Sundarbans National Park: Indias biodiversity hotspot and UNESCO Heritage Site in West Bengal

Kolkata: The Sundarbans National Park in West Bengal is one of the most important places in India in terms of biodiversity and ecology. The park is the core part of the tiger reserve and biosphere reserve. Notably, the national park which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site is a part of the Sundarbans which is located on the Ganges Delta. The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world with around 66 per cent of the entire mangrove forest area estimated to occur in Bangladesh, with the remaining 34 per cent in India's West Bengal. 

The Sundarbans National Park is famous for having the largest population of the Royal Bengal Tiger. Also, several species of birds, reptiles and invertebrates are found there, including the deadly salt-water crocodile.  In 1973, the Sundarbans National Park was declared the core area of the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve and in 1977, it was declared a wildlife sanctuary. It became a national park on May 4, 1984. Later, UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage Site in 1987, and in 2019, it was designated as a Ramsar Site. Since 1989, it has been considered as a World Network of Biosphere Reserve (Man and Biosphere Reserve). 

As has been mentioned, the largest mangrove forest in the world is located in the Sundarbans. Also, it is one of the most biologically productive of all natural ecosystems. It is situated at the mouth of two most important rivers in India, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. Hence, the forest and waterways of the Sundarbans support numerous fauna including several species staring at extinction. The mangrove habitat has the world's largest population of tigers and the Big Cat has adapted to the amphibious life there with having intense swimming capabilities to feed on fish, crabs and water monitor lizards. Due to their extremely frequent encounters with local people, the tigers of the Sundarbans are also infamous as 'man-eaters'. 

The islands of the Sundarbans are also economically important. The mangrove forest acts as a barrier to powerful storms, especially cyclones, sediment and nutrient traps, and is a great source of timber and natural resources. The national park is home to innumerable species, and as per estimates, the area comprises about 55 per cent forest land and 45 per cent wetlands in the form of tidal rivers, canals, creeks, and vast estuarine river mouths. 

The name Sundarbans comes from the Sundari tree which is the dominant tree species in the forest. The special kind of mangrove tree is the area's most exquisite variety of trees. It has special roots known as pneumatophores which help in respiration by emerging above ground. The entire forest is waterlogged during monsoon and the spikes rising from the ground have their peak in the air, helping in the respiration process. The Sundarbans is home to several endangered species including the Royal Bengal Tiger, saltwater crocodile, olive ridley turtle, river terrapin, Ganges river dolphin, mangrove horseshoe crab, and hawksbill turtle.