Sundarbans National Park
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The Sundarbans is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests, and presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes. The area is known for its wide range of fauna. The most famous among these are the maneating Royal Bengal Tigers, but numerous species of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and snakes also inhabit it. It is estimated that there are now 500 Bengal tigers and about 30,000 spotted deer in the area.
| Year | Decision | Comments |
| 1987 | Inscribed | Reasons for inscription |
Reviews
Jaydip (India):
Sundarbans, locals called Snderbunds. Now Sndarbans and its tigers are making news every day. Tigers are getting in the villages for easy prey. All these make Sundarbans more and more popular every day. But heard from tourist, that they never seen tiger there with repeated visit. Very recently I went to Sundarbans and found lots of people are traveling there. It is good for locals as they able to get quick money. But I found the crowd makes lots of noises, especially on weekends. Tracking a tiger is hard in the dense bush, but if you give more time to certain watch towers then your chances will be bigger. For this you need to spend more silent hrs there. You can try Trips2world.net for specialized tiger safari packages in Sundarbans. Date posted: January 2009 V.Mohan (Italia):
It is important for tourists to know that the chances of seeing the tiger in this place is very very less. The main reason is that the jungle is inacessible by land, and one hs to use a motor boat. Since narrow creeks cannot be traversed using the motor boats, one generally end up cruising in the river, expecting soem animal to come by to cross the river. In this sense, unlike other jungles where animals are actively pursued using pug marks, other clues, in this place, one ends up passively waiting for the animal to some how come to the banks of the river. Also in package tours the time at the watch tower is only about 15 miniuts, the rest of the time is for travelling from the camp o the watch towers by boat. Staff was cooperative and kind. The village and the villagers were simple and loving. But the main purpose of the trip i.e to watch wild life is genearally defeated. We could not even spot a monkey in the three days at the camp. Date posted: August 2008 SOURAV GHOSE ((INDIA(CITY KOLKATA))):
I visited Sunderban National Park on 29th DEc-31st Dec07 vide a package tour offered by tour operator Sunderban Tiger Camp. The sunderban is the world largest mangrove forest encompassing parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Its a part of gangetic delta consisting of numerous islands mostly covered with mangrove forest and some inhabited entwined with the distributories of major rivers and tidal channels which receives and discharges the tidal waves. The islands are full of "sundari","helencha" ,"goran" and other numerous trees. Its rich in fauna as well.Its the home of "ROYAL BENGAL TIGER", DEER, CROCODILES, WILD BOAR, BIRDS, MONKEYS.
One cannot enter the forested islands because it remains inundated during the tidal surge and during the ebbing of the tide,the waterlevel reduces so drastically that you cannot reach unless you ride a country boat.
To have a sense of the jungle,the errie silence it is better to go by motor launch in the narrow tidal channels,have a pair of binoculars glued to your eyes to locate the birds and animals during the sunrise or sunset.
Since the people who stay in the inhabitated islands are below the subsitence level,the male members of the family venture in the jungle for wood cutting,collection of honey,fishing in the channels give rise to man-animal conflict (especially the tigers) leading to death of human beings.In some cases the tigers swim across the channels to the inhabited one for food and in last month 2 cases have occured where 2 tigers were captured.Even the tigersw have moved north ward showing signs that groundwater is becomuing more saline than before and rising water than before thus coming closer to human habitats leading to more potential conflicts in the future.
The sunderban as a whole is in danger of being submerged fully in coming 100 years due to global warming WHICH WILL lead to huge human displacement and the extinction of the last reserve of ROYAL BENGAL TIGER.
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- Sundarbans National Park
- Country: India
- Year: 1987
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Natural Heritage
Criteria: (9) (10) - Category: Natural landscape, River / Lake
- Connections:
Crocodiles . Double entries . Indian Ocean . Mangroves . On National Border . Otters . River deltas . Tiger habitat . Turtles and tortoises . World Biosphere Reserves . World Heritage Forest Programme .
News and links:
» India to spend Rs 200 crore for tiger conservation for the development of Sundarbans biosphere (14-01-2010).
» India's eastern West Bengal state is preparing a detailed plan to develop the coastal Sundarbans area as a global tourist destination. (05-03-2008).
» Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove, faces a threat from global warming and a mere 45 cm rise in the sea level will destroy 75 per cent of the forest spread over 10,000 sq km in West Bengal and Bangladesh, a UN study said. (01-05-2007).
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