https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Sundarbans_Biosphere_ReserveSundarbans Biosphere Reserve - Revision history2026-10-22T08:01:09ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sundarbans_Biosphere_Reserve&diff=538271&oldid=prevEzraDrago8750 at 21:07, 23 April 20262026-04-23T21:07:15Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Nature reserve}}<br />
{{Infobox protected area<br />
| name = Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve<br />
| alt_name = <br />
| iucn_category = <br />
| image = <br />
| image_caption = <br />
| image_map = <br />
| map_alt = <br />
| map_caption =<br />
| map = India West Bengal<br />
| relief = 1<br />
| location = [[Ganges Delta|Gangentic Delta]] <small>(West Bengal, India)</small><br />
| nearest_city = <br />
| coordinates = {{coord|21.9052|N|88.6191|E|region:IN|format=dms|display=inline,title}}<br />
| coords_ref = <br />
| area_km2 = 9630<br />
| established = {{start date and age|df=y|1989|March|29}}<br />
| visitation_num = <br />
| visitation_year = <br />
| governing_body = West Bengal forest department, Project Tiger<br />
| url =https://sundarbanaffairswb.in/home/page/sundarban_biosphere<br />
}}<br />
'''The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve''' is a [[biosphere reserve]] in the [[States and union territories of India|Indian state]] of [[West Bengal]], based on the UNESCO [[Man and the Biosphere Programme|Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme]] list.<ref name="MOEF 2011">{{cite web |url=http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/biosphere.pdf |title=Biosphere Reserves in India |publisher=Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change |date=2019 |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref> It is one of the [[Biosphere reserves of India|18 biosphere reserves in India]] and the third largest in terms of area. The Biosphere Reserve is constituted of the Sundarbans area spread across [[South 24 Parganas]] and [[North 24 Parganas district|North 24 Parganas]] districts of West Bengal. The Indian Sundarbans as a Biosphere Reserve is bounded by the [[Muri Ganga River]] in the west and the [[Hariabhanga River|Hariabhanga]] and [[Raimangal River|Raimangal]] rivers in the east. Sundarbans has a very rich diversity of aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna. In fact, the highly productive ecosystems of the Sundarbans act as natural fish nurseries. It provides habitat for the [[Bengal tiger|Royal Bengal Tiger]] (''Panthera tigris tigris'').<ref name="Sunderban">{{cite web |title=Sunderban |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/mab/sunderban |website=unesco |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref><br />
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The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve or Indian Sundarbans covers an area of 9,630 square kilometers (3,720 sq mi) and is divided into core, buffer, and transi-tion zones.{{sfn|Ghosh|2015|p=430}} The area of reserved forest under the Biosphere Reserve is about 4263 km<sup>2</sup>,{{sfn|Ghosh|2015|p=430}} of which 55% land is under vegetation cover and the remaining 45 per cent under wetland/intertidal zone. About 40% of the reserved forest area is covered under the protected area. The protected areas under the Biosphere Reserve are [[Sundarbans National Park]], [[Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary]], [[Lothian Island Wildlife Sanctuary]] and [[Haliday Island Wildlife Sanctuary]]. The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve area includes the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, which comprises a total of 2558 km<sup>2</sup> of protected forest area.<br />
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== Geography ==<br />
The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 9,630 square kilometers (3,720 sq mi) in the [[South 24 Parganas]] and [[North 24 Parganas district]] districts of south-eastern [[West Bengal]], as well as over 100 small and large islands. It extends from [[Haroa (community development block)|Haroa]] and [[Hasnabad (community development block)|Hasnabad]] blocks of North 24 Parganas district in the north to the [[Bay of Bengal]] in the south. There are numerous wide rivers running through the biosphere reserve, which flow mainly from north to south; Seawater flows into the biosphere reserve through river channels. The eastern boundary of the biosphere reserve is [[Hariabhanga River|Haribhanga]] and [[Raimangal River|Raimangal]] rivers. Wetlands are observed in the northern part of the [[biosphere reserve]], which are mainly fresh water. The western boundary is determined by the [[Hooghly River|Hooghly river]] basin.<br />
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=== Geology ===<br />
=== Hydrology ===<br />
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== History ==<br />
=== Geologic history ===<br />
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=== Human history ===<br />
==== Early inhabitants populations ====<br />
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==== Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve established ====<br />
