fallow areas was slower at first, but during the next decade, it nearly doubled (2010–20). Although trees may be seen in the forest’s surrounding areas, large swaths of it are either empty or have few trees.
