Chapter 1
The
Sundarbans: A Flight into the Wilderness
H.
S. Sen and Dipankar Ghorai
Abstract The Sundarbans is an agglomeration
of about 200 islands, separated by some 400 interconnected tidal rivers, creeks
and canals spanning across two neighbouring countries of India and Bangladesh.
It is the habitat of world’s largest contiguous mangrove forest and abode for the
enigmatic Royal Bengal Tiger. The area, over time, has been continuously truncated
in size and at present it is approximately three-fifths the size of what
existed 200 years ago (about 16,700 sq km), the rest having been cleared and
converted for agriculture and allied activities. Of the present expanse of 10217 sq km, 4262
sq km (41.7%) is in India. About half of the area in India (2320 sq km) is land
mass. The rest 5955 sq km (58.3%) is in Bangladesh. The eco-region has huge
ecological significance in terms of the deluge of ecological services and
functions for human welfare. But unbridled and naive anthropogenic avarice is
taking a heavy toll of Sundarbans’ resources in both the countries ripping
people of the region off their precious livelihoods. There is a need for
concerted efforts by all players transcending the international border for its
ecological sustenance. A succinct overview of Sundarbans comprising of its structure,
its historical progression, its ecological and economic value, its challenges
and livelihood of people in it is chronicled in this introductory piece for the
book.
Key words:
Sundarbans
●Livelihood
●Community
based tourism ●Challenges
●Recurvature
of storm ●Ecological
value
___________________________________________________________________________________
H.S.Sen (*)
Former Director, ICAR-CRIJAF, Barrackpore, West Bengal,
India 700 120
Present address: 2/74, Naktala, Kolkata, India 700 047
Email: hssen.india@gmail.com
Dipankar Ghorai
Subject Matter Specialist and Programme Coordinator
(Acting), Krishi Vigyan Kendra,
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied
Fibres
Bud Bud, Burdwan 713 403
Email:dipankarghoraikvk@gmail.com
1.1 Introduction
“To subdue
Nature, to bend its forces to our will, has been the acknowledged purpose of
Mankind since human life began, but the time has come for a revision of our conception
of the benefits and responsibilities of holding dominion over all other created
things”
-- The Royal Bank of Canada Monthly
Letter, Vol 41, No. 4 (May 1960)
History asseverates that evolution
of Homo habilis to Homo sapiens has been a perpetual
struggle of taming the untamed. First, it was struggle for existence, then it
became necessity in order to colonize, and finally, to this present day, to an astounding
avarice for exploitation – a tale of Nature accommodating Man changing to Man exterminating
Nature. The consequences may be gravely disconcerting, at least the indications
are so. All of World’s pristine, and thus far virgin, ecosystems, or eco-regions,
have been invaded to gain social and economic mileage mindlessly, altogether
ignoring their enormous ecological values – as a result of which many of those are
on the verge of extinction or endangered, to put mildly. It is time for Man to
reinstate the wilderness of the wild, lest they may go into oblivion.
THE SUNDARBANS, spanning
over two neighbouring countries of India and Bangladesh is one such example of
endangered eco-region. Etymologically, Sundarbans means “Beautiful Forest”. The
name, SUNDARBANS, itself, conjures images of a mystic forest,
predators and hostile environments. Populated by both animals and half-starved
humans, Sundarbans is a place that has continued to be a perpetual battle
ground of nature and man. Danda
(2007) portrays Sundarbans as a microcosm for examining global dilemma for
development, ecology, and competing values.
The dilemma arises out of constructing built capital for welfare for the
4.5 million people living in the region thereby compromising ecology.
The Sundarbans eco-region
is part of the world's largest delta, formed from the sediments brought down by
three great rivers, the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. The eco-region is
unique in the world and is uniquely
fragile, too! The eco-region is unique by virtue of its most extensive
mangrove forest in the world exposed to freshwater and seawater mix. Its
uniqueness also pertains to being shelter to one of the most enthralling and
endangered creatures in the world – the Royal Bengal Tiger and that the
mangroves of Sundarbans acting as a natural buffer against the coastal erosion
and seawater ingress into one of the most densely populated regions of the
world. But the paragon of its uniqueness is, arguably, ascribed to the
incalculable loss of human and built capital which would have otherwise
happened had the Sundarbans mangrove not acted as a natural shield against the
ever-increasing tropical cyclones and storms in the Bay of Bengal and Indian
Ocean and arresting it from entering the mainland with their full
throttle.
The Sundarbans is a
conglomeration of about 200 islands, separated by some 400 interconnected tidal
rivers, creeks and canals. The area, over time, has been continuously reduced
and at present it is approximately three-fifths the size of what existed 200
years ago (about 16,700 sq km), the rest having been cleared and converted to agriculture
(Hussain and Archarya 1994). Of the
present expanse of 10217 sq km, 4262 sq km (41.7%) is in India. About half of
the area in India (2320 sq km) is land mass. The rest 5955 ha (58.3%) is in
Bangladesh. The landscape is one of low-lying forested alluvial islands (56 in
the Indian sector), mudbanks with sandy beaches, and dunes along the coast
(Hussain and Archarya 1994). The forest swamp is extensively embanked and
empoldered and is an essential buffer for inland areas against the ravages of
frequent cyclones from the Bay of Bengal. The nutrient-rich waters also provide
the most important nursery for shrimps and spawning grounds for crustaceans and
fish along the whole coast of eastern India.
Sundarbans features, as
per classification of WWF, two distinct eco-regions – ‘Sundarbans freshwater swamp forest (IM 0162)’ and ‘Sundarbans mangroves (IM 1406)’. The Sundarbans
Freshwater Swamp Forests eco-region is nearly extinct. Hundreds of years of
habitation and exploitation by one of the world's densest human populations
have exacted a heavy toll of this eco-region's habitat and biodiversity.
