Sundarbans case study

Question 1

Where are the sundarbans located?

Answer 1

Along the south coast of Bangladesh and the South East coast of Asia. The forest is located along the bay of Bengal in the continent of South Asia.

Question 2

What are the physical characteristics of the sundarbans?

Answer 2

-Network of tidal rivers and creeks
-Rivers and tributaries
-located at the bay of Bengal
-Exposed roots
-Waterlogged/ oversaturated land
-Mangrove forests

Question 3

How do mangroves survive high amounts of salinity? (salt content)

Answer 3

Either by excreting salt through their leaves or by keeping it within their tissues

Question 4

What are mangroves root systems like?

Answer 4

Shallow and partly exposed to air, which allows them to breathe in an environment that frequently flooded and in low oxygen.

Question 4

Do mangroves flood often?

Answer 4

Flooding caused by sudden increase in the tidal level, as well as tidal surges from atmospheric storms or tsunamis

Question 5

What are mangroves nesting and migratory sites for?

Answer 5

Hundreds of bird species, reptiles, and a wide range of mammals including tigers, spotted deer and saltwater crocodiles

Question 5

What cause tropical storms around the mangroves?

Answer 5

The warm tropical Indian ocean which causes tropical storms

Question 6

What stabalises the shorelines?

Answer 6

Trapped sediment in root systems

Question 7

What do the roots provide for fish?

Answer 7

Dense root systems form a home for fish, crabs, shrimps.
- They also serve as nurseries for juvenile fish
- The young fish stay in the forest where they can shelter from predators

Question 8

What are mangroves?

Answer 8

Shrubs or small trees that grow in coastal saline or brackish water in the tropics and subtropics.

Question 9

How dense are the Sundarbans?

Answer 9

30 trees per 0.01 hectare with a width of 100m, which can reduce the destructive force of a tsunami by 90%

Question 10

How do high and low tides allow the facillitation of this ecosystem and the associated habitats?

Answer 10

-Energy will be absorbed by mangroves from the high tide which will reduce the impacts of flooding to coastal housing.
- Birds given more opportunity of prey as fish are brought closer at high tide.

Question 11

What impact with the SW monsoon have on sediment?

Answer 11

Leeching/ washing out of nutrients from the sediment and soil.
- Sediment will build up along the west side of the Bangladesh coastline as waves build up.

Question 12

How does shrimp farming create opportunities?

Answer 12

• Job opportunities (70,000 depend on this industry)
• Primary industry
• Allows for skill development
• 85% seafood exported as raw materials- development

Question 13

How is shrimp farming potentially limited?

Answer 13

• Cutting down mangroves to clear for artificially flooded fields and mud dykes.
• TNCs- take most of the profits
• Commercial focused, not on subsistance farming
• Cyclones and tropical storms (6000 farms destroyed)
• Child labour/ slavery problems
• Diseases- malaria and cholera
• Carbon and water cycles are disrupted.
• Risk of overfishing

Question 14

How does having forests for construction provide opportunities for people living in the sundarbans?

Answer 14

• Timber, firewood and furnature are locally sourced (low costs)
• Easy to adapt houses (houses on stilts)
• Room to develop- reduces pressure on urban areas like Dhaka
• Job opportunities in building and harvesting the wood
• Unique plant species for medicine/ research

Question 15

How is the forests being constructed in a potentially limited opportunity for the sundarbans?

Answer 15

• Logging (49% deforestation rate in 2021)
• Biodiversity/ ecosystem distrupted- not sustainable
• Disrupt carbon cycle
• Limited supply of wood
• Mangroves are the best form of flood defence against erosion and tropical storms

Question 16

How does education provide opportunities for the people living in the Sundarbans?

Answer 16

• Helps build skill development and local expertise ( e.g. medical care)
• Can increase Gdp and more economic output
• Making locals more aware of concerns ( e.g. climate change, use of resources, agroforestry)

Question 17

How is education potentially limited in the Sundarbans?

