The Sundarbans is currently confronted with a variety of problems caused by climate change as well as numerous development constraints. The table to the right describes the most important climatic changes as well as their effects. These climatic problems have severely hurt communities in the Sundarbans and the livelihoods of individuals who rely on the forest to survive. Also, other environmental problems include loss of mangrove cover and an increase in salinification. These two problems have been directly caused by humans deforesting areas and redirecting fresh water for drinking and agricultural use. Furthermore, climate change has continuously increased the impact of these problems since each problem gets exacerbated by the others.
On top of these climatic problems, the Sundarbans is also experiencing numerous development constraints that are compounded by a rapidly growing human population. The main development constraints include a lack in transportation, modern energy services, adequate healthcare delivery, and education. This lack of basic necessities increases the inhabitants reliance on the forest and its products in order to survive, which can ultimately increase the rate of environmental degradation. Some researchers have theorized that the Sundarbans has been purposely left underdeveloped in order to encourage inhabitants to move out and increase the range of the protected forest.
Between 1990 and 2010, these problems and restraints have resulted in the four islands of Bedford, Lohachara, Kabasgadi, and Suparibhanga have been permanently flooded . This has caused over 6,000 families to be left stranded and homeless.
The Reserve Forest
The Sundarbans Mangrove Forest increased in popularity due to the belief that it is the only area that has a sufficient number of tigers in order to successfully repopulate. The forest itself is primarily known as a tiger reserve and was one of nine initial tiger reserves in the world. The beginning of most of the current conservation efforts coincided with the increase in global environmental awareness during the 1970s. Project Tiger was arguably the most important step in conserving the Sundarbans unique ecosystem because it protected the entire forest by preserving the Royal Bengal Tiger population. Even though Project Tiger was solely focused on protecting tigers, they initiated a conservation technique known as the ecosystem approach. After conducting research, Project Tiger concluded that each tiger needed 10 square kilometers of undisturbed territory in order to survive and repopulate. This meant that thousands of square kilometers of forest were left unadulterated in its natural state. While protecting tigers, it also created a safe haven for all the other flora and fauna in the forest.
The timeline below displays the major conservation achievements between 1969 and 1987.
Along with the Government of India, many international voluntary groups played important roles in Sundarbans conservation. The World Wildlife Fund, one of the most important international groups, was instrumental in conducting research on the tiger population and in establishing protecting certain regions of the forest. Within the Reserve Forest, there are two main zones. The core zone is composed of the Sundarbans National Park and has been reserved for undisturbed reproduction. Throughout the entire zone, it is illegal hunt or collect forest products. Surrounding the core zone is the buffer zone which allows villagers to have limited access to the forest. While these conservation efforts have been successful at increasing the Royal Bengal Tiger population, it has caused a large amount of human displacement. Hundreds of people were relocated to areas outside of the core zone for each tiger being protected.
Conservation Conflicts
The downside of nature conservancy is that it often involves the relocation of residents. This impact was extremely exacerbated in the Sundarbans since the Government of India completely prioritized the tiger population and sacrificed numerous villages and local livelihoods. This, along with the fact that current conservation strategies implemented by the Government of India have ignored local knowledge and expertise, has alienated the Sundarbans inhabitants from their own land. In The Sundarbans: Whose World Heritage Site?, Annu Jalais states that “a failure to provide people with a stake in conservation will simply result in an alienation of these communities, an alienation that has in the past resulted in an active undermining of state-initiated conservation policies” (6). Smugglers and poachers have become a widespread problem throughout the Sundarbans because the local communities help them in spite of the official conservators. Some local people have even become poachers themselves because they have no other choice to survive.
There has been a long history of clashes and corruption in India’s conservation efforts due to a large degree of separation between the two parties. Since there has not been much development in the Sundarbans region, the locals are forced to rely on the forest and its products. Many forest officers exploit inhabitants by forcing locals found in reserved areas to offer them bribes. However, this decreases the amount of conserved forest and tends to result in a clash between the locals and the government. The most well known conflict between Sundarbans inhabitants and the Government of India occurred in 1979 on the island of Morichjhanpi. If the government invested in Sundarbans inhabitants, it could increase their quality of life while supporting conservation strategies at the same time. Despite global agencies, including the World Wildlife Fund and UNESCO, attempting to diminish the clashing between local communities and the Government of India by involving the local people in the management of local resources, there is still a large gap between the amount of peace they hope to achieve and the actual amount they have achieved.
