swamps. In Bangladesh this rate is more than double due to higher rate of deltaic
subsidence. All over the world, the sea level is threatening a large number of coastal
communities and turning them into “climate refugees”. In the Sunderbans, thousands of people are being displaced from their original habitat from islands of
Lohachara, Baisnabra, Khasimara Char, Baghjara, Bedford and Ghoramara. These
displaced people are becoming part of the vulnerable community of “climate
migrants”. The inhabitants of Sunderbans are losing their land on a daily basis. The
island of Sagar itself has registered a net loss of 30 km
2 area over the past 30 years
and around 30,000 people have been rendered homeless there (Hazra et al. 2002,
p. 22). According to some estimates, at least one lakh people will have to be
evacuated from the 12 threatened inner estuary islands of the Sunderbans in the next
decade if the present rate of submergence continues (Nandy 2010).
The impact of such erosion–accretion is expected to affect the ecological community of the Sunderbans who depends upon the resource of mangrove forests for
its livelihood due to the rapid degradation of mangrove forest (Hazra et al. 2002).
A scrutiny of the “land use land cover change” data in the decadal scale discusses
the changes due to natural causes like erosion, accretion, submergence due to sea
level rise and corresponding geomorphic changes which together account for 66 %
of the land use land cover change in the study area. Anthropogenic causes include,
increasing population pressure, urbanization (settlement area has increased from
1226 to 1666 km
2 while agricultural land has reduced from 2149 to 1691 km
2
during the period 2001–08 (Danda et al. 2011) and growing human need leading to
unwise utilization of natural resources are identified as factors behind the conversion
of agricultural land, mangrove or mudflats into aquaculture farms and reclamation.
Declining fish catch is due to the over extraction of near shore biological resources at
unsustainable levels (Fisheries Department, 2008, cited in Danda et al. 2011).
From an ecological perspective, the Sunderbans may be classified into three
divisions
1. The area that has resisted human encroachment and is still under forest cover
and thus immune from the effects of global pollution and green house effects.
2. The area that has partially been altered by human intervention and is used for
forest resource collection by the locals and also as a tourist spot.
3. The area completely transformed by human intervention and which does not
retain much of its original characteristics (Kanjilal 2000, p. 26).
Based on the opinion of the scholars (Kanjilal 2000), it can be said that the area
which has been transformed for human habitation is the most endangered one. In
case of the other two, precautions can still be taken in order to stop them from
entering the vulnerable zone.
One study has estimated that there has been a 5 % loss of forest cover in the
20 years between 1989 and 2009. The same study has found that often degraded
forest is being replaced by saline blanks further reducing forest cover. The creation
of saline blanks is largely attributed to sporadic inundation of the upper reaches of
the island during high tide, storm surges and subsequent drying (Danda et al. 2011).
366
H. Pakrashi
subsidence. All over the world, the sea level is threatening a large number of coastal
communities and turning them into “climate refugees”. In the Sunderbans, thousands of people are being displaced from their original habitat from islands of
Lohachara, Baisnabra, Khasimara Char, Baghjara, Bedford and Ghoramara. These
displaced people are becoming part of the vulnerable community of “climate
migrants”. The inhabitants of Sunderbans are losing their land on a daily basis. The
island of Sagar itself has registered a net loss of 30 km
2 area over the past 30 years
and around 30,000 people have been rendered homeless there (Hazra et al. 2002,
p. 22). According to some estimates, at least one lakh people will have to be
evacuated from the 12 threatened inner estuary islands of the Sunderbans in the next
decade if the present rate of submergence continues (Nandy 2010).
The impact of such erosion–accretion is expected to affect the ecological community of the Sunderbans who depends upon the resource of mangrove forests for
its livelihood due to the rapid degradation of mangrove forest (Hazra et al. 2002).
A scrutiny of the “land use land cover change” data in the decadal scale discusses
the changes due to natural causes like erosion, accretion, submergence due to sea
level rise and corresponding geomorphic changes which together account for 66 %
of the land use land cover change in the study area. Anthropogenic causes include,
increasing population pressure, urbanization (settlement area has increased from
1226 to 1666 km
2 while agricultural land has reduced from 2149 to 1691 km
2
during the period 2001–08 (Danda et al. 2011) and growing human need leading to
unwise utilization of natural resources are identified as factors behind the conversion
of agricultural land, mangrove or mudflats into aquaculture farms and reclamation.
Declining fish catch is due to the over extraction of near shore biological resources at
unsustainable levels (Fisheries Department, 2008, cited in Danda et al. 2011).
From an ecological perspective, the Sunderbans may be classified into three
divisions
1. The area that has resisted human encroachment and is still under forest cover
and thus immune from the effects of global pollution and green house effects.
2. The area that has partially been altered by human intervention and is used for
forest resource collection by the locals and also as a tourist spot.
3. The area completely transformed by human intervention and which does not
retain much of its original characteristics (Kanjilal 2000, p. 26).
Based on the opinion of the scholars (Kanjilal 2000), it can be said that the area
which has been transformed for human habitation is the most endangered one. In
case of the other two, precautions can still be taken in order to stop them from
entering the vulnerable zone.
One study has estimated that there has been a 5 % loss of forest cover in the
20 years between 1989 and 2009. The same study has found that often degraded
forest is being replaced by saline blanks further reducing forest cover. The creation
of saline blanks is largely attributed to sporadic inundation of the upper reaches of
the island during high tide, storm surges and subsequent drying (Danda et al. 2011).
366
H. Pakrashi