C.S – Sundarbans, Bangladesh
Location:
It’s surrounded by India and is in southeast Asia.The Sundarbans is a coastal zone
occupying the world’s largest delta, that extends over 10,000km^2 of southern
Bangladesh and India on the Bay of Bengal. The delta is formed forms the sediment
deposited by three of the world's largest rivers.
Features of the coastal system:
- 80% country is low lying
- 30% live in coastal zone (Bay of Bengal)
- Large population (149,319,000) located close to the river (farming, water)
- Monsoon climate – storm surges format the Bay of Bengal.
- Snow melt from the Himalayans
Features of the Sundarbans delta:
- Extensive network of interconnecting smaller channels called Khals drain the the
land when the tide goes out
- Low flat land from the deposits
- Large channels running north to south
Plants and animals:
- Coastal zone occupying the world’s largest delta
- Sediment deposited by three of the world’s great rivers, the Ganges, Brahmaputra
and Meehan
- Made of mangrove and swamps
- Known for its wide range of animals, including 260 bird species, the bengal tiger
and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile and the Indian
python.
- Kingfisher and fish that live in the canals
- Deer and monkeys
Risks Responses
- Wildlife tiger - Local initiatives
-Reduction in the number of fish
available meaning fishermen have
to go deeper into the forest
-Began shrimp farming: nursery
farms for baby shrimp which isn’t
good for biodiversity
- Competing with neighbouring
villages that sell the fish abroad
-Re planting mangrove forests
-Over-farming of shrimp which
destroy other animals and eco
systems
-This changes soils and water
quality which kills the fresh-water
fish
-Rice paddy’s destroyed due tot the
salt water from the shrimp farms
- Government owned lands that are
prop tested for the use by local
people
- Mangrove forest destroyed due to
the high levels of salt this means
that the coastline is losing its
protection
- Wetland habitats protected
- 1 million people depend on the
mangrove forest meaning that
there are large amount of
-NGOs run educational programs
