Climate Change May Wipe Out Bengal Tigers From Sundarbans, Luckily These Kids Are Taking Charge

In May 2019, a report from United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change clearly warned that climate change and rising sea levels will eventually wipe out one of the world's largest natural habitat that also plays host to the endangered Bengal Tiger: The Sundarbans.

4,000 square miles of marshy land shared by south coastal Bangladesh and Bengal in India, the Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world and is known for supporting a rich ecosystem with hundreds of animal species.

But now experts have estimated that by 2070 (exactly 50 years from now), Sunderbans will cease to exist. 70% of the land occupying Sunderbans is just a few feet above sea-level but the region will witness several changes due to climate upheaval and it will be enough to make the few remaining Bengal tigers there go extinct.

Reuters

So can we, the people of both countries, do anything at all to protect and preserve the Sundarbans and the remaining Bengal tigers? While our policy-makers seem to deny the very existence of climate change, school children in Bangaldesh seem to be taking charge.

The Wildlife Trust of India, working as a part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) funded Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP) in the area, brought the school kids from Bangladesh to meet their Indian counterparts over a period of three days to share their experiences of living with tigers.

This meeting among school kids from across the border was not only enlightening but it showed how the next generation is being raised with a comprehensive awareness of protecting the environment.

Reuters

School kids from Bangaldesh spoke extensively about how they are, weekly, told to go speak to local communities about changing methods of vegetation, bringing science and technology to areas that have been excluded from the technological advancement.

Mayukh Chatterjee of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) told News18 that these school kids had a wealth of case studies to draw upon, many of them from their own personal experiences.

¡°They interact with other villagers, who might be middle-aged or older and they said that initially they might have been irritated to have these kids come to their basha (home) and tell them about the importance of the tiger and the Sundarbans. But after a point, everyone relents¡­ who will fight with kids?¡±

There were instances where village residents actually started to take action like saving water, reporting incidences of illegal hunting and poaching to Bangaldesh authorities at the right time so they can be prevented in time.

How were these villagers pushed to taking action? Because in their heads, if the kids are speaking about it then it means it's true.

Reuters

It's important to understand that Sundarbans not only houses endangered species but provides a livelihood and a stable income to people on both sides of the border.

And for communities that can be a great incentive in order to save the Sundarbans, if nothing else prevails. And school kids were fast to understand that and leverage it in order to bring about change.