Because, it sits in the vast, productive delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra
rivers and their annual alluvial deposits make the eco-region exceptionally
productive. Therefore, most of the natural habitat has long been converted to
agriculture, making it almost impossible to even surmise the original
composition of the eco-region's biodiversity (https://www.worldwildlife.org/eco-regions/im0162). The Sundarbans Mangroves eco-region is the world's largest
mangrove ecosystem. Named after the dominant mangrove species Heritiera fomes, locally known as Sundari,
this is the only mangrove eco-region that harbors the Indo-Pacific region's
largest predator, the Royal Bengal Tiger. Unlike in other habitats, here tigers
live and swim among the mangrove islands, where they hunt scarce prey such as
chital deer (Cervus axis), barking
deer (Muntiacus muntjak), wild pig (Sus scrofa), and even macaques (Macaca mulatta). Quite frequently, the
people who venture into these impregnable forests to gather honey, to fish, and
to cut mangrove trees to make charcoal also fall victim to the tigers (https://www.worldwildlife.org/
eco-regions/im1406).
The Bangladeshi and Indian parts of the
Sundarbans, while in fact adjacent parts of the uninterrupted landscape, have
been listed separately in the UNESCO World Heritage List as Sundarbans
and Sundarbans
National Park, respectively.
Over the centuries, Sundarbans had
been, and is being, continually morphed to come to its present make up –
physically as well as demographically. Physically through the unceasing
accretion – erosion process of its river system and demographically through incessant
in- and out-migration of people of diverse ethnicity, invasion of foreigners
and colonial condign. Let us contemplate upon its history, briefly.
1.2 Sundarbans: A Brief History over Time
The
history of Sundarbans can be traced back to the ages of Puranas.
Mythologically, the Sagar island of Sundarbans was said to be the abode of Sage
Kapila who incinerated 60000 sons of King Sagar for some misdeed of theirs and
it was Sagar’s grandson, Bhagiratha, who placated Sage Kapila and brought the
Ganges to earth to revive his ancestors. Historically, several travellers as
well as historians like, Satish Chandra Mitra, Kalidas Dutta have eloquently
described Sundarbans in their accounts of Bengal Allusion to the famous coastal
trading town of ‘Chandraketugarh’ can be found in the accounts of ancient Greek
and Roman writers – dating back to the post-Gupta period, between 4th century
BCE to 6th century AD (Mandal 2016).
1.2.1 The Muslim Time
The Muslim period (1204 – 1574) saw
the rise of Sundarbans as a humanized colony. Following the Muslim invasion of
Bengal in the twelfth century, from the early part of thirteenth century,
Sundarbans witnessed infiltration of large number of Muslims rendering the area
a Muslim dominated one. Unlike the native Hindus, whose primary occupation was
fishery, the Muslims were agriculturists and following their suit the Hindus
also took to agriculture as their primary livelihood with forest making way for
agricultural land. Agriculture flourished also due to the fact that, unlike
fishery produce, agricultural produce can be processed and stored for future
use.
Joao
de Barros, the acclaimed Portuguese historian, was the first to map the
Sundarbans. Among the Muslim settlers, Khanja Ali was the most prominent, who
along with his followers reclaimed large part of mangrove forest to build a
sizable Muslim agricultural colony, although after his death the area relapsed
into forests (Mandal 2016).
1.2.2 The Time of Baro-Bhuyans (The Twelve Zamindars)
Afterwards, Maharaja Pratapaditya,
the most prominent among the Baro Bhuyans of Bengal, ruled the area from 1560 –
1611. He hired various tribal creeds to clear the forests for agricultural
purposes. Maharaja Pratapaditya restored to various developmental activities
like building of roads, forts, township and temples with an eye for holistic
development of the area. Sadly, after his demise the forest crept back into
place giving shelter to various miscreants and local dacoits.
With
passage of time, the region saw mass scale plundering by the Arakan invaders
along with Dutch and Portuguese traders. They continuously engaged themselves
in human trafficking to far off places like Goa, Cochin, Ceylon and Batavia
(now Jakarta in Indonesia) where they had established their colonies. This
ensued rapid decline in population of the Sundarbans. Francois Bernier, the
famous French traveller, has referred to these horrendous episodes of pillage
and human trafficking in his book – “Travel
in the Mogul Empire” (Barnier 1914).
1.2.3 The Colonial Times
Time went on. It was the colonial
periods when Sundarbans started to revert back to its past glorified self.
Britishers acquired the proprietary rights over the area from the Mougal
Emperor during the later half of 18th century. Claude Russel, the then
Collector-General of 24 Parganas started to make way for agriculture, again, by
clearing the forests in 1770s. This was preceded by mapping of the area by the
Surveyor-General in 1764.
During 1780s, Tillman
Henckell, the then Magistrate of Jessore, established several government
outposts in Sundarbans and set up number of salt manufacturing units along the
coasts. Then began the land distribution among the Talukdars which was speeded up with the introduction of Permanent
Settlement System in 1793. Rapidly lush mangrove made room for agricultural
land and that was when anthropogenic doings, or rather ‘undoings’, started to take toll on natural balance of
the eco-region that continued several years afterwards and, with more apposite
means of livelihood being available, people began to pour in, thereby shifting
the natural equilibrium to irreversibility.
But, Nature retaliates –
the fact was soon learnt by Viceroy Lord Canning in hard way. Viewing the
multitude of promise for colonization in the Sundarbans, Canning started to
build infrastructures, like roads, railway tracks; and even a port to support
Calcutta port by the river Matla in the 1860s. But within 5 years of its
completion, the entire port was annihilated in a super-cyclone and concomitant
surge in Matla in 1867 (Mandal 2016).
Yet, the bigger damage
was done.
Sundarbans, by then, with its bountiful of resources and plethora of
opportunities, caught the eye of many and with passage of time, during the late
19th century and early 20th century, more influx of people of all creed and
cast took place and more forest solemnly made way for their settlement.
1.2.4 The Time after Independence
The post-independence period encountered
even greater in-migration into Sundarbans, especially in the aftermath of 1952
famine and subsequent liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. During this time the
region also witnessed one of the most horrific political oppressions in human
history, known as the Marichjhanpi massacre. Thousands of poor Bengali
refugees, who came to India after Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and were
relocated in prison like camps of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, supported the Left
Front in the state election as they promised to give them land in West Bengal
if they won.
So, after the Left Front came to power in 1977, they
came to West Bengal. A large portion among them settled in Marichjhanpi island
of Sundarbans which was a deforested, but unpopulated island at that time.
However, the left front was not happy with the influx of refugees in Bengal
anymore. In Marichjhanpi, after giving several warnings to the new settlers to
leave, the police surrounded the island, cut its communication with outside
world and destroyed the food stock, thus leaving people to die of starvation
and diseases. On 31st of January, 1979, police opened fire on the settlers.