As part of the [[Man and the Biosphere Programme|Man and the Biosphere Program]] (MAB) adopted by the [[UNESCO]] General Conference in 1970, the [[Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change|Ministry of Environment and Forests]], [[Government of India]] has adopted the National MAB Program and declared the entire 9630 km<sup>2</sup> area of the Indian Sundarbans as a biosphere. The Indian part of the Sundarbans was established as a Biosphere Reserve by a notification in 1989, with the objective of coordinating and integrating conservation, research and training activities to create conditions for better harmony between man and the environment. In 1989, [[Sundarbans National Park]], the core part of the biosphere reserve, was recognized as a [[World Heritage Site]] due to its unique ecosystem. The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve was included in the global network of [[Biosphere Reserves]] in November 2001 as the second Biosphere Reserve from India after the [[Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve]].<br />
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== Natural resources ==<br />
=== Flora ===<br />
The 4,263 square kilometer area of the biosphere reserve consists by dense forest and watersheds, known as reserved forest, and the forest contains [[mangrove]] trees. Other than reserved forest areas, other parts of the biosphere reserve contain mangroves as well as other plants, while reserved forest areas contain a variety of mangrove species. The main trees in the forest area are ''sundari'' and ''garan'', but an abundance of ''garan'' trees is observed. Forms almost monotonous forest with ''hoglar'' bushes along the banks of rivers and watersheds.<br />
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=== Fauna ===<br />
The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve has 58 species of mammals, 55 species of reptiles and around 248 birds species. [[Bengal tiger]] are the largest apex predators that live in forests and have no predators of their own except humans and [[Crocodile|crocodiles]]. River beds and wetlands are home to [[Gavialidae|gharials]] and [[Crocodile|crocodiles]], but these species are listed as endangered species in the IUCN Red List. Most of the native mammal species of the area are in the forest, except for the locally extinct [[Indian rhinoceros|rhinoceros]] and [[True buffalo|wild buffalo]].<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== Bibliography ==<br />
* {{cite journal |last1=Ghosh |first1=Priyanka |title=Conservation and conflicts in the Sundarban Biospher Reserve, India |journal=Geographical Review |date=October 2015 |volume=105 |issue=4 |page=429 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281576871 |publisher=American Geographical Society of New York |doi=10.1111/j.1931-0846.2015.12101.x |bibcode=2015GeoRv.105..429G |issn=1931-0846}}<br />
* {{cite journal |last1=Nath |first1=Anirban |last2=Samanta |first2=Sourav |first3=Saon |last3=Banerjee |first4=Anamitra Anurag |last4=Danda |first5=Sugata |last5=Hazra |date=15 April 2021 |title= Threat of arsenic contamination, salinity and water pollution in agricultural practices of Sundarban Delta, India, and mitigation strategies |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42452-021-04544-1 |journal=SN Applied Sciences |volume= 3 |issue=5 |doi=10.1007/s42452-021-04544-1 |access-date=9 May 2024|doi-access=free }}<br />
*{{cite journal |last1=Sahana |first1=Mehebub |last2=Areendran |first2=Gopala |last3=Sajjad |first3=Haroon |date=2022 |title=Assessment of suitable habitat of mangrove species for prioritizing restoration in coastal ecosystem of Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, India |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-24953-5 |journal=Springer Nature |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=20997 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-24953-5 |pmid=36470951 |bibcode=2022NatSR..1220997S |access-date=9 May 2024|pmc=9723184 }}<br />
* {{cite tech report |last=Mondal |first=Pinki |author2=Trishna Dutta |author3=Abdul Qadir |author4=Sandeep Sharma |date=February 2022 |title=Radar and optical remote sensing for near real-timeassessments of cyclone impacts on coastal ecosystems |url=https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rse2.257 |publisher=Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation |pp=506–520}}<br />
* {{cite journal |last1=Samanta |first1=Sourav |last2=Hazra |first2=Sugata |last3= Mondal |first3=Partho P. |last4=Chanda |first4=Abhra |last5=Sandip |first5=Giri |last6=French |first6=Jon R. |last7= Nicholls |first7=Robert J. |date=2021 |title= Assessment and Attribution of Mangrove Forest Changes in theIndian Sundarbans from 2000 to 2020 |journal=Remote Sens |volume=13 |issue=24 |page=4957 |doi= 10.3390/rs13244957 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021RemS...13.4957S }}<br />
* {{cite journal |last1=Mitra & |first1=Sangita |last2=Roy Chowdhury |first2=Mahua |date=26 November 2018 |title=Possible range decline of Ganges River Dolphin Platanista gangetica (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Platanistidae) in Indian Sundarban |url=https://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/3746/6034 |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |volume=10 |issue=13 |pages=12738–12748 |doi=10.11609/jott.3746.10.13.12738-12748 |issn= 0974-7907 |access-date=9 May 2024|doi-access=free }}<br />
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==External links==<br />
{{Commons category|Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve}}<br />
*{{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20040509084830/http://www.wii.gov.in/nwdc/biosphere.htm |title=Wildlife Institute of India webpage on India's Biosphere Reserves |date=9 May 2004}}<br />
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[[Category:Biosphere reserves of India]]<br />
[[Category:Protected areas of West Bengal]]</div>EzraDrago8750