Sundarbans Reserve Forest

Sundarbans Reserve Forest_Pragati
Abstract:
In this paper there is a noble try to provide information on the previous and current status of the world’s single largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans of Bangladesh. As part of the effort, forests and environmental problems of the Sundarban Reserved Forests (SRF) have been elaborately illustrated in the paper. It aims to integrate the concepts of conservation and sustainable management of forests as a part of salvaging this unique mangrove zone interwoven with canals and rivers. While doing so, it has been tried to go through available resources of related documents, strategies, development plans, programs, policies so far taken by the concerned government and non-government authorities of Bangladesh. The decline in various species and of ecological serenity of the Sundarbans is the result of poor coordination among the concerned bodies, poverty-ridden and uneducated human population living in the periphery, international politics and climate change among many others. There is an argent call in the paper to save the Sundarbans of Bangladesh which has been given a dubbed name, “The Venice of Nature” at a special event at Shanghai Expo 2010 in China.




Introduction:
The Sundarbans (‘beautiful jungle/forests’ in Bengali) is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world with a total area of 10,000 square kilometers (km2). Shared between two neighboring countries, Bangladesh and India, the larger part (62%) is situated in the southwest corner of Bangladesh. The jungle lies in the vast delta on the Bay of Bengal formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. With some 40 species of mammals, 260 species of birds and 35 species of reptiles and 27 species of unique mangrove plants, it is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats, and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests. Recognizing the importance and uniqueness of the Sundarbans, UNESCO declared part of the Indian portion of the forest as a world heritage site in 1987, and part of the Bangladeshi portion was declared a separate world heritage site in 1997.
Challenges:
A large number of communities live in the proximity of the forest (to its North and East), an area called Sundarban Impact Zone (SIZ). Most of these communities rely largely on the resources of the Sundarban for their livelihood. An estimated population of 3.5 million people (including the traditional resource users) inhabits the SIZ. Local people are dependent on the forest and waterways for such necessities as firewood, timber for boats, poles for house-posts, leaf for roofing, medicinal plants for herbal treatment and so on. The traditional resource users of the Sundarban are the indigenous Munda community and local Bawali (wood cutters), Mouali (honey collectors), Golpata (nypah palm) collectors and Jele (fisherman) communities (Kabir

and Hossain, 2006). A study carried out in 2006-2007 demonstrates that the traditional resource
users possess distinct customary ways to sustainably manage the resources of the Sundarban, but
these practices are now under threat by a number of factors. They demand that the gov’t ensure
their full and effective participation in management and policy-making of the Sundarban in line with Articles 8(j) and 10(c) of the Convention of Bio-Diversity (CBD).
A long-term ecological change is taking place in the Sundarbans, due to the eastward migration of the Ganges, abandonment of some distributaries, diversion of water and withdrawals for irrigation. Up to 40% of the dry season flow of the Ganges has been diverted upstream, following the completion of the Farraka Barrage in India in 1974 and it eventually causes intrusion of saline water into the Sundarbans. Concern has been expressed about recent indications of apparent deterioration in the flora, including localised die-back of sundri, commercially the most valuable of tree species. While deterioration in the vegetation is already well-documented and is the subject of continuing study, no attention has yet been given to the possible effects which these changes might have on the fauna. It is perhaps significant, however, that the stocking of spotted deer appears lower in western areas, where salinity is highest, than in the east where it is lowest. Oil spills are another potential threat and could cause immense damage, especially to aquatic fauna and seabirds and probably also to the forest itself. There have been several spillages from tanks passing nearby.
There is extensive illegal hunting and trapping, not only by fishermen and woodcutters but also reportedly by naval and military personnel from Hiron Point in Sundarbans South Wildlife Sanctuary. Smugglers moving to and from India with contraband goods also use the area. As a result of global climate change, if the sea level rises a bit further, the entire Sundarbans being flat will be submerged and be lost forever.
Policies and lessons:
Forest Department and Ministry of Environment and Forests, Bangladesh with assistance from United States Forest Service prepared Strategic Management Plan for the Sundarbans Reserved Forest in March, 2007. This Strategic Management Plan (SMP) for the Sundarbans Reserved Forest (SRF) is the result of numerous discussions and meetings between staff of the Bangladesh Forest Department (FD), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United States Forest Service (USFS), and Integrated Protected Area Co-Management Project Staff (IPAC). These discussions led to the identification of a need for a strategic framework that will guide the development of a more detailed Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP).

