About Sunderban

Sundarbans is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. The southern part of the Gangetic delta between the river Hooghly on the West in West Bengal and the river Meghna on the East in Bangladesh is covered by a huge mangrove forest which is known as Sundarban. The area of Sundarban in India and Bangladesh is 9630 sq.km. out of which 4264 sq.km. is in India.lying between the Matla river in the West and the Haribhanga, river in the east, bordering Bangladesh, falls under Sundarban Tiger Reserve. Within this Reserve an area of 1330 sq. km. has been declared as core area.

The SUNDERBAN NATIONAL PARK is a Tiger Reserve , Biosphere Reserve, and UNESCO World Heritage Site with 4268 sq.km of Mangrove Forest, is the home of Royal Bengal Tiger, the most majestic animal of the world. The eco-system and bio-diversity of the Sunderbans have made it enlivened memorably.

The present Sundarbans National Park was declared as the core area of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in 1973 and a wildlife sanctuary in the year 1977. On 4 May 1984 it was declared a National Park. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987. Whole Sundarbans area was declared as Biosphere Reserve in 1989.

The Sundarbans is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests. The interconnected network of waterways makes almost every corner of the forest accessible by boat. The area is known for the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris), as well as numerous fauna including species of birds, chital, crocodiles and snakes. The fertile soils of the delta have been subject to intensive human use for centuries, and the ecoregion has been mostly converted to intensive agriculture, with few enclaves of forest remaining. The remaining forests, taken together with the Sundarbans mangroves, are important habitat for the endangered tiger.

The only mangrove tiger land of India where 70% of water is saline water makes the life of commoners, mostly honey-catchers, prawn-catchers and fishermen very difficult. This mangrove forest has about 64 plant species which covers along 90% of Indian mangrove varieties and 60% of the total mangrove forest area of the country. The amphibian tiger population, which is estimated to be over 100 in number here, has distinct behavioral pattern which makes Sunderban special from the other tiger reserves of the country.

The history of human settlement in the Sundarbans area can be traced back to Mauryan era (4th-2nd century BCE). The area was mapped by the Surveyor General as early as 1764 following soon after proprietary rights were obtained from the Mughal Emperor, Alamgir II, by the East India Company in 1757.

Sundarban is also the only mangrove forest in the world with an indigenous population of tigers. According to the 2004 census, there are approximately 58 species of mammals, 55 species of reptiles, and approximately 248 bird species in Indian Sundarban.

Sundarban has 693 species of wildlife, including 49 mammal species, 59 reptile species, 8 amphibian species, 210 white fish species, 24 shrimp species, 14 crab species, and 43 mollusk species. One of the property’s most appealing features is the 315 species of waterfowl, raptors, and forest birds that can be found there, including nine species of kingfishers and the marvelous white-bellied sea eagle.