Dense forest cover of Sunderbans reduced

The dense forest cover of Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove, is being lost according to data released by Forest Survey of India.

Sunderbans mangrove forest is situated partly in West Bengal and its dense cover has reduced from 996 sq kms in 2019 to 994 sq kms 2021according to the data of Forest Survey of India yesterday. The mangrove forest cover in 2017 was 999 sq kms, which had declined by three square kilometres in 2019.

Mangroves act as a protective against cyclones. Sunderbans mangrove forest protects Kolkata from the storms originating in the Bay of Bengal.

Experts attribute the decline the in the forest cover to salinisation of the mangroves, due to the cyclones and Amphan cyclone of May 2020 and Yaas of May 2021 have caused great damage to the Sunderbans mangroves.

According to the report the total mangrove cover of Sunderbans, which includes very dense mangrove, moderately dense mangrove and open mangrove cover, has increased from 2112 sq km to 2114 sq km in 2021. But this increase is because of a rise in open mangrove cover, primarily on account of plantations. Moderately dense mangrove cover has remained unchanged during these two years. The report mentions three kind of mangrove forest cover -- very dense, moderately dense and open. While very dense mangrove is defined as those which have canopy density more than 70 per cent, those with canopy density 40 to 70 per cent are defined as moderately dense, while those in the 10 to 40 per cent range are considered as open mangroves (these are generally plantations done during afforestation programmes and not natural forests).

The Sunderbans forest sprawls over 10,000 sq km across India and Bangladesh, with 40 per cent of it in India, and is home to many rare and globally threatened wildlife species such as the Royal Bengal Tiger and the estuarine crocodile. In India it is confined to the southern tip of West Bengal and spans two districts, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas.

The state government planted around 50 million mangrove saplings after cyclone Amphan. Again in May 2021 after cyclone Yaas hit the area, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said another 150 million mangrove saplings would be planted in the three coastal districts of West Bengal. Among all states West Bengal has the largest mangrove cover in the country followed by Gujarat and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.