Thousands were gunned down, forced to drown or beaten to death, women and
children were assaulted and killed. The few, who were still alive, were driven
out of the island and sent back to their old camps (Mandal
2016).
Thus, Sundarbans, although much impoverished,
withstood the wrath of time and, finally better sense prevailing, it was
recognized as a Ramsar site of ecological importance in May 21, 1992 seeing its
huge ecological and positional importance.
Although much impoverished, the Sundarbans, in its
rich ethnological backdrop, still envisages gargantuan value – ecological, economic,
human and socio-cultural like all other coastal wetland and forests all over
the world. Below is an annotation that delves into pricing this most exquisite biome.
1.3 Sundarbans: Valuing the Invaluable
Ever since the field of ‘Ecological Economics’ took flight in the 1940’s, there had
been deluge of works in this field to estimate the value of ecosystem services
and functions globally. The economic value of natural capital and ecosystem services is accepted by mainstream environmental
economics, but is emphasized as especially important in ecological economics. Ecological economics
basically work on following methodologies,
·
Allocation of resources
·
Weak versus strong sustainability
·
Energy accounting and balance
·
Ecosystem services
·
Cost
shifting for externalities
·
Ecological-economic
modeling
A number of eminent
ecological/environmental economists have evaluated various major ecosystems
worldwide. Notable among these are Odum
(1971), Westman (1977), Ehrlich and Mooney (1983), de Groot (1987), Costanza (1997, 1998),
and many others. Ecological
economists begin by estimating how to maintain a stable environment before
assessing the cost in dollar terms (Costanza et al 1998). Ecological
economist Robert Costanza led an
attempted valuation of the global ecosystem in 1997. Initially published
in Nature, the article surmised
the value of global ecosystem services to $33 trillion with a range from $16
trillion to $54 trillion (in 1997, total global GDP was $27
trillion) (Costanza et al 1998). Half of the value went to nutrient cycling. The
open oceans, continental shelves, and estuaries had the highest total value,
and the highest per-hectare values went to estuaries, swamps/floodplains, and
seagrass/algae beds. The work was criticized in many corners, but the critics
acknowledged the positive potential for economic valuation of the global
ecosystem (El Serafy 1998, Opschoor 1998, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological
_economics).
BUT!! And Yes, this is a capital ’but’. The question remains – whether all the ‘Externalities’ or ‘Avoided cost (AC)’, as they prefer
to call it, which is defined as ‘services those allow society to avoid cost
that would have been incurred in absence of these services’ (de Groot et al
2002), can be taken into account while valuing ecological services?
Mangrove
ecosystems are recognized as providers of untold ecological services –
providing optimal breeding, feeding and nursery habitat for ecologically and
economically important fish and shell fishes (Verma et al 2017), habitats for
resident and migratory birds, valuable source of fuel, fodder, timber and other
natural products, protect freshwater resources from intrusion of saltwater,
protect coastal lands from eroding winds and waves by stabilizing them
(Prasetya 2006), etc. All these services have been assessed for their economic benefits by
large number of researchers all over the world for different mangrove ecologies
–many of them amounting to billions of US$ per year for these intrinsic values
(Santhirathai and Barbier 2001, de Groot 2012, Rog et al 2016). But, we
surmise, the most important function of mangroves is protection of human and
built capital, or the ‘avoided cost’ as defined earlier. For example, the
post-independence period, once after 1947 and then after 1971, saw massive
in-migration of people into Sundarbans and subsequent large-scale deforestation
of mangroves paving way for their habitat. Then came the Great Cyclone Bhola in
November 12, 1970 that ripped nearly 0.3 million people of their lives. Again
the 1991 tropical cyclone accounted for some 0.14 million human lives. While the
loss of built capital and the intrinsic resources were put to well over a
billion US$ in 2004-05 prices (Hossain et al 2008), question remains can the loss of human capital be estimated?
What presently is
being done by the ecological economists, is to assess the following three chief
value parameters while evaluating one ecology,
1. Ecological value
2. Socio-cultural value,
and
3. Economic value
Economic value, again, is measured in terms of,
1. Direct market
valuation,
2. Indirect market valuation,
3. Contingent valuation,
and
4. Group valuation (de Groot et al 2002)
We maintain that there
should be one ‘Anthropogenic value’
parameter in addition to the abovementioned. Exempli gratia, in Indian context, if somebody tries to assess the
economic value of the Himalayan eco-region, it is beyond human acumen to
entwine all the ‘externalities’. The Himalayas had shaped the past, is shaping
the present, and will shape the livelihood of millions of Northern Indian
population, its river systems, and its monsoon wind control. Therefore, it
entails that for holistic ecological evaluation of the Himalayas, this ‘Anthropogenic value’ have to be
estimated, which is, unfortunately, beyond capabilities of man simply because of the social capital of
those billions of people, and is outside purview of monetary estimation!
Similarly, it is so in the present case – economic evaluation of Sundarbans.
Apart from its huge ecological significance being the world’s largest
contiguous mangrove and habitat of the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, its
positional advantage in unfathomable. The Sundarbans mangrove protects some of
the world’s most populated cities and towns, namely Kolkata, Dacca and others,
from the ever-increasing wrath of tropical cyclones in the Indian ocean and Bay
of Bengal by attenuating the storm surges and buffering wind thrust of the
cyclones. Had it not been there, colossal loss of human and built capital would
have occurred. While the cost of built capital is possible to estimate, the
cost of human capital or ‘Anthropogenic
value’ is one ‘externality’ of ‘avoided cost’ that is beyond pricing.
Therefore, we prefer the Sundarbans ecology be called, ipso facto, ‘INVALUABLE’.
Although, there had
been few attempts in the past to measure Sundarbans’s ecological and economic
value, it was essentially ‘intrinsic’,
and not ‘holistic’. For academic interest, we prefer to put here few lines
regarding the ‘intrinsic value’ of
this all important eco-region worked out by two workers (Verma et al 2017, Shams Uddin 2011) to give
the reader an idea of the stupendous ecological and economic value it would
have gathered had the ‘Anthropogenic
value’ could have been estimated by some means. Since there is no such
literature available about the intrinsic economic evaluation of Sundarbans
eco-region as a whole transcending the international boundary, Indian part and
Bangladesh part will be dealt separately.
