Study Area

The Sundarbans forest covers an area of approximately 10,000 km² in the southern part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river delta system in the Bay of Bengal (see figure 1). Bordered by Baleshar River in the east and the Hoogly River in the west, the forest extends over the countries of India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Sundarbans covers an area of approximately 6000 km² and the Indian Sundarbans approximately 4000 km².  The elevation is roughly constant at 1.5m above mean tide level. (Rahman, 2000). Comprising freshwater swamp forests and mangroves, the Sundarbans is known for its wide variety of flora and fauna, including several endangered species.