The previous plans like Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP, 1998-2010) for the Sundarbans Reserved Forest and the Forest Master Plan that was developed in 1993 to cover the periods 1993-2012 do not provide sufficient scope to provide guidance to address the current issues the Forest Department faces in managing the Sundarbans. Climate change, recreation and tourism, co-management, biodiversity conservation, and carbon financing are a few of the issues for which the FD lacks specific direction for incorporating into its current management practices.

The new Strategic Management Plan (SMP) has set the following goals and objectives for the betterment of the Sundarbans:
Goal 1. Restore, Sustain, and Enhance the Biodiversity of the Sundarbans Reserved Forest.
Outcome: Forest and Aquatic Resources with the capacity to maintain their health, productivity, diversity, and resistance to unnaturally severe disturbance.
Goal 2. Provide for a variety of subsistent uses, values, benefits, products, and services, while ensuring the sustainable supply of these resources for future generations.
Outcome: Extraction of resources is managed on the basis of sustainability through the consultation of best available science and stakeholders.
Goal 3. Provide for and enhance tourism and recreation opportunities.
Outcome: Tourism revenues are sufficient to provide enhanced alternative incomes as well as provide for increased emphases on biodiversity conservation.
Goal 4. Support and improve participatory co-management approaches for the activities taking place in the SRF.
Outcome: The Forest Department facilitates and engages with SIZ communities and stakeholders in determining appropriate management practices and financial benefits.
Critiques:
Mangroves are generally found along the coastlines of tropical and sub tropical regions, usually between 25° N and 25° S latitude, throughout the world. As an exception to these, mangroves are found as far south as New Zealand and as far as north as Japan (CHOUDHURY, 1997). Mangroves once covered ¾ of the world’s tropical coastlines, often in conjunction with the coral reefs. Asia contains most of the world’s mangroves with 46 %, followed by America with 35 % and Africa with 17 % (MAP, 1990). Particular environmental factors such as temperature, warm sea current, rainfall, salinity stress, wave action, sedimentation, fresh water flow etc. determine the occurrence and development of mangroves in the local area. WALSH (1874) stated generally


tropical countries had mangroves in the past and the world mangroves divided into two main areas, i) the Indo-Pacific regions and ii) Western Africa and American regions. He also suggested five basic requirements for extensive mangrove development such as 1) tropical temperature, 2) fine grained alluvium, 3) low wave and tidal action, 4) salt water and 5) large tidal range. Approximately 35% of mangrove area was lost during the last several decades of the twentieth century (in countries for which sufficient data exist, which encompass about half of the area of mangroves). The United Nations Environment Program also estimated that shrimp farming causes a quarter of the destruction of mangrove forests. Likewise, the 2010 update of the World Mangrove Atlas indicated that a fifth of the world's mangrove ecosystems have been lost since 1980.
The cabinet of Bangladesh government as part of protecting reserved forests from logging approved in principle the draft of Forest Act (Amendment) 2010 as recently as 15 November, 2010. The amendment will raise the jail term for minor offence to three years from the existing six months and fine to Tk 50,000 from Tk 2,000. For major forest plundering, the punishment is even tougher. The jail term is 10 years and fine Tk 100,000 if somebody denudes a vast tract of land. Section 26 and section 26 (1) of the proposed amendment say which offences are major and which are minor. Earlier in 1990, the Forest Act 1927 was amended to raise jail terms and fines for major and minor offences from the ones stipulated in the law enacted 83 years back.
The forest laws should always be enacted or amended with the consent of the people who depend on forests and live there. But like the past even this time the Forest Ministry did not invite views of the forest dwellers while drafting the amendment act. In Nepal, 25.4% of land area, or about 36,360 km2 (14,039 sq mi) is covered with forest according to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) figures from 2005. Being not a coastal country, Nepal does not have mangrove forests. Whatever the case, the fact is that in poor countries like Bangladesh and Nepal the environmental laws cannot prevent forests irrespective of its types from anthropogenic destructions unless it doesn’t have poverty alleviation approach.
Conclusion and recommendations:
Traditional users will acquire a greater awareness and shared responsibility and a share in the financial benefits as a result of co-managing the resources and will act accordingly to help conserve them. The Forest Department will involve local people in Sundarbans Reserved Forest management. The Forest Department will develop its capacity including infrastructure, logistics and technical capacities and seek technical assistance where appropriate in SRF management. There should be alternative income enterprises in the Sundarbans Impact Zones. There should be balanced exploitation of the increasing eco-tourism. There needs to enhance collaboration between Bangladesh and India in the management of this globally important trans-boundary ecosystem. The present confrontational approach between the Forest Department and fringe communities needs to be altered to tackle timber thieves and poachers.