Very recently, one
study (Verma et al 2017) has extensively tried to price the Sundarbans tiger
reserve in the Indian part. As has been done in case of other mangrove
ecologies (Viswanathan et al 2011, Rog et al 2016), Verma et al (2017)
evaluated for Sundarbans total of 25 ecological services and functions, namely,
employment generation, agriculture, fishing, fuelwood,
fodder/grazing, timber, non-wood forest produce (NWFP), gene-pool protection,
carbon storage, carbon sequestration, water provisioning, water purification,
soil conservation/sediment regulation, nutrient cycling/retention, biological
control, moderation of extreme events, pollination, nursery function,
habitat/refugia, cultural heritage, recreation, spiritual tourism, research and
education, gas regulation and waste assimilation. As per their estimation he
stock benefits accrued to US$ 10089 million per yr.
As for the Bangladesh part, Shams Uddin (2011)
has similarly evaluated the same. He categorized the services into three broad
categories, namely provisioning services (timber, fish, fuel wood, thatching
materials, honey and wax, crab), cultural services, and regulatory services.
Total economic benefits for these services, as per his estimates, stands at US$
43 million per yr.
These are the only two available studies that
have tried to price the Sundarbans eco-region in the light of its ecological
services and functions in the two neighbouring countries. Notable point from
these two studies is the large variation in the quantum of economic benefits
derived. Although of the 10000 sq km area of the Sundarbans eco-region, Bangladesh
accounts for some 3/5th, yet economic benefits derived for that part is
abysmally low compared to Indian part (Shams Uddin 2011).
Other workers, who tried to value the mangrove
ecologies over the world (Santhirathai and Barbier 2001, Hussain and Badola
2010, etc.), have used different
metrics and valuing parameters resulting in wide variation in quantum values
among their works. Hamel and Bryant (2017) and Boithias et al (2016)
categorized such uncertainties in assessment of ecological services. They
maintain that varying number of services under consideration, selection of
valuation metrics, stakeholders credibility and response, etc. are the root
causes of the uncertainties in such kind of studies. From these, it can be
surmised that no single study should be
adequately well-versed in deriving even the ‘intrinsic value’ of Sundarbans,
leaving alone the ‘Anthropogenic value’.
Then, there are stiff challenges, both
anthropogenic and climatic, those are gulping in the natural resource base of
the ecosystem, thereby decreasing its intrinsic value, slowly yet steadily.
Unless stringent measures are adopted to combat the human maleficence and to
adapt to the climatic vagaries, the Sundarbans may not live to see another day
in 100 years from now. Let’s explore the challenges that the ecosystem is facing.
1.4 Challenges
Typical of the Ecosystem
Coastal ecosystems are inimitable in
view of their frailty as compared to terrestrial ecosystems, and yet in their
indispensability in preserving the terrestrial ecosystems being the first line
of defence against hazards of oceanic origin. More often than not, these are
more precious in terms of their natural, built, human and social capitals over
land ecosystems; and yet more often than not these are subjected to ill
considerate, unbridled and indefatigable anthropogenic avarice for
gaining entrée to these capitals. The human malfeasance over
and above enhancement in climate change-induced degenerative—and often
cataclysmic—marine influences in form of tropical and extratropical cyclones,
tsunamis, hurricanes, etc. are only adding to the woes in so far as the
stability of the coastal ecosystems—and their very existence as well—is
concerned (Ghorai and Sen 2014, Sen and Ghorai 2017).
Global climate change
will alter temperature and precipitation regimes, oceanic and atmospheric
circulation, rate of rising sea level, and the frequency, intensity, timing and
distribution of hurricanes and tropical storms (Ghorai and Sen 2014, Seneviratne
et al 2012), the magnitude of which and their subsequent impacts on coastal
wetlands will vary temporally and spatially. The ecological effects of tropical
storms and hurricanes indicate that storm frequency, intensity, and their
variations can alter coastal wetland hydrology, geomorphology, biotic
structure, energetics, and nutrient cycling (Mitchener et al 1997). The more
these storms eat out the coastal wetlands, the more will be the exposure, and
hence the vulnerability, to future such occurrences (IPCC 2012). Tropical
(occurring in tropical oceans) and extratropical cyclones (occurring near the
poles), in particular, pose a significant threat to coastal populations and
infrastructure, and marine interests such as shipping and offshore activities.
Added to these are tsunamis and earthquakes, besides giving severe blows to
particularly coastal wetlands time to time, take heavy toll of human capital as
well.
1.4.1 Sundarbans Mangroves
and Climate Shift: Weathering the Storms?
The mangrove ecology is extremely
important for human and other biotic communities in multifarious ways. These
include providing habitat that serves as reservoirs, refuges, feeding grounds,
and nursery grounds for many useful and unusual organisms; feedstuff for many
aquatic organisms and commercial species of shellfish, shrimps, and fish of
lagoons and the near-shore ecosystems such as seagrass beds and coral reefs
through partially decomposed leaf detritus (Sukardjo et al 2013).
In addition to their
biotic functions and their role as natural bio shield, mangroves, being endowed
with extensive rooting structures that slow water movement to trap sediments,
also absorb and dissipate the energy of the waves (Nguyen et al 2013, Takle et al 2006), slowing their ingress inland. This is
particularly important as high waves or storm tides can take heavy toll of
human, natural, and built capital along the coastlines. Mangroves
absorb water wave energy as a result of reversing and unsteady flow of water
around the vegetation. In other words, mangroves protect the coast from wave
erosion by dissipating wave energy through drag and inertial forces (Mazda et
al 1997). Mazda et al (1997) have experimentally proved this at the muddy coast
in Vietnam. The protective role of mangrove was proven by Badola and Hussain
(2005) in India’s Bhitarkanika mangroves where they found minimal damage
(US$33/ha), in the 1991 tropical cyclone, in the village, among the three
equidistant villages selected for the study, which has a protection of
mangroves. In the other two villages, the respective figures were US$ 44 per ha
in the village that did not have any protection and US$ 154 per ha in the
village that had a dyke, but failed. The high cost for the
village that had a dyke is attributed to the swift currents after the dyke
breached. Similar
attenuation of wave energy by mangroves in case of tsunamis is also established
(Vermaat and Thampanya 2006, Wolanski 2007).
