Sundarbans
The Sundarbans (Bengali: সুন্দরবন, Shundorbôn) is a natural region comprising southern Bangladesh and a small part in Eastern India. It is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world. The Sundarbans covers approximately 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi) most of which is in Bangladesh with the remainder in India. The Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sundarbans South, East and West are three protected forests in Bangladesh. This region is densely covered by mangrove forests, and is the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger. The Sundarbans National Park is a National Park, Tiger Reserve, and a Biosphere Reserve located in the Sundarbans delta in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Fauna:
The brown-winged kingfisher (Pelargopsis amauroptera) is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, India,Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.
In India, it has been mainly reported from the Sundarbans region but records from further south near Chilka exist.
The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) also known as Eurasian kingfisher, or river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migratesfrom areas where rivers freeze in winter.
This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptions to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.
The black-capped kingfisher (Halcyon pileata) is a tree kingfisher which is widely distributed in tropical Asia from India east to China,Korea and Southeast Asia. This most northerly of the Halcyonidae is resident over much of its range, but northern populations aremigratory and they wintering south of their range to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Borneo and Java. It is distinctive in having a black cap that contrasts with the whitish throat, purple blue wings and the coral red bill. The species is mainly found in coastal and mangrove habitats but can sometimes be found far inland.
The collared kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) is a medium-sized kingfisher belonging to the family Halcyonidae, the tree kingfishers. It is also known as the white-collared kingfisher or mangrove kingfisher. It has a wide range extending from the Red Sea across southern Asia to Polynesia. A number of subspecies and subspecies groups have been split from this species including the Pacific kingfisher, the islet kingfisher, the Torresian kingfisher, the Mariana kingfisher, and the Melanesian kingfisher.
Life in Sundarbans:
The Sundarbans plays an important role in the economy of the southwestern region of Bangladesh as well as in the national economy. It is the single largest source of forest produce in the country. The forest provides raw materials for wood based industries. In addition to traditional forest produce like timber, fuelwood, pulpwood etc., large scale harvest of non-wood forest products such as thatching materials, honey, bees-wax, fish, crustacean and mollusc resources of the forest takes place regularly. The vegetated tidal lands of the Sundarbans also function as an essential habitat, produces nutrients and purifies water. The forest also traps nutrient and sediment, acts as a storm barrier, shore stabiliser and energy storage unit. Last but not the least, the Sunderbans provides a wonderful aesthetic attraction for local and foreign tourists.
The forest also has immense protective and productive functions. Constituting 51% of the total reserved forest estate of Bangladesh, it contributes about 41% of total forest revenue and accounts for about 45% of all timber and fuel wood output of the country. A number of industries (e.g. newsprint mill, match factory, hardboard, boat building, furniture making) are based on the raw materials obtained from the Sundarbans ecosystem. Various non-timber forest products and plantations help generate considerable employment and income generation opportunities for at least half a million poor coastal population. It also provides natural protection to life and properties of the coastal population in the cyclone prone Bangladesh.
The Sundarbans has a population of over 4 million but much of it is mostly free of permanent human habitation. Despite human habitations and a century of economic exploitation of the forest well into the late forties, the Sundarbans retained a forest closure of about 70% according to the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) of the United Kingdom in 1979.
The people of The Sundarbans are chiefly fishermen. And as the tourism grew in past few years, now they have shifted to tourist & sight-seeing business. For tourist different sizes of Shikaras are available. One can stay, sleep & eat in these house-boats.
Now maritime industry has taken up quite of speed as all these boats, both local and tourist need maintenance, repairing, docking, etc.
