Climate Change Is Resulting In Depleting Of Mangrove Forest Cover In The Sunderbans

Indiatimes
Indiatimes
Updated on Jul 02, 2017, 17:38 IST-456 Shares
sunderbans

A new study about the forest cover in India’s Sunderbans will bring a wave of sadness for environmentalists. The mangrove forest cover in the region has been depleting at a rapid rate over the past few decades.

sunderbans

A publication by the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, revealed that from 1986 to 2012, more than 124 sq.km of mangrove forest cover has eroded. In terms of percentage, the loss is 5.5%.

Authors of the study, Sugata Hazra and Kaberi Samata, said, “The continuation of this process in response to climate change and sea level rise poses a serious threat to the carbon sequestration potential and other ecosystem services of this mangrove forest in future.”

The study also point to the rising sea level at the Sagar Island Station, which could have assisted in coastal erosion, coastal flooding and an increase in the number of tidal creeks.

Around 9.7% of mangrove cover has been lost in Dulibhasani West, and around 16% in Dalhousie. One of the highest losses have been in Bhangaduni, where over 37% of cover has been lost.

telegraph

Professor Hazra explained the causes of erosion to the Hindu and said, “This is because there is less fresh water flow and sediment supply in the western (Indian) part of the delta, so we have starvation of sediment and the rate of sea level rise is higher than sediment supply. Hence we are losing land, including mangrove forest.”

Ajanta Dey, joint secretary and project director of the Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS), said that a minimal inflow of water if required for a bountiful growth of mangroves.

She said, “When freshwater inflow is missing, there is a change in mangrove succession, and freshwater-loving species of mangroves are replaced by salt-water loving ones.”

The fishing community, she said, will suffer the brunt of salinity. Commercially viable fish will be replaced by fish that does not have as much market value.