Sundurbans

• 
  

  Mangrove ecosystem

  Important for migrating and nesting animals and acts as a nursery

  protects species from predators

  provides protection from storms
• Adaption in the Sundarbans -salt resistant crops


  Salt-resistant rice crops -help residents cope with flooding and sea level rise

  :( rely on small range of crops- reduce biodiversity and may increase vulnerability to pests and diseases
• adaption- increase tourism


  provide jobs and income

  -lodges been built and tour operators run boat trips on the rivers

  -:( if not properly managed, could cause env damage
• adaption- buildings on stilts


  adapt to sea level rise

  :( however infrastructure (e.g. roads) cannot be protected as easily
• adaption- sustainable farming and ecotourism


  -using non-intensive farming practices + promoting ecotourism will help ensure that the fragile env remains relatively undamaged + useable for future generations

  -NGOs run educational programmes to encourage traditional eco-friendly methods

  -30,000 people have received training on improving agricultural techniques
• Why is resilience needed?


  mangroves provide protection against storms

  resilience against poverty- provide wealth and goods
• Increase access to clean water and sanitation

  -public health engineering department:

  -increasing access to clean water and sanitation

  -improve health and QOL
• build roads


  better roads and bridges built

  -increase access for residents and visitors

  :( could lead to deforestation
• provide electricity and solar panels


  -mains elec extended to more areas + solar panels in remote villages- allow them to generate own power

  -easier for flood warnings to reach communities and could create employment opportunities
• Farming subsides


  -decrease poverty

  -increase in food production- provide subsides to farmers to produce more food + provides jobs

  :( risks some areas may become farmed too intensively
• Training in sustainable fishing and farming


  -offered by NGOs -help prevent env damage by exploitation
• Mitigation


  action taken to reduce harm
• build embankments


  3500km of embankments built to prevent flooding

  :( embankments are being gradually eroded and 800km are vulnerable to being breached during storms and tsunamis
• protect and replant mangroves


  aim to protect existing mangrove forests and replant areas that have been removed

  -protect against flooding and erosion

  :( difficult to prevent illegal forest clearance throughout whole region

  :( unclear if mangroves will withstand sea level rise
• cyclone shelters and early warnings


  -Govs and NGOs- provided funding and shelters and early warning systems

  -help people shelter or evacuate

  -by 2015- 1012 cyclone shelters built

  :( people may not have transport to evacuate quickly
• other methods

  tiger attacks killed 22 people per year

  -dropped to about 3 after providing prey and releasing captive bred pigs

  -electrified dummies
• problems with mitigation


  corruption, conflict makes mitigation harder
• how much will be lost to sea level rise in the next few decades?

  15%

  2020- considered endangered
• How is climate change worsening affects in Licenses protect the forest have been put in place - allowing only 100 people into them at a time - however 10,000 people need to get in there - a resident of a settlement called Gabura in the subdurbans
• The rate of warming since 1982 is more than three times as fast: 0.36° F (0.20° C) per decade. - more than previous levels of 0.11 F per decade
• Climate change has made people in the sundurbans poorer with almost 50% living in poverty
• A local said were entirely dependent on the sundurbans we live and die by it
• Climate crisis - making people become more dependent on the forest (locals say this too)