Sundarban

Sundarbans is a vast forest located along the Bay of Bengal and is one of the natural wonders of the world. Located in the Badwip area of the Padma, Meghna and Brahmaputra river basins, this magnificent forest covers parts of Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat districts of Bangladesh and two districts of North Twenty-four Parganas and South Twenty-four Parganas of the Indian state of West Bengal. As the largest mangrove forest in coastal saline environment. The Sundarbans are the largest intact forest in the world. Spread over 10,000 square kilometers, 6,517 square kilometers (66%) of the Sundarbans lie in Bangladeshand the rest (34%) in India.
The Sundarbans were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 6 December 1997. Although the Bangladeshi and Indian parts of the Sundarbans are actually contiguous parts of the same unbroken landmass, they are listed under different names on the UNESCO World Heritage List; Named as 'Sunderban' and 'Sunderban National Park' respectively. Despite these protections, the Indian Sundarbans were considered endangered in the 2020 assessment under the IUCN Red List of Ecosystem Framework.The Sundarbans is a web of small islands with ocean currents, mudflats and salinity of mangrove forests. 31.1 percent of the total forest area, i.e. 1,874 square kilometers, consists of wetlands consisting of rivers, creeks, and bels. [4] The forest is known to be home to numerous species of animals, including the famous Royal Bengal Tiger, birds, spotted deer, crocodiles, and snakes. . According to the survey, there are 106 tigers and 100,000 to 150,000 blackbucks in the Sundarbans area. On May 21, 1992, Sundarbans was recognized as a Ramsar site. Thousands of tourists visit Sundarbans every year. Every year, many tourists from home and abroad are fascinated by the unique beauty of Sundarbans and gain various knowledge from nature by traveling to Sundarbans.

The most abundant tree species are beautiful and singing. The forest is home to 453 species of wildlife including 290 birds, 120 fish, 42 mammals, 35 reptiles and eight amphibian species.
Despite total bans on killing or capturing wildlife other than fish and some invertebrates, there appears to have been a consistent pattern of declining biodiversity or species loss during the 20th century, and declining ecological quality of forests.[9] The administration and management of the Sundarbans National Park in West Bengal is the responsibility of Forest Department of A forest cycle was created in Bangladesh in 1993 for forest conservation and since then Chief Conservators of Forests have been appointed. Despite conservation pledges from both governments, the Sundarbans are under threat from both natural and man-made causes. In 2007, about 40% of the Sundarbans were damaged due to landslides caused by Cyclone Cedar. The forest is also suffering from increased salinity due to rising sea levels and reduced freshwater supplies. Again in May 2009, Cyclone Aila devastated the Sundarbans with massive casualties. At least 100,000 people were affected by the cyclone. The proposed coal-fired Rampal Power Plant is located 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) north of the Sundarbans in Rampal Upazila, Bagherhat District, Khulna, Bangladesh, according to a 2016 UNESCO report. This unique mangrove is expected to further damage the forest.

Nomenclature

Sundarbans literally means beautiful forest or beautiful forest in Bengali. Sundarbans may be named after the beautiful trees, which grow there in abundance. Other possible explanations are that it may have been named after "sea forest" or "Chandra-Bandhe (Bandhe)" (ancient aborigines). However, it is generally accepted that the Sundarbans are named after the Sundari tree. The Sundarbans are locally known as Bada or Badaban, Huloban, Shuloban, Mal, Mahal. Bada means the forest where the tide flows. During the British colonization, the name of this Badar became Mahal, Madhumhal, Golmahal.

History

During the Mughal period (1203-1538) a local king leased the entire Sundarbans. Among the fundamental changes desired in the historic legal changes are the recognition of the world's first mangrove forests to come under scientific supervision. The Sundarbans area was mapped in 1757 shortly after the East India Company obtained a patent from the Mughal emperor Alamgir II. The forest area came under organizational management after the establishment of the Forest Department in the then Bengal province of India around 1860 AD.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Sundarbans was almost twice the size of today. Increased human pressure on the forest has gradually reduced its size. In 1828, the British government acquired the sovereignty of the Sundarbans. L. T Hajez conducted the first survey of Sundarbans in 1829. In 1878, the entire Sundarbans area was declared as a reserved forest. During the partition of India in 1947, 6,517 square kilometers of Sundarbans fell to Bangladesh. Which is about 4.3% of the area of Bangladesh and about 66% of the total forest area.

The first forest management department's legal rights over the Sundarbans were established in 1869. A large part of the Sundarbans was declared as reserved forest land in 1875-76 under the Forest Act of 1965 (Section 8). In the following year, the remaining part was also recognized as a protected forest area. As a result, it shifted from the jurisdiction of the remote civil district administration to the control of the Forest Department. Subsequently, in 1879, the Forest Department was established as the administrative unit for forest management, with headquarters at Khulna. The first forest management plan was drawn up for the Sundarbans during 1893–98.

In 1911 Sundarbans was termed as a tract of waste land, which was neither surveyed nor came under census. Its boundaries were then defined as covering an area of about 165 miles (266 km) from the mouth of the Hooghly River to the mouth of the Meghna River.