Sundari Trees In Sundarban Delta Are Dying A Slow Death. Is Anyone Listening?

The story of the Sundari is as fascinating as its namesake – the Sundarbans, the바카라 웹사이트world라이브 바카라 largest contiguous mangrove forest,바카라 웹사이트situated in the eastern state of West Bengal, India and Bangladesh. Sundari is as elusive as the most celebrated resident here—the Bengal tiger.

One might spend days on boats—the only way to tour the dense foliage of mangrove forest, which is also a designated , tiger reserve and mostly during the months of October to May, before the heavy monsoon showers—yet spot none of the two iconic species here. Ironically, both species have been assessed as endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature바카라 웹사이트(IUCN) of threatened species.

Yet, one species is totally under the global spotlight, millions spent on its protection and conservation while the other dies a silent death, unknown and unsung. If you are wondering which is which, the Bengal tiger is the former and the Sundari tree, unfortunately, is the one that struggles to hold its ground.

Sundari means “the beautiful” in Bengali. And very few would recall today that the mangrove forest,바카라 웹사이트a UNESCO world heritage site,바카라 웹사이트itself is named after the once abundant Sundari tree.

(Bonnie Camp, Sunderban Biosphere Reserve)

The Sundari바카라 웹사이트is the dominant바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트tree species of the바카라 웹사이트Sundarbans바카라 웹사이트of바카라 웹사이트India바카라 웹사이트and바카라 웹사이트Bangladesh.바카라 웹사이트Scientifically known as바카라 웹사이트Heritiera fomes, it is a바카라 웹사이트species바카라 웹사이트of mangrove in the바카라 웹사이트family바카라 웹사이트Malvaceae. The Sundari tree can grow바카라 웹사이트up to 60 feet in height with a girth of six feet. The tall hardy tree, with elliptic shaped leaves and micronutrient rich fruit, is threatened by over-harvesting, rise in salinity—a fall out of water diversions in the바카라 웹사이트Ganges Basin, and coastal encroachment and top-dying disease.바카라 웹사이트A July 2018 report in revealed that, “In the last 30 years, 1.44 million cubic meters of Sundari trees, worth 2,000 crore Bangladeshi Taka, have been lost to “top-dying disease.”

바카라 웹사이트A major timbre-producing tree, it바카라 웹사이트has applications in as evidenced by its extensive use for treating diabetes, hepatic disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, goiter and skin diseases by the local people and traditional health practitioners. A number of investigations indicated that the Sundari tree possesses significant antioxidant, antinociceptive, antihyperglycemic, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities.

The species is now on the brink of extinction in West Bengal due to excessive logging in the past for its high value wood and now with seawater rise. “It is very difficult to find a Sundari tree in the Sundarbans as the species has a lower tolerance for saline seawater and there isn’t much high ground left, especially on the Indian part of the Sundarbans. Global warming has not just increased surface temperatures but also the바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트in the seawater,” observes Santhosha바카라 웹사이트Gubbi, IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Sunderban Biosphere Reserve.

(Rhizophora apiculata/ Gorjon)

In the Bangladesh Sundarbans, illegal logging of Sundari trees continues unabatedly. In a February 2016 article by Habibur Rahman and Andrew Eagle for the바카라 웹사이트, highlighted the dark side of the timber industry in the largest floating timber market in Pirojpur라이브 바카라 Nesarabad.바카라 웹사이트

“Before 1985, Sundari logs were sold openly, but in that year, in response to declining numbers the species was protected, with the felling, sale and transportation of Sundari logs banned. It라이브 바카라 now 31 years later and their sale is yet to cease” – the report stated.

The report also revealed that: “Smugglers use different techniques,” explains one source, “Sometimes Sundari logs are covered with coconut coir, sacks or other cargo to avoid detection. With one cubic foot of Sundari timber selling from 400 Bangladeshi Taka to 1500 Bangladeshi Taka according to size, there is money to be made.”