1.4.2 Sundarbans Mangroves
and Climate Shift: Withering in?
A general trend of mangrove
forests decline is being observed all over the world. About 90% of the global
mangroves are growing in developing countries and they are under the condition
of critically endangered and nearing extinction in 26 countries (Kathireshan
2008). The world mangrove experts are of the opinion that the long-term
survival of mangroves is at great risk due to fragmentation of the habitats and
that the services offered by the mangroves may likely be totally lost within
100 years (Valiela et al 2001, Alongi 2002). In general, the anthropogenic
stress on mangrove is predominant, especially in the best developed mangroves
that grow along humid sheltered tropical coastlines, such as delta areas of
Ganges‐Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy and Niger as well in the coastlines of the
Malacca Straits, Borneo and Madagascar. Some estimates put global loss rates
annually at one million ha, with some regions in dangers of complete collapse
(Kathiresan and Bingham 2001). The rate of loss in the recent past has reached
alarmingly high rates. To cite two examples, the Philippines lost 3155 km2
of mangroves from
1968 to 1990 that was 70.4% of the initial stand, at a rate of 143 km2
per
year or 39 ha per day (Kathireshan 2008).
Although climate change
augmented relative sea level rise is posing the greatest threat to the mangrove
ecology, increased intensity and frequency of storms have the potential to
increase damage to mangroves through defoliation and tree mortality. In
addition to this, storms can alter mangrove sediment elevation through soil
erosion (Baldwin et al 2001), soil deposition, peat collapse, and soil
compression (Cahoon et al 2006). One study by US Geological survey (Doyle et al
1997) used hurricane and mangrove simulation models, namely HURASIM and MANGRO,
respectively, in forecasting the fate of mangrove forests along the coasts of
Florida which revealed that occurrence of major storms every 30 years in
twenty-first century may be the most important factor controlling mangrove
ecosystem dynamics and in case storms become more intense over the next
century, they may further alter the structure and composition of the Florida
mangrove landscape. Hurricane Georges passing over Dominican Republic in 1998
afflicted 48 % mortality in 4,700 ha mangrove area (Sherman and Fahey 2001).
Many other have reported flagrant mortality rates of different mangrove species
owing to category 3 and 4 cyclones worldwide (Cebrian et al 2008, Smith et al
2009, Kauffman and Cole 2010).
Besides
man‐made pressures, the mangroves are degraded by environmental stress factors
(Gilman et al 2008, Giri et al 2011). Cyclones, hurricanes and tsunamis are the
three major environmental factors that is taking a significant toll on mangrove
ecosystem all over the world (Gilman et al 2008). Wind damage, storm surge and
sediment deposition are the tree primary mechanisms through which cyclones and
hurricanes impact mangroves (Smith et al 2009). Very high winds rip off and
tumble stems defoliate trees and severely debilitate their delicate root
structure (Smith et al 1994, Doyle et al 1995). As a storm surge comes ashore taller stems may be uprooted
and knocked over, yet when covered by the surge, shorter stems may be protected
from the hurricane's winds (Smith et al 1994). Storm surges carry suspended
sediment that is deposited on the forest floor as the surge recedes (Risi et al
1995). Craighead and Gilbert (1962) and Ellison (1998) reported that very fine
sediments deposited from hurricane storm surges resulted in mangrove mortality.
The deposited materials interfere with root and soil gas exchange leading to
eventual death of the trees. The damage inflicted by each of these mechanisms
often varies according to species of mangrove (Woodroffe and Grime 1999).
During the last two-and-a-half centuries, the Sundarbans
mangrove ecosystem has been affected by human impact, slow onset of climatic
change and extreme weather events (Ghosh et al 2015). Protection of mangrove
forests is extremely complex and multiscalar because of the interaction of
climatic threats, path-dependent development regimes and environmental
governance (Ghosh et al 2015).
Over the past five decades,
Sundarbans mangroves are frequently hit by cyclone resulting in the complete
destruction of mangrove vegetation in some places. Within a very short period
of time the Sundarbans mangrove forests have encountered five major unusual cataclysmic
events, i.e. cyclone in 1988 and 1991, the Asian tsunami in 2004, cyclone Sidr
in 2007, and cyclone Nargis in 2008. Haq (2010) have put the damage due to
cyclone Sidr in 2007 to one-third of the mangrove population in the Bangladesh
part of Sundarbans. These disturbances have caused massive amount of damage to
the standing vegetation of the Sundarbans mangrove forest and plantation in
coastal afforestation. The damage, in turn, leads towards uncertainty in
typical mangrove vegetation recovery (Azad and Matin 2012).
1.4.3 Challenges for Bangladesh Sundarbans:
Recurvature?
The
disproportionately high storm surges in Bangladesh coast is a matter of great concern.
One study by Murty and El-Sabh (1992) showed that Bangladesh accounts for 40%
of worlds total storm surges while rest of the world including Asia and other
continents accounts for 60%. Khan (1992) ascribed this to the following causes,
(1) The phenomenon of recurvature
of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal,
(2) Shallow continental shelf, especially in the eastern part of Bangladesh,
(3) High tidal range,
(4) Triangular shape at the head of the Bay of Bengal,
(5) Almost sea-level orography of the Bangladesh coastal land,
(6) High density of population and coastal defence system.
Among these, the
phenomenon of recurvature of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal is the
single most cause of the disproportional large impact of storm surges on the
Bangladesh coast. Khan (1992) noted,
“Extra-tropical
cyclones, such as those that occur in Canada and Europe, generally travel from
west to east. On the other hand, tropical cyclones such as those that occur in
the Bay of Bengal, are expected to travel from east to west, as would be
expected from considerations of the general circulation of the atmosphere.
However, in the Bay of Bengal, tropical cyclones most often do not travel
towards the west or northwest, but they turn towards the north or even
Northeast. This turning back, referred to as Recurvature is still not fully
understood. If the phenomenon of
Recurvature does not happen, then Bangladesh would rarely be affected by
tropical cyclones and the storm surges that
result from them.”
