Sundarbans
Photo: commons.wikimedia.ORG
The Sundarbans is the world's largest mangrove forest. This forest represents the blessings of nature bestowed on the Earth. Sundarbans is situated on the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta at the point where it meets the Bay of Bengal. Geographically, the forest lies a little south to the Tropic of Cancer. The name Sundarbans comes from the Bangla word "Ban'' meaning forest and the word "Sundar" is derived probably from Sundari tree. The land in this forest is raised by sediment deposition formed from erosion in the Himalayas. The sea tides also played a part in the formation of Sundarbans. The soil of Sundarbans is mostly saline and has high water concentration in it which puts an impact on the trees that grow here. Basically, it is a tropical moist forest. Sometimes natural disasters like storms and the accompanying surge cause heavy damage to the forest's ecosystem. The vegetation in Sundarban is of a different variety. Shrubs, grasses, epiphytes, lianas are commonly found here. As it is an evergreen forest, the trees have structures which can cope up with the climate that prevails here. Being the land of flora and fauna, it is a home to the famous Royal Bengal Tigers, migratory birds, deer, about 50 species of reptiles, 8 species of amphibians and about 400 species of fish.
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