KOLKATA, 13 JULY: According to the District Human Development Report on South 24-Parganas, which was released yesterday, 15 per cent of Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forests, may be submerged by the year 2020. However, an uncertainty prevails over the data.
KOLKATA, 13 JULY: At least 15 per cent of the Sunderbans ~ the world's largest mangrove forests ~ will be submerged by 2020 and neglecting the area further can have global implications as it is highly vulnerable to climate change, says a UNDP report.
The District Human Development Report (DHDR) of South 24-Parganas released on 12th July 2010, says 15% of Sunderbans may be submerged by 2020. The report identifies the most pressing developmental constraints of the district.
Cyclone Aila seemed to have broken the back of agriculture in the Sunderbans. Most observers, including Santadas Ghosh, felt it would be years before agricultural activity got back to normal. But just three months after the cyclone, salinity notwithstanding, seeds were sprouting and the freshwater ecology stirring with life.
In recent decades, market forces have prompted farmers in the Sunderbans to choose modern, high-yielding varieties of paddy, oblivious to their sensitivity to salt.
In the Sundarbans mangrove forest in the Gangetic delta (10,284 km2: 58.5% in Bangladesh, 41.5% in India) human-tiger conflicts are more frequent than in any other tiger area of the world. Only a limited number of tiger victim cases reach the public. The term victim is used here for people injured or killed by a tiger attack within the forest area.
Coastal issues and concerns: challenges for the research community
prepared by Consortium of Coastal Academic Institutions for the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM).
GOSABA (SUNDERBANS): In the year that has gone by since cyclone Aila devastated the Sunderbans, livelihood opportunities have dried up for the inhabitants of the region.
The situation has arisen from a failed crops, dwindling fish catches and absence of enterprise and resulted in large scale emigration from the islands.
