The Sundarban, one of the world’s largest coastal
wetlands, covers about one million hectares in the
delta of the rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Meghna
and is shared between Bangladesh (*60%) and India
(*40%). Large areas of the Sundarban mangroves
have been converted into paddy fields over the past
two centuries and more recently into shrimp farms.
The regulation of river flows by a series of dams,
barrages and embankments for diverting water
upstream for various human needs and for flood
control has caused large reduction in freshwater
inflow and seriously affected the biodiversity. Two
major factors will determine the future of the
Sundarban mangroves and their biological diversity.
The first is the demand on freshwater resources from
growing human populations in both countries (Gopal
and Chauhan 2006).