In the light of the
above, there should be increased emphasis on managing mangroves of Bangladesh
Sundarbans. Government of Bangladesh should enforce stringent rules so as to
protect the mangroves from any kind of anthropogenic malfeasance and, if need
be, vast-scale mangrove plantation programme and relocation of human
establishment, away from the vulnerable
areas like, Chittagong, Cox Bazar etc.,
to more stable zones, as has been proposed by Sanchez-Triana (2014) for the
Indian part, should be taken up in order to preserve these precious ecosystem
as well as human capitals.
These above-mentioned
challenges are not only challenging the existence of the Sundarbans, but they
are challenging the livelihood of 4.5 million people and all other creatures in
it - the very right to live in under a wide spectrum of eco-services. Starting,
in terms of human, with agriculture to fishing, boatman, forest resource
collector, traders, and what not! Let us peek into the livelihood kaleidoscope
of Sundarbans people for a while.
1.5 Sundarbans: The Livelihood Kaleidoscope
Nature is the birth-giver
to all living beings existing on earth. Though we are living in an age of
cyborgs, we cannot detach ourselves from the environment we live in. Livelihood
refers to the means and sources of living which we use in our everyday life. There are multiple
sources of livelihood in the Sundarbans, predominantly in the agriculture,
fishing and aquaculture, forestry, and tourism sectors.
1.5.1 Livelihood in the Indian Sundarbans
1.5.1.1 Agriculture
In Indian Sundarbans, agriculture
is chiefly inhibited by excess of water in the monsoon, and then lack of it in the dry periods! (Sen and
Oosterbaan 1992). Nearly 60 percent of the total working population depends on
agriculture as a primary occupation, either as cultivators (23.6 percent) or as
agricultural laborers (36.1 percent) (Sánchez-Triana et al 2014). More than 80 percent of total farmers in the region
farm in marginal areas. The average landholding among farmers is just 0.36 ha.
More than 75 percent of the inhabited portions of the Sundarbans are used for
agriculture. The cropping pattern is largely a single crop of rainfed paddy (aman)
cultivated during the kharif season
(rainy season). During the rabi
season (dry season), cropping is made difficult due to the lack of irrigation
facilities in the Sundarbans. Soil salinity limits crop productivity in the
region. An analysis of more than 10,000 soil samples taken from eight blocks of
the Sundarbans found that 32.4 percent of the samples had high salinity levels
(Sánchez-Triana
et al 2014). Besides, there are problems of drainage congestion particularly
during monsoon.
1.5.1.2 Fisheries and Aquaculture
It
was found that approximately 11 percent of households in the Sundarbans listed ‘fishing’
as one of the family occupations (Sánchez-Triana et al 2014). This percentage goes up to 60–70 percent in areas
with easy access to rivers. A separate study found that the estimated total
number of inland fisher families in South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas was
52,917 and 50,897, respectively (GoWB 2005). The main areas of traditional
fishing are Sagar, Fraserganj, Bakkhali, and Kalisthan islands. The significant
inland fish landing regions in the Sundarbans include Canning, Hariabhanga, and
Gosaba (Chatterjee 2011).
1.5.1.3 Forestry
The
Sundarbans ecosystem is the basis for many of the livelihood activities that
have traditionally formed the backbone of rural living, and a significant
number of households depend on the forest for their livelihood and sustenance
through activities such as honey collection, fishing, and timber collection.
Over 32,000 households in the Sundarbans have at least one member exploiting
the forest regularly for various purposes (Sanchez- Triana et al 2014), such as
collecting fuelwood, sustenance, cash income (from the sale of honey),
medicinal requirements, and harvesting timber for construction of houses and
boats (Roy 2011). Forest dependence is largely a result of low levels of
education and skills, which prevents people from accessing better-paying jobs,
and the lack of alternative income-generating opportunities in the region.
Agriculture has low income-earning potential in the region, and conversion of
agricultural land into prawn farms has forced many to turn to the forest for
livelihood purposes. One study by Singh et al (2010) shows that the
contribution of Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFPs) is quite high as it
contributes almost 79% (Rs. 80,000 per family) on an average to the annual
income of the collector’s family. Of course, not every family of the village
goes for NTFP collection but nonetheless their number is significant. The major
NTFP that are being collected includes firewood, prawn, fishes, crab, honey and
bee wax.
1.5.1.4 Tourism
Forest-based tourism is regarded
as an effective tool for sustainable conservation of forest resources and its
biodiversity. It plays both conservation and revenue earning roles. Conservation
roles are played in two ways: by keeping intact, and somewhere by improving,
the existing forest resources to attract the tourists and secondly by involving
the poor forest dwellers, who were removing trees and other non-timber products
for their livelihood, in different income generating activities within the
ecotourism area (Mazilu
and Mainescu 2008).
Although tourism in the
Sundarbans has ample opportunities, still it remains an option for very limited
number of people in the Sundarbans. Guha and Ghosh (2007) reported that only
8.2% of villagers in Pakhiralaya, a tourism hotspot in Indian Sundarbans,
participated in local tourism. Tourism development in the area is rapidly
expanding, both as a reaction to the success achieved by pioneer developments
such as the Sundarbans Tiger Camp, and as a result of increased demand for
visiting the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve and the Sundarbans National Park. From
2003 to 2009, the number of tourists increased by roughly 101 percent, from
59,681 to 120,495 (Guha and Ghosh 2007). The majority of the visitors to the
Tiger Reserve and National Park are domestic, suggesting that the domestic
market can provide a solid base for gradual tourism development, allowing for
eventual expansion into the international market as the tourism product of the
region improves. However, domestic tourists are low-budget travelers and are
not always aware of the ecological sensitivity of the area. (Guha and Ghosh
2007)
1.5.2 Livelihood in Bangladesh Sundarbans
1.5.2.1 Agriculture
People of Bangladesh Sundarbans
thrive on all the above livelihood options, including agriculture, in more or
less commensurate with its area as Indian Sundarbans (Mukul et al 2010).
Similar to the Indian part, rice is the principal crop of the region. Agriculture
in Bangladesh Sundarbans is also constrained by increased soil and water
salinity, chiefly attributable to the diversion of Ganges at Farakka water,
especially in the southwestern region
(Khan 1993, Mirza 1998). One estimate (Hannan 1980) had put the total
loss of agricultural produce to nearly 0.64 million tonnes in 1976 of which
salinity alone accounts for some 21%. Anon (1993) reported annual loos of US$
675 million in agricultural sector as a consequence of Farakka barrage. Apart
from salinity; sedimentation, waterlogging, cyclone damage, accumulation of
toxic elements from allied agricultural activities and port discharge are also
adding to the woes in so far as agriculture is concerned (Mirza 1998).
