Major oil spill in Sundarbans world's largest mangrove forest threatens area's rare wildlife

JACK SIMPSON The Independent 12 Dec 14;

Authorities in Bangladesh are assessing the level of damage to the world’s largest mangrove forest, following a major oil spill in the Sundarbans conservation area in the south of the country.

There are fears that the area’s wildlife could be under threat after an oil tanker carrying 350,000 litres of oil sunk just outside of the Unesco World Heritage site on Tuesday.

The ship was salvaged by a rescue vessel on Thursday, nearly 30 hours after it first got into trouble.

Within that time, thousands of gallons of oil had escaped two of the damaged containers on the ship, polluting two of the main rivers that run through the Sundarbans, as well as a number of interlinked canals that cover the area.

In total, it is believed that the new slick has already covered 80km and is predicted to spread further.

Environmental agencies in Bangladesh are still in the dark as to the impact this has had on the wildlife in the area and have not yet come up with a plan on how to deal with the spill.

Tapan Kumer Dey, Chief Conservator of Forest Wildlife, said that wildlife agencies had noticed restricted movement throughout the Sundurban’s crocodile population and unusual behaviour had been observed in the extremely rare Irrawaddy dolphins that live in the mangroves.

Amir Hosain, chief forest official of the Sundarbans, claimed that unprecedented nature of the accident that they were unsure how exactly they would go about tackling it.

He said: “We're worried about its long-term impact because it happened in a fragile and sensitive mangrove ecosystem.“

So desperate has the situation become for the local fishermen that many have taken to the water with sponges and sacks in a desperate attempt to clear the water of the oil.

Spread over 10,000 square kilometres, the Sundarbans is a sanctuary for a number of rare animals including fish and bird species, as well as being the home to hundreds of Bengal tigers.

Many fear the oil spill could have an irreversible impact on the area’s fragile ecosystem.

Additional Reporting AP

Sunderbans: World's largest Bengal tiger population threatened by oil spill
Ludovica Iaccino By Ludovica Iaccino International Business Times 12 Dec 14;

An oil spill in Bengal's unique Sundarbans mangrove forest is threatening the world's greatest population of tigers.

A tanker carrying more than 350,000 litres of oil sank in the Shela river after colliding with another vessel.

The incident occurred near the UNESCO's World Heritage Site Sundarbans forest - of which 60% is in Bangladesh and the rest in India - home to the world's largest tiger reserve.

More than 400 Bengal tigers - declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2010 - are believed to live in the area.

Only 3,000 tigers are left in the wild, down from over 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.The remaining global population is under severe pressure from poaching and loss of natural habitat.

"The oil tanker, Southern Star 7, has been salvaged. A rescue vessel pulled it out from the river and towed it to a nearby shoal," Amir Hossain, chief forest official of the Sundarbans, was quoted by AP as saying.

"This catastrophe is unprecedented in the Sundarbans and we don't know how to tackle this."

He added that the world's largest mangrove forest, which is in the Suburban region, is also at risk.

"The oil spill has already blackened the shoreline (and is) threatening trees, plankton, vast populations of small fishes and dolphins."

Rubayat Mansur, Bangladesh head of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, said:"I visited the sunken trawler this morning. Only few hundred litres of oil remain inside, so almost all the oil has spilled into the Sundarbans."

He added that oil dispersants were "not appropriate for the mangrove ecosystem" and urged local villagers to help collect the oil from nets that have been placed in the river to contain its spread.

Rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins are also threatened by the spill.

Tapan Kumar Dey, a senior wildlife conservation official, said that though wildlife species are at a high risk due to the oil spill, no deaths of any animals had been reported so far.

"We have spotted dolphins coming out of the water for air and going down again in some places ... crocodiles' movement in the affected areas has been less after the disaster and we are trying to determine actually what happened to them," Dey said.