Answer 17

• 44% could not afford education
• 15% have to work - child labour
• Transportation, poor infrastructure, remote rural areas cannot reach school facilities
• Large families, lots of dependance

Question 18

Economic challenges in the Sundarbans

Answer 18

• 42% of population below the poverty line
• Shortage of safe drinking water due to salinity drought and flooding
• Warmer and more humid weather may lead to increases in disease, costs of healthcare increase
• Costs of spending on reducing risks ($10 billion invested to reduce the impacts of natural disasters- cyclone and food shelters, raising of roads, warning systems)

Question 19

Social challenges in the Sundarbans

Answer 19

• 42% below the poverty line
• Infrastructure very poor and remote (6% without electricity)
• Most densely populated country in the world (over 1100 people per km^2)
• Small communities cut off by flooding
• All roads underwater
• Hard to get hold of freshwater - salt water causes health impacts (skin conditions and diahhroea)

Question 20

Environmental challenges in the Sundarbans

Answer 20

• Flat lowland- 70% of country is under 5m above sea level
• Climate vulnerable- river flooding (world risk rank 6) tornados and cyclones
• Himalayas glaciers are melting increasing river discharges
• Monsoon rains increasing (10-15% flooding by 2050)
• Sundarbans world heritage site from 1997, nature reserve with tigers are dying due to rising sea levels
• Sea level rise 3mm per year

Question 21

Mitigation definition

Answer 21

Making the impacts of climate change less severe by preventing or reducing the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

Question 22

What mitigation is there against biodiversity?

Answer 22

• Indian NGO nature environment and wildlife society reforestation of mangroves that have been depleted
• In 2015 they planted about 50 thousand saplings

Question 23

Why is reforestation used?

Answer 23

The new saplings grow and help with carbon capture and water retention. As well as this, the more new trees that grow the more they act as a flood defense against tropical storms

Question 24

Impacts of tiger attacks

Answer 24

• Average 22.7 people are killed per year (60 in bad years)

Question 25

Mitigation against tiger attacks

Answer 25

• Kill rate dropped to 3 people per year due to management
• Tigers almost always attack from the rear, so masks were worn on the back of peoples heads to create the allusion that they were always facing forward.
• Providing prey by releasing captive bred pigs
  Electrified human dummies

Question 26

Adaption definition

Answer 26

Anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate action to prevent or minamise the damage they can cause or taking advantage of the opportunties that may arise

Question 27

What were the effects of cyclone Aila 2009

Answer 27

190 dead
4 million affected

Question 28

What adaption strategies were put in place against cyclones?

Answer 28

• In 2015 1012 multi purpose cyclone shelters are being built in vulnerable locations across all coastal states under a National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Programme
• Government set aside funds for relief

Question 29

What adaptation is put in place against harm to soil and the environment due to farming un-sustainably?

Answer 29

Ngos run education programmes to encourage farmers to return to more traditional and ecological friendly methods

Question 30

What adaptation is put in place against poor management of tropical storms

Answer 30

NGOs provide education and training about community level preparation for natural disasters

Question 31

What adaptation is put in place against loss of jobs in farming due to changes in climate

Answer 31

USAID trains communities to become resilient to future climate shocks. 30,000 have recieved training on improving agricultural techniques

Question 32

What adaptation is put in place against injuries during evacuation from tropical storms

Answer 32

Relaunch of the policy to build multi purpose cyclone shelters with communication equipment and megaphones which also service as primary school facilities

Question 33

What adaptation is put in place against rising sea levels damaging crop

Answer 33

New salt tolerant rice varieties that can survive being submerged under sea water for over 2 weeks

Question 34

What adaptation is put in place against cholera disease outbreaks and overwhelmed healthcare systems

Answer 34

NGOS build latrines on higher ground to educate communities about water sanitation and water borne diseases

Question 35

What adaptation is put in place against deaths due to lack of access to water

Answer 35

Installing water storage tanks for rainwater in areas most at risk from inundation by salt water

Question 36

What adaptation is put in place against loss of belongings in floods

Answer 36

Distributing water tight containers to store important belongings and papers during floods

Question 37

Sustainable development definition

Answer 37

The development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Question 38

Bangladesh’s integrated coastal zone management aims (ICZM)

Answer 38

1. measures to protects and safeguard the population against natural hazards
2. Protection of the natural environment together with the regeneration where it has suffered deterioration
3. Management of freshwater resources to protect and sustain their provision
4. Improving rural livelihoods and economic prospects along sustainable paths
5. Development of the tourism and fishing sectors of the economy
6. Improving infrastructure and social provision such as health nutrition sanitation and education

Question 39

What was set up by Bangladesh and India in 1972?

Answer 39

The joint rivers commission to manage the 54 common rivers that flow from India to Bangladesh