1.5.2.2 Fisheries and Aquaculture
Apart from agriculture, of course,
Bangladesh hugely thrives on mangrove forest aquaculture and fisheries. In
recent years, commercial polyculture with fresh, marine and brackish water
species is carried out on small scale (Azad et al 2009). About 260 freshwater
and 342 marine water fishes are found in this part of the Sundarbans (Hussain
and Acharya 1994). But the resource is declining alarmingly over the last two
decades affecting the estimated 3.5 million fishers, most of whom are
penurious, directly or indirectly (Hasan and Naser 2016). Hasan and Naser (2016)
reported steep decline in number of 79 freshwater and marine fishes in the area.
This is endorsed to overfishing and mangrove habitat degradation (Islam and
Haque 2004). Also, natural calamities like earth quake, heavy downpour, storm
and cyclone also have a sizable impact on the fishery livelihood (Hasan and
Naser 2016). Overall, the fact that fishing in the Bangladesh Sundarbans is a
subsistence livelihood has been revealed by Alam and Basha (1995) who had put
the average annual income of fishers in the region to BDT 2442 in 1994 which
was 70% lower than the per capita annual income of Bangladesh.
Coastal aquaculture in
Bangladesh consists mainly of two shrimp species (Penaeus monodon and Macrobrachium
rosenbergii). Currently, there are about 16,237 marine shrimp (P. monodon) farms covering 148,093 ha,
and 36,109 fresh water shrimp (M.
rosenbergii) farms covering 17,638 ha coastal area. More than 0.7 million
people are employed in the farmed shrimp sector and in 2005–2006 the export
value of shrimp was 403.5 million US$ (Azad et al 2009). Although the subsequent
discussion is not strictly pertaining to the livelihood issue, we through a
short annotation to this effect is expedient keeping in sight the broader
picture of ecological sustenance of Sundarbans mangrove ecology.
1.5.2.3 Shrimp
Farming Sustainability Concerns – What Reality Counts? Putting the First Last?
Although shrimping is a much
vaunted livelihood option (Kamp and Brand 1994, Kendrick 1994) for people of
Bangladesh Sundarbans, economically, and politically as well – so much so that
often Bangladesh policy makers are forced to remain oblivious of its ill-effects
on environment, and Sundarbans mangroves, in particular, in this case, despite the
fact that large scale unscientific shrimping is con to environment sustainability
had been indicated by various workers (Rosenberry 1993, Bundell and Maybin 1996,
Be et al 1999). Islam and Braden (2005) argued that modern shrimp farming is
clearly ecologically unsustainable because of its operational requirements
vastly exceeding the carrying capacity of surrounding ecosystems.
The environmental and
social impacts of shrimp farming include large-scale degradation of mangroves,
alteration of wetlands, land subsidence, salinization of ground and surface
water, pollution of agricultural lands and coastal waters by pond effluents and
sludge, introduction of exotic species or pathogens into coastal environment,
loss of wild larvae and subsequent loss of goods and services generated by
natural common property resources (Azad et al 2009, Rahman et al 2013).
Reportedly, more than
one-third of mangrove across the world has been lost due to un-relented
fisheries, and mariculture alone accounts for more than half of that (Azad et
al 2009). Shahid and Islam (2003) reported that about 10000 ha of mangrove in
the southeastern part of Bangladesh has been lost, thanks to shrimping.
Increasing soil acidity
pertaining to aquaculture is another problem that needs counting. Aquaculture
ponds in mangrove areas give rise to highly acidified soils as a result of
exposure to air. This result in high level of aluminum in a form that is highly
toxic to other aquatic life (Azad et al 2009). If fact, many shrimping ventures
were forced-closed due to this problem worldwide thereby putting livelihood of
connected people in jeopardy (Lin 1989).
Another concern is
salinization of soil and aquifers. Primavera (2006) showed that the use of
large volumes of underground freshwater to generate brackish water by adding
heaps of salt from outside for shrimp culture led to the lowering of
groundwater levels, emptying of aquifers, land subsidence, and salinization of
adjacent land and waterways in Taiwan and other southeast Asian countries. The
discharge of saltwater from shrimp farms also causes salinization in adjoining
rice and other agricultural lands. In Bangladesh, Rahman et al (2013) reported
increase in salinity of non-saline areas to the tune of 500% as a result of
shrimping. They also reported large scale defoliation of mangrove trees as a
result of pumping back the polluted and toxic water of the farms to the
immediate mangrove surroundings for stacking freshwater for the next
cycle.
Lastly, rampant
shrimping is associated with grave socioeconomic implications as well. Lack of
planning of coastal land use is the root-cause of the social problem. Because
of the high profitability, powerful urban residents, including political
leaders, relatives of bureaucrats, bankers and businessmen have caught hold of
the coastal lands through lease from Bangladesh government which was con to the
1989 land reforms act of Bangladesh, where it was mandated that these land
should be allocated to the penurious landless people of the region (Deb 1998). Loss
of small indigenous species (SIS) of fish is another concern related to rampant
shrimping. It is established that SIS of fish play an important role in
nutrition and employment of rural impecunious mass (Thilsted et al 1997, Islam
and Braden 2006). Shrimping has ripped
these people in penury, especially in the southeast region, as most of the
farms have been constructed in the beels
resulting in reduction of spawning and nursery grounds of SIS.
The
above introspection entails that shrimping
reality in Bangladesh Sundarbans really counts and, therefore, is causa sine qua non that the men who matters must prioritize the
issues while chalking robust policy for maintaining the benignity and
sustainability of this pulchritude ecology.
1.5.2.4 Forestry
Alike India, Bangladesh
Sundarbans mangrove forest resources provide ample livelihood opportunities,
although subsistence, to the penurious 2.5 million people of the locale. For
example, one study by Chowdhury and Ashrafi (2008) in the Soranokhola upazilla
revealed that 49% household depends on the forest resources to varying degree.
