Sunderbarns Flashcards
Where are the Sunderbarns ?
extends over 10,000 km2 of Southern Bangladesh and India on the Bay of Bengal.
Formed by the sediment from the river Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna.
Coastal Processes of Sunderbarns
Tidal action is the primary natural process shaping the landscape. Have a dense network of interconnected river channels across clay and silt deposits. Silts and clays are fairly resistant to erosion so main channels remain relatively static.
Role of Khals ?
(interconnecting smaller channels) drain the land with each powerful ebb tide.
What happens to non-cohesive sediments ?
Washed out of the delta and deposited on banks, or chars at river mouths. Strong South-westerly monsoon winds blow them into large ranges of sand dunes. The protection of the dunes allowed finer silts to be deposited where wave action shapes and forms islands.
Issues with natural processes ?
The equilibrium of the natural processes that exist are very delicate and the increasing pressures that are placed on it may be jeopradising its existence.
Goods from the mangroves
Fuel - firewood, charcoal
Construction materials - timber
Fishing materials- poles
Household - Furniture, glue, wax
Food - fruit, honey, alcohol, oil
Textiles - furs/skin, synthetic fibre
Other - medicine, paper
Services of Mangroves
Protection - flood, erosion, cyclone
Provision - breeding, fishing, climate
Maintenance- biodiversity, ecosystem functions/resillience, water catchment
Value - cultural, educational, recreational, heritage
Natural challenges for sundarbarns
Coastal flooding
Cyclones
High soil salinity levels
Instability of islands
Accessibility
Human-eating tigers
Human Challenges of sundarbarns
Over-exploitation of coastal resources
Conversion of wetlands to agriculture and settlements
Destructive fishing
Lack of environmental awareness
Resource-use conflicts
Lack of awareness of coastal issues by decision makers
Resilience of Sundarbarns
30 trees per 0.01 hectares can reduce the destructive force of a tsunami by 90%.
Fertility of soil, ecological diversity provides large supply of food.
1 hectare of mangrove has an economic value of over $12,000.
Mitigation in Sundarbarns
Strength of each community’s resource to utilise (Khas land, wetlands, fisheries, forests).
Natural disasters has lead to investment in infrastructure (roads, flood protection, cyclone shelters)
Communities have good levels of social capital from legal frameworks (government, NGO’s, traditional laws, tenets, social sanctions)
Livelihood assets (that help mitigate challenges)
Financial - savings, credit, safety nets
Physical - house,livestock, electricity
Natural - land, water, resources
Social - NGO’s, local networks
Human - people, health, education
Resilience provided by livelihood assets decreasing :
Poverty and marginalisation of some coastal communities increase due 2:
Shrinking of open access recourses
Degradation of ecosystems
Corruption of local and national political institutions
Conflict over land ownerships
Increasing deaths by tigers
Adaptations in sundarbarns
Generations of people have been sustained by the coastal mangrove forests. However, population pressure and the unpredictable impacts of climate change may prove it too hard to adapt for many.
Future challenges
increased frequency/intensity floods
Flood waters remaining for longer
Increased temps, increased soil salinity
Increased pesticide/fertiliser use is affecting water quality
Changed to seasonal rainfall pattern
Permanent embankments built by shrimp industry, encouraging deposition thus raising water levels
Examples of adaptations in sundarbarns
NGO’s to encourage traditional, ecologically-friendly farm methods
NGO’s provide education about community level preparation for natural disasters(planning)
USAID train communities to become resilient to future climate shocks
More multi-purpose cyclone shelters (serve as primary schools) (gov built 100 2011-2015, 750 more proposed in 2019)
Salt-tolerant rice
NGO’s build latrines on higher ground, educate about water and sanitation
Storage tanks for rainwater in areas most at risk of salt water intrusion
Water-tight containers to store important belongings in floods
Opportunities for sustainable development in the future
The region has many international and national designations already in place.
There are opportunities for eco-tourism in the mangrove forest and wetland areas.
Recent investment to improve communications in the region.
