Plastic Pollution in Sundarbans

Plastic Pollution in Sundarbans

Subject: Environment

Context: Several NGOs, experts, and even officials have pointed out that the plastic accumulating in the isolated islands of the fragile ecosystem are cause for great concern.

Concerns:

• Plastics would have a long-term ecological impact on the Sundarbans ecosystem.
• The presence of plastic in saline water will increase the toxicity of water gradually and also there will be eutrophication of water.
• Because of the presence of plastics in the water, there will be an increase in microplastics, which can slowly enter the food system.
• Sunderbans is connected to the sea and the increase of plastic in the region could lead to plastic water entering the ocean.
• Sunderbans, which is home to a population of 5 million, is largely dependent on fisheries and aquaculture, and any change in the delicate ecosystem can spell doom to livelihoods.

About Sundarbans:

• It is a vast contiguous mangrove forest ecosystem in the coastal region of Bay of Bengal spread over India and Bangladesh on the world’s largest delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. It contains the world’s largest mangrove forests.
• The Indian Sunderbans, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is home to about 2,626 fauna, including Royal Bengal Tigers, Gangetic Dolphins, saltwater crocodiles, and threatened species of freshwater turtles. It is also home to 428 bird species.
• Conservation efforts in India were stepped up with the creation of the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in 1973.
• Sunderbans was designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2001.
• Sundarban Wetland, India was recognised as the ‘Wetland of International Importance’ under theRamsar Convention in January 2019.
• The Sunderbans Delta is the only mangrove forest in the world inhabited by tigers.