{"id":71078,"date":"2026-04-08T21:05:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=71078"},"modified":"2026-04-08T21:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:36:47","slug":"sundarbans-recovery-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/08-04-2026\/sundarbans-recovery-loss","title":{"rendered":"Sundarbans Losing Ability to Recover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Source: GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A recent study shows that around 10\u201315 percent of the Sundarbans is undergoing a <strong>\u201ccritical slowing down\u201d process<\/strong> from environmental stress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sundarbans<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Sundarbans is a <strong>UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/strong> and is ecologically significant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The world&#8217;s largest mangrove forest, spread across the delta formed by the <strong>Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"bed0e0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #bed0e0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"298\" height=\"311\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-08-210133.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-71079\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-08-210133.png 298w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-08-210133-287x300.png 287w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 298px) 100vw, 298px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Shared between <strong>India (40%) and Bangladesh (60%).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Key rivers flowing through this area include Muriganga, Raimangal, Harinbhanga, Saptamukhi, Thakuran, and Matla.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Findings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Climate: <\/strong>Rising temperatures are reducing species richness and weakening ecosystem stability. Freshwater flow and rainfall matter because reduced freshwater increases salinity. Thus, rainfall plays a role in reducing salinity and improving growth conditions. However, erratic rainfall and extreme weather events are disrupting this balance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ecology: <\/strong>The forest includes both fast-growing species like <strong>Avicennia officinalis <\/strong>and <strong>Excoecaria agallocha. <\/strong>It also includes slow-growing species such as <strong>Heritiera fomes, Bruguiera sexangular, <\/strong>and<strong> Xylocarpus mekongensis.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Decline in canopy height and leaf traits is reducing structural complexity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Forests are becoming more uniform with fewer species, reducing biodiversity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some parts of the forest are shifting from a <strong>carbon sink (absorbing carbon dioxide)<\/strong> to a carbon source.<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"390.83274021352315\" height=\"286.74509803921575\" src=\"blob:https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/81ee6ded-5d2c-4102-9d1b-eaf5f314fa2f\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cyclones as Factor: <\/strong>Major cyclones such as <strong>Sidr, Rashmi, and Aila<\/strong> of the Bay of Bengal have significantly reduced forest resilience.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Large areas shifted from <strong>high resilience (strong recovery capacity)<\/strong> to moderate and weak categories.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"030303\" data-has-transparency=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"830\" height=\"609\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-51.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"has-transparency wp-image-71080\" style=\"--dominant-color: #030303; width:318px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-51.png 830w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-51-300x220.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-51-768x564.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Affected Zones: <\/strong>The most affected regions are in the <strong>central and south-eastern Sundarbans (seaward and cyclone-prone areas)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In India, the western Sundarbans show lower resilience compared to Bangladesh, especially near northern boundaries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Sundarbans is vital for biodiversity, coastal protection, and <strong>carbon storage (absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Declining resilience threatens ecosystem stability, livelihoods, and climate regulation functions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d2d2c6\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"385\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-52.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-71081\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d2d2c6; width:236px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-52.png 385w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-52-173x300.png 173w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Protecting <strong>mature trees <\/strong>is essential to maintain resilience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening patrolling<\/strong> can reduce illegal logging and forest degradation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Involving local communities can improve awareness and conservation efforts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Policies should integrate <strong>climate impacts (effects of climate change on ecosystems)<\/strong> for long-term protection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: TH<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> A recent study shows that around 10\u201315 percent of the Sundarbans is undergoing a \u201ccritical slowing down\u201d process from environmental stress. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Sundarbans <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is ecologically significant. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The world&#8217;s largest mangrove forest, spread across the delta formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/08-04-2026\/sundarbans-recovery-loss \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71078"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71084,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71078\/revisions\/71084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}