The same study also noted that 60% of the resource extractors prefer agriculture
and trade as alternate profession (Chowdhury and Ashrafi 2008). According to
daily need of people forest resources is divided into food (various types of
fishes, honey, crab, etc.), fuel wood (trees and tree parts) and shelter
building materials (Golpata, Goran, etc.)
(Chowdhury and Ashrafi 2008). Getzner and Islam (2013) calculated that 90% of
share of cash income (600 – 800 Euro per year) comes from harvest and sale of
forest produces and only 10% from other sources for about 200 sampled households
in south western part of Sundarbans.
1.5.2.5 Tourism
There is vast scope of Community
Based Tourism (CBT) opportunities in Bangladesh, and especially, in the
Sundarbans (Islam et al 2013). CBT involves meaningful participation both by
visitor and host to generate economic and conservational benefits for the local
community (Mazilu and Mainescu 2008) Since 1966 the Sundarbans have been a
wildlife sanctuary, and it is estimated that there are now 400 Royal Bengal
tigers and about 30,000 spotted deer in the area. This is indeed a land for the
sportsmen, the anglers and the photographers with its abundance of game, big
and small, crocodile, wild boar, deer, pythons, wild-birds, and above all the
Royal Bengal Tiger, cunning, ruthless and yet majestic and graceful (Alam et al
2010). But Human – Tiger Conflict (HTC) remains a major reason for underdevelopment
of tourism in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. Inskip et al (2013) were of the view
that interactions between the problems experienced by villagers,
including HTC, result in a complex ‘risk web’ which detrimentally affects lives
and livelihoods and ultimately perpetuates poverty levels in the Sundarbans
communities.
So, there
goes, for the zealous readers of this book, a laconic apercu of Sundarbans–
its’ life and times. In one line it may be summarized that the wilderness of
the wild “Beautiful forest” should be ensured as “There is no prettiness to
invite the stranger in here” (Amitava Ghosh in
Journey to the Sundarbans: The Beautiful Forest of Mangroves) and in this
tone we may sum up now.
1.6
Conclusions
NATURE speaks a language of her own
and Man, being her creation, need to interpret her properly and interact accordingly.
But, sadly, man
is no longer a mere tenant in nature, he is transmuting it. From ab ovo of his existence with increasing intensity,
human society has been environing nature and made all kinds of incursions into
it.
At present the interaction between man and nature
is determined by the fact that in addition to the two factors of change in the
biosphere that have been operating for millions of years—the biogenetic and the abiogenetic—there has been added yet another factor which is
acquiring decisive significance—the technogenetic
(https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/spirkin/works/dialectical-materialism/ch05-s03.html).
As a result, the previous dynamic balance between man and nature and between
nature and society, as a whole, has shown ominous signs of breaking down. The
problem of the so-called replaceable resources of the biosphere has become
particularly acute. It is getting more and more difficult to satisfy the needs
of human beings and society even for such a substance, for example, as fresh
water. The threat of a global ecological crisis looms large over humanity like
the sword of Damocles.
The above overture is
not mere verbosity. It is prerequisite for an ardent reader to grapple the
quiddity of an ecology like The Sundarbans. It had been invaluable in the past
and it will remain irreplaceable in the future – unless Man’s overwhelming
avarice and Nature’s languid, yet unwavering, fury has other intentions.
Over
the decades, there has been scads of literature on Sundarbans – its pro bono quintessentially, its
resources, its problems, its people and livelihood, its conflicts, its
policies, and so on and so forth. But, there has been no literature on
Sundarbans that transcended the international borders and simulacrum it as e
pluribus unum. As such, there is a great need for one compendium that would
enumerate its worth as a single system and address all the issues concerning it
from multiple angles to safeguard the environment and for the common good of
billions of people in terms of livelihood security in the two neighbouring
countries.
This book is an attempt
towards that end.
The book comprises of several
chapters authored by renowned scientists specializing in the respective areas
of both countries. It encompasses wide variety of areas dealing on
geo-hydrology, biodiversity, river and groundwater hydrology, climate, E-flow
of river network, salt water intrusion inland, and the government policies to
project upswing of E-flow and its possible impacts on soil, biodiversity and
other domains or enterprises. A chronological review of societal transformation
and related approaches towards various livelihood patterns followed over ages,
with subsequent chapters on modern-age professional practice of agriculture,
land and water management including flood and drainage congestion with
suggestions on possible relief measures, sweet and brackish water aquaculture,
mangrove ecosystem management─ all these, along with non-farm activity like
transboundary eco-tourism, with impacts on economic growth of the inhabitants
for improvement of the livelihood are discussed. The book places considerable
emphasis in characterizing Sundarbans for its dynamic behaviour, on one hand,
with continual modification of several islands due to erosion and accretion in
the river banks under changing surface water hydrology in rivers and tide-fed
estuaries, thereby suggesting engineering interventions on estuary management
for augmenting freshwater supply, improved drainage and reduced bank erosion,
and on the other hand, presenting engineering challenges to mainstreaming of
climate change to combat future adversities in the eco-region. The climate
change induced recent disaster events along with relief measures undertaken and
their impacts on biodiversity and livelihood in the past have been discussed
with emphasis. In a departure from the common trend, an inventory of algal
dynamics and their role as climate change proxies have been presented in a
separate chapter. Use of remote sensing satellites, as a state of the art technology,
for disaster management, ecological disturbance and landmass changes, has been
presented through an interesting discussion.
Sundarbans is gradually
becoming inhospitable with time in view of climate change, deteriorating
hydrological balance of the rivers and creeks, unscientific anthropological
interventions, etc., all acting individually or through their interactions.
Climate change, in particular, appears to be irreversible in nature, making the
whole situation very complex adding to a host of constraints in soils and water
normally experienced in the eco-region, thereby limiting the productivity of
agriculture and aquaculture. Adaptation strategy, however, has been suggested
to mitigate climate risks for the future in Sundarbans. Nevertheless, the issue
before us remains, whether or not, it is technically possible to look for ‘improvement
in farm productivity’ by tiding over the challenge with time. Alternatively, we
may be content with ‘subsistence farming’, and yet ensure livelihood security,
means of which have to be worked out in the lines suggested. The solution in
this direction is, though difficult, not impossible if a holistic approach, with
both countries taken together, is undertaken.
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