Sundarbans National Park

The Sundarbans delta is the largest mangrove forest in the world. It lies at the mouth of the Ganges and is spread across areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, forming the seaward fringe of the delta. Interestingly, the Bangladeshi and Indian portions of the jungle are listed in the UNESCO world heritage list separately as the Sundarbans and Sundarbans National Park respectively, though they are simply parts of the same forest.

The Sundarbans is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests, and presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes. The area is known for its wide range of fauna. The most famous among these are the maneating Royal Bengal Tigers, but numerous species of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and snakes also inhabit it. It is estimated that there are now 500 Bengal tigers and about 30,000 spotted deer in the area.



Year Decision Comments
1987 Inscribed Reasons for inscription

Reviews

SOURAV GHOSE ((INDIA(CITY KOLKATA))):
I visited Sunderban National Park on 29th DEc-31st Dec07 vide a package tour offered by tour operator Sunderban Tiger Camp. The sunderban is the world largest mangrove forest encompassing parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Its a part of gangetic delta consisting of numerous islands mostly covered with mangrove forest and some inhabited entwined with the distributories of major rivers and tidal channels which receives and discharges the tidal waves. The islands are full of "sundari","helencha" ,"goran" and other numerous trees. Its rich in fauna as well.Its the home of "ROYAL BENGAL TIGER", DEER, CROCODILES, WILD BOAR, BIRDS, MONKEYS.
One cannot enter the forested islands because it remains inundated during the tidal surge and during the ebbing of the tide,the waterlevel reduces so drastically that you cannot reach unless you ride a country boat.
To have a sense of the jungle,the errie silence it is better to go by motor launch in the narrow tidal channels,have a pair of binoculars glued to your eyes to locate the birds and animals during the sunrise or sunset.

Since the people who stay in the inhabitated islands are below the subsitence level,the male members of the family venture in the jungle for wood cutting,collection of honey,fishing in the channels give rise to man-animal conflict (especially the tigers) leading to death of human beings.In some cases the tigers swim across the channels to the inhabited one for food and in last month 2 cases have occured where 2 tigers were captured.Even the tigersw have moved north ward showing signs that groundwater is becomuing more saline than before and rising water than before thus coming closer to human habitats leading to more potential conflicts in the future.

The sunderban as a whole is in danger of being submerged fully in coming 100 years due to global warming WHICH WILL lead to huge human displacement and the extinction of the last reserve of ROYAL BENGAL TIGER.
 


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