Sundarbans

Sundarbans, The  largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world, located in the southern part of Bangladesh. It lies on the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta at the point where it merges with the bay of bengal. The forest lies a little south to the Tropic of Cancer between the latitudes 21º30´N and 22º30´N, and longitudes 89º00´E and 89º55´E. With its array of trees and wildlife the forest is a showpiece of natural history. It is also a centre of economic activities, such as extraction of timber, fishing and collection of honey. The forest consists of about 200 islands, separated by about 400 interconnected tidal rivers, creeks and canals.

The Sundarbans was originally measured (about 200 years ago) to be of about 16,700 sq km. Now it has dwindled to about 1/3 of the original size. Because of the partition of India, Bangladesh received about 2/3 of the forest; the rest is on the Indian side. It is now estimated to be about 4,110 sq km, of which about 1,700 sq km is occupied by waterbodies. The forest lies under two forest divisions, and four administrative ranges viz Chandpai, Sarankhola, Khulna and Burigoalini and has 16 forest stations. It is further divided into 55 compartments and 9 blocks. The Sundarbans was declared as a Reserve Forest in 1875. About 32,400 hectares of the Sundarbans have been declared as three wildlife sanctuaries, and came under the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. These wildlife sanctuaries were established in 1977 under the Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) (Amendment) Act, 1974. These are Sundarbans West (9,069 ha), Sundarbans South (17,878 ha), and Sundarbans East (5,439 ha).