The Sunderban ecosystem is a unique natural wonder of South Asia and the world. It is the largest contiguous mangrove ecosystem in the world today, with an area of approximately 10,000 square kilometers spread over India and Bangladesh. The mangrove ecosystem lies between the deltas of three great rivers, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, and their tributaries. Sunderban is special in the diversity of its plant, marine and animal life of which the tiger is the most famous. Other notable large species include the Gangetic and Irrawady dolphin, estuarine crocodile and the terrapin.

Not only is the Sunderban ecosystem of enormous value to mankind, millions of people are generating their livelihood from the resources of the region. Some of the activities include agriculture, fishing, woodcutting, honey-collection etc. The Sunderban is a major pathway for nutrient recycling and pollution abatement, apart from playing a crucial role in providing a natural barrier against the cyclones from Bay of Bengal to the people in the delta including the large city of Kolkata.

However, the Sundarban, its flora, fauna, and the people who depend upon it are in danger. The area covered by the mangrove forests have halved in the last two decades. Many of the species of flora and fauna are endangered. As a result, the Sundarban National Park in India was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and UNESCO declared the entire Sundarbans region in India a Global Biosphere Reserve in December 2001. Sundarban Reserved Forest in India is in the process of being declared a RAMSAR site while Sunderban of Bangladesh has already been declared a RAMSAR site.

The reason for the problems of the Sunderbans has largely to do with the pressure created by people living in and around it. An estimated 8 million people (2001 census) live in the Sunderbans spread over Bangladesh and India. Low education levels with an estimated 25-30% literacy rate, a high population growth rate, chronic health problems due to lack of health care and ignorance, excess labour, a low skill base, and poor infrastructure are some of the problems being suffered by the people living in the region.

Addressing the problems faced by people living in the area is critical to improving their lot and in returning the Sunderbans back towards a path of ecological and economical good health and stability.


Mukti's upcoming project domain in Ecology
  •    bullet   Protect ecosystem by increasing awareness.
  •    bullet   Study every Mukti's development project ecologically.
  •    bullet   Continue study on environmental pollution in the Sunderban region.
  •    bullet   Protection Forest, rear fishes and wild animals in Sunderban.
  •    bullet   Protection of Sunderban natural resourses.