Sundarbans

Sundarbans

The Sundarbans, one of the most attractive places in Bangladesh, is the largest mangrove forest in the world. Visitors feel great enthusiasm and fascination to come to this nature’s bounties of exceptional character. The forest is a World Heritage Site for its extra-ordinary vegetation and diverse ecological balance. No other tidal forests can match it in terms of diversity. Wonderful flora and fauna, divergent wildlife, paramount beauty of green canopy, thousands of meandering Streams, rivers, creeks made this forest one of the great eco-tourism attractions. The forest is famous as the primitive abode of the royal Bengal Tiger, the strongest, and most beautiful wild animal of the world.

The Sundarbans is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans from the Hooghly River in India's state of West Bengal to the Baleswar River in Bangladesh. It comprises closed and open mangrove forests, agriculturally used land, mudflats, and barren land, and is intersected by multiple tidal streams and channels. Four protected areas in the Sundarbans are enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, viz Sundarbans National Park, Sundarbans West, Sundarbans South, and Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuaries. The Sundarbans mangrove forest covers an area of about 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi), of which forests in Bangladesh's Khulna Division extend over 6,017 km2 (2,323 sq mi) and in West Bengal, they extend over 4,260 km2 (1,640 sq mi) across the South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts. The most abundant tree species are sundri (Heritiera fomes) and gewa (Excoecaria agallocha). The forests provide habitat to 453 faunal wildlife, including 290 birds, 120 fish, 42 mammals, 35 reptiles, and eight amphibian species.

How to Go

By river: Beautiful forest can be reached by launching Khulna launch ghat. There are launches at night and in the morning.

By Road: Khulna can be reached by bus from Koira to Sundarbans.