Coasts - Sundurbans

Question 1

location of the sundurbans:

Answer 1

large network of rivers and small islands that are spread across India and Bangladesh

Question 2

physical environment

Answer 2

• largest mangrove area in the world, prone to flooding

Question 3

facts about mangroves

Answer 3

• traps 4x more carbon than regular trees
• potential to withstand up to 90% of a tsunamis force
• can grow in saline water
• can improve water quality, and their underwater roots protect small organisms from predators

Question 4

challenges in the sundurbans:

Answer 4

• 42% of the population is below the poverty line
• 6% of the population don’t have electricity
• shrimp farming is heavily polluting for ecosystems and is dominated by large companies that exploit workers

Question 5

opportunities in the sundurbans

Answer 5

• good fishing grounds
• successful shrimp farming industry
• mangrove timber used for construction and as a natural building stone

Question 6

human responses/management strategies:

Answer 6

• replanted 50,000 saplings in 2015
• providing prey to the Bengal tiger to reduce the number of attacks
• introducing ecotourism
• adapting farmland that has been flooded with salt water by growing salt tolerant rice