Rising Salinity

A by the Indian Institutes of Technology points out that unlike other mangrove species, Sundari prefers extremely low saline condition (5 – 15 psu / Practical바카라 웹사이트Salinity바카라 웹사이트Unit) and hence can act as biological indicator of climate change related to sea level rise. The tree can flourish luxuriantly under low salinity conditions. Physiological studies have revealed that mangroves are not salt lovers, rather salt-tolerant. But excessive saline conditions retard seed germination, impede growth and development of mangroves. When the salinity increases, the species becomes stunted, rare and ultimately disappears. The research shows the adverse impact of salinity on leaf chlorophyll of the species may significantly affect the rate of photosynthesis, as this pigment is an indispensable raw material for running the process. Various studies have shown that a number of mangrove species grow best at salinities between 4 psu and 15 psu and for Sundari, the preferred salinity range is much lower. At 15 psu the plants become acclimatized to salt after one to two weeks of exposure, but at 20 psu the seedlings could hardly adapt.

(Sundari Tree.바카라 웹사이트Bishnu Sarangi/Pixabay)바카라 웹사이트

Every day, up to 150 species are lost. Every year, between바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트become extinct. The narrative of species loss becomes even grimmer when crucial species like the Sundari starts disappearing from its habitat. Paul R Elrich, wildlife biologist from Stanford University and Gerardo Ceballos, ecologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, with other colleagues have revisited their바카라 웹사이트, which made global news바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트– “The earth is entering the sixth mass extinction phase.” The바카라 웹사이트, published on June 1, estimates the rate of species extinction to be likely much higher than previously thought. The authors remind us that, “The loss of a species is permanent, each of them playing a greater or lesser role in the living systems on which we all depend.”바카라 웹사이트

Studying and monitoring species loss in land vertebrates is somewhat a manageable task in comparison to invertebrates and plant life. Species are disappearing even faster than바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트can study and decipher them. This is an alarm call and a reason바카라 웹사이트why this year the United Nations is putting the spotlight back on biodiversity with the theme ‘Time For Nature’ on June 5, a day marked as World Environment Day to promote global awareness and action for the environment.

Satellite data analysed by Earth.Org paints a dismal picture - the Sunderbans is slowly바카라 웹사이트. Due바카라 웹사이트to “human encroachment and climate change, the forest has been losing almost 16 sq km of vegetation per year since 1991.”바카라 웹사이트A fortnight ago both the jungle and the city of Kolkata was in the eye of the biggest cyclone in recorded history -바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트(pronounced as "Um-p un", meaning the sky). The huge storm surge estimated around five metres (16.5 feet) inundated all low-lying areas leaving a trail of catastrophic바카라 웹사이트.바카라 웹사이트Sunderbans, a spread of 10,000 sq km, is no stranger to cyclonic storms but the frequency and intensity has gone up in recent years. In six months, the mangrove jungle has been struck twice – by바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트in November last year and Amphan in May this year.

(Sunderban landscape)

Amphan has undoubtedly left behind a deluge of humanitarian crisis (along with the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic) but what it has done to the natural ecosystem of Sundarbans is yet to be accessed.

Pradeep Vyas, former director of Sundarbans National Park, says: “The super cyclone might have killed and displaced a large number of species which inhabit the delta. From fish to reptiles to mammalian inhabitants a huge number is likely to have perished in the cyclone, however we are not certain of the damage. But I fear the loss of prey, especially wild boar and deer population, might result in a diminishing prey base for the tiger, which in turn can aggravate human-tiger conflict in the region.”

Experts are of the opinion that the loss of human lives and livelihood could have been even more severe if not for the Sundarbans. This unique coastal ecosystem shock absorbs the initial impact of the storm and is said to reduce wind speed by 20-25 kms per hour before it makes inroads towards human settlements along the forest fringes.바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트Mangroves are natural ,바카라 웹사이트resilient to extreme weather events like cyclones, protecting coastal communities from frequent storm surges and reduce long-term deterioration of the inter-tidal zone.바카라 웹사이트However, the long-term effects of climate change could erase this natural protection scheme.바카라 웹사이트 Globally, the mangroves also account for 14 per cent of coastal바카라 웹사이트.

Among the various reports coming in the aftermath of Amphan is that the vegetation in the peripheral forest has turned yellow due to the excessive saline water dumped by the cyclone.바카라 웹사이트The current nature of water in the numerous river channels in Sunderbans is direct fallout of one of the several environmental바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트of dams on rivers - the slow continuous diminishing flow of fresh water downstream.

(A Tiger in Sunderban delta/Nikhil Devasar)

In 1975, the controversial바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트(dam) came up on the Ganga, the “holy river” of India, a few miles before the river meanders in to Bangladesh. Over the years as the fresh water flow reduced because of diversion for agricultural and other developmental needs the sea filled in the void especially in the delta.

