INDIA, Bali Island, Sundarbans - January 2012
Wildlife rescue and natural history resource center in exchange for the planting and protection of 300 hectares (741 acres) of mangrove forest for a duration of 10 years, Bali Island, Sundarbans
The Sundarbans is a delta at the confluence of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers in the Bay of Bengal in India and Bangladesh. It is the world’s largest mangrove forest area and is also the land of the endangered Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris). The Indian Sundarbans covers an area of 9,630 square kilometers (3,718 square miles). The tide comes twice daily, deepening old channels and cutting new ones; as a result of the forever-shifting soils, maps of the Sundarbans are never completely accurate. Bali Island (not to be confused with Bali, Indonesia) is located in the southern Sundarbans, and has a total population of 33,000. Though the Sundarbans is a National Park, Tiger Reserve, UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and World Heritage Site, due to its remoteness and lack of infrastructure it is practically impossible to rescue and rehabilitate injured or aging wildlife reported throughout the islands. With cooperation from local organizations Help Tourism, Association for Conservation and Tourism, and the Bali Nature & Wildlife Conservation Society, Seacology is funding the construction of a wildlife rescue center and natural history museum/visitor center on Bali Island. In exchange, the community will conduct mangrove planting totaling 300 acres (741 acres), monitor illegal hunting, carry out education and awareness programs, and rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife.
