Sundarbans

• Physical geography of the Sundarbans:

  • Made from deposition from rivers and sea
  • Most is only 1m above sea level
  • Flat land
  • Covered in mangroves
  • Interlaced with streams
  • River delta
• Mangroves:

  • Salt water
  • Absorbs impact of storm waves
  • Breeding grounds for fish
• Cyclone Nargis: 27 April - 3 May 2008

  138,373 fatalities due to lack of warning
• Common land: not owned by anyone, but should be respected for God e.g. chop weaker trees
• 90% of energy absorbed by mangroves for destructive force of tsunamis
• Micro-credit: provide small loans to the poor to start a business or improve their living conditions - Muhammad Yunus: Grameen Bank, Nobel Peace Prize (2006): helped 5 women in business - have to pay back when they can, 42 people owed $27
• Cyclones cause sea water to be pushed in land (leaves salt, affecting crop growth)
• Characteristics:

  • SW Bangladesh, E India, Bay of Bengali
  • Largest mangrove forest in the world (common land, National Park)
  • Land is flat and low-lying - 1m above sea level
  • Dynamic equilibrium (fluvial sediment)
  • 4 million people
  • Sea level rises 3 to 8 mm per year (threatens 70,000)
  • Mangroves absorb 40% of cyclones power
• Landforms:

  • Mangrove forests
  • Deltas
  • Mudflats
  • Salt marshes
  • Sand dunes
• Risks:

  • Lack of freshwater for cleaning and irrigation, as it is used upstream
  • Increased population increases removal of mangroves, increasing risk of flooding and erosion
  • Flooding can lead to salinisation of soil
  • Risk of rising sea levels
  • Poor region, lacks communications
  • Access is difficult with poor infrastructure
• Resilience:

  • Most strategies rely on NGO funding
  • Improved infrastructure, leads to deforestation
  • Subsidised solar panels provided
  • Training in sustainable methods of farming to prevent over-exploitation from poor practice
• Adaptation:

  • Salt-tolerant rice crops - cope with flooding, but reduces biodiversity
  • Houses built on stilts, but roads cannot be protected easily
  • Micro-credit
• Mitigation:

  • 3500km embankments built to prevent flooding, but gradually eroded (800km vulnerable to breach in storms)
  • Aim to replant removed mangroves, but difficult due to common land
  • NGO funding for storm shelters and early warning systems