Speaking from twenty years of field experience in Sundarbans, Vyas says, “The entire central and western part of the Indian Sunderbans is now a backwater of the sea. The wide Matla River that we all sail to get into the tiger reserve is brackish except for the monsoon months. To my estimate there has been a staggering 95% decline in Sundari trees in the Indian part of the Sunderbans. The few trees, which are still standing, are along the international border with Bangladesh but they are not anywhere close to what a grand Sundari looks like as found on the eastern part of Bangladesh Sunderbans. In the Indian part of the jungle species such as 바카라 웹사이트Dhundul (Xylocarpus granatum), Passur (Xylocarpus moluccensis), Kankra (Bruguiera gymnorhiza)바카라 웹사이트Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha) and Goran바카라 웹사이트(Ceriops decandra) have proliferated and taken over the space left by the Sundari.”

This shift in species composition is also highlighted in Swapan Kumar Sarker라이브 바카라바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트where he has witnessed the local extinction or range contraction of many endemics including the Sundari바카라 웹사이트in the Bangladesh Sunderbans in the last three decades.바카라 웹사이트 “I found historical tree harvesting, siltation, disease and soil alkalinity as the key stressors that negatively influenced the diversity and distinctness of the mangrove communities in the Sunderbans.”바카라 웹사이트Sarkar라이브 바카라 work reveals that the Sundari is not also safe in Bangladesh Sundarbans, where ‘top-dying disease’ is wreaking havoc. The affected trees go bald on the top and the stems show signs of swelling and formation of several knots known as “heart-rot”. A 2018 report in바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트revealed that ‘top-dying disease’ has killed 15 per cent of Sundari trees since the 1980s.

According to experts the rising temperatures and increase in salinity have also brought microbial-fungal diseases and insect pests. The past five years have been the warmest with heat records increasing every year since 2015. Researcher Katie Louise Awty-Carroll and team from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, UK, has demonstrated through 바카라 웹사이트of remote sensing data that there is a 25 per cent negative trend in mangrove cover due to the effect of die-back on바카라 웹사이트Sundari trees.바카라 웹사이트These areas are now at greater risk of decline in the future, especially if extreme events such as cyclones become more common.바카라 웹사이트

Negotiating one of the several small creeks in the mangrove, somewhere close to바카라 웹사이트Bonnie camp (21°49'50"N, 88°37'24"E),바카라 웹사이트forest guard Amin Chand Mondal ( also in video interview) reminisces of the 1970s and 80s when logging permission was given in different forest blocks for the Sundari. “This in all likelihood was the death knell for the species for its timber was much sought-after for making boats, bridges and houses.” Mondal says that most of the grand old Sundari trees fell to the axe, the ones that survived human greed faced an existential바카라 웹사이트crisis. “There was a time when the Sundari tree was abundant in the mangrove forest, but today spotting it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

There are many like Mondal in the West Bengal Forest Department who valiantly guard the almost-impenetrable Sundarbans mangrove, night and day, under difficult circumstances, beating inclement weather and the omnipresent threat of life from wild animals, especially the tiger. They know every little creek and island (which looks the same to an outsider) in this dense forest and have superb eye for spotting –species and poachers, even illegal honey gatherers. They are invariably at a loss, especially the older generation, when a tourist or naturalist inquires after the intangible Sundari. Some of the younger guards have never seen the Sundari except for the small plantations undertaken by the forest department in their outposts. For several years visitors, including scientific experts, have come back from the forest dejected without having spotted the species. It is no irony that the visual signage promoting and depicting Sunderbans - posters, brochures and other paraphernalia - does not even mention the Sundari tree. Instead what we see is the red mangrove (Rhizophora apiculata, locally known as Gorjon) with its extensive aerial prop roots as its signature species.

Mondal바카라 웹사이트adds as an afterthought:바카라 웹사이트“It is still possible to revive the growth of Sundari; saplings can be grown in nurseries and transplanted in the forest. It will be a difficult task for forest guards like me to leave the safety of the boat, negotiate low-lying deep swamp to reach higher ground to replant the saplings, that too in tiger terrain, but if Sundarbans can once again have the Sundari tree back, I can risk my life for it.”

(Ananda Banerjee is an author, journalist and environmentalist. He tweets @protectwildlife)