Continuous social pressure on the ecosystem of mangrove forests all over India, especially the Sunderbans, aggravates the dynamics of fragility in the ecosystem itself. Unscrupulous forest contractors and black-marketeers in connivance with a section of forest officials and staff have been plundering the heritage preserve.
The other side of decay is due to the alarming population growth, a negative catalyst against the stability of the gigantic ecosystem. People residing in Sunderban mangals, mostly below the poverty line, live on forest products like fuelwood, timber, honey, wax and leaves for thatching; besides uncontrolled exploitation of aquatic wealth, like  prawns, shrimps and crabs which are anthropogenic in nature.

Over-exploitation

Over-exploitation of the Sunderbans’ green resources causes detriment to the mangrove ecosystem and mangrove-habitat natural resources. This, inturn degrades the natural forest cover in the estuarine deltaic woodlands of the coastal zone. To date, there is no visible check through reclamation of affected mangrove forests or renovation of new prawn farms, tourist spots and other developmental endeavours.

Of the 65 mangrove forests, listed by the UNICEF in 1986, 35 are in the Indian subcontinent and of them, Sunderbans is the largest and resource-intensive. But Kumud Ranjan Naskar reported 35 truly-defined mangroves and 20 “associate mangroves” (or quasi-mangroves) in the subcontinent  in two papers, published in 1983 and 1993. These mangroves along with creeks, estuarine and river systems are together unique ecosystems which are rare on the planet.

In the subcontinent, the total mangals are estimated at 656,000 hectares which are predominantly in the Sunderbans (65.01 per cent), followed by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (18.42 per cent), Gujarat coast (4.02 per cent), Maharashtra coast (3.56 per cent), Dharma, Krishna-Godavari delta (3.09 per cent), Delta-Mahanadi estuary (2.22 per cent) and Coondapur and Malpe estuary of Karnataka (0.92 per cent).

But the single largest chunk of mangroves is the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna deltaic spread or estuarine mouths therewith. This is the world famous gregarious dense forest or Sundarbans, which is named after “Sundri” trees or the species Heritiera fomes and Heritiera littoralis.

These species spread in to Khulna, Barisal, Noakhali and Chittagong districts of Bangladesh and 24 Parganas (South) and 24 Parganas (South) districts of West Bengal on the Indian side of the Sunderbans.

International bodies like the UNESCO, UNEP, UNDP, WWF and IUCN have often expressed their concern over the threat to these unique mangrove forests which are home to some of the most endangered and eco-friendly species. The threat is man-made, not only from money-spinning contractors but common inhabitants too.

The Sunderbans is specially identified as among the most-threatened of major ecosystems with mangroves. 
But the attitude of  the West Bengal government is not adequately eco-friendly. In the name of development, deforestation and settlement of human beings and activities thereof go on without restraint. The Sunderbans is pushed southward to Canning. Only two centuries ago, this mangal of Sunderbans was 20,000 square kilometers and now shrunk to 4266.6 sq km.

The alternatives

Dr Jayshri Majumdar, a scientist at the Regional Centre, National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, Jadavpur University says that only one per cent of  the fund for natural conservation is spent on the Sunderbans. Even the UNDP fund is misused due to lack of planning and coordination between India and Bangladesh.
Paddy cultivation in saline tracts should be replaced by legumes that push nitrogen into the soil. In the early 1970s, the late Dr A K Dutt, director of agriculture, West Bengal, made a single-handed effort to put an end to it by promoting cultivation of sunflower, small-sized water melon, cotton etc in place of rice which was far from remunerative to peasants.

Common farmers readily accepted the alternative but vested interests set up hard resistance. A section of agricultural technologists joined hands with those that had been exploiting poor cultivators.
Bioscientists suggest alternative livelihoods in the perspective for sustainable development in Sunderbans. The response is lukewarm.