16. Community Dependency on the Ecosystem Services from the Sundarbans Mangrove Wetland in Bangladesh

The Sundarbans is the largest salt-tolerant tropical mangrove forest in the world occupying complex networks of wetlands situated in the Bengal deltaic plain that shares territories with Bangladesh and India. This chapter explores the goods and services, collectively known as ecosystem services that the Sundarbans deliver to the populations living in the impact zone and to the wider landscape of Bangladesh. Similiar to other wetlands, four types of ecosystem services are derived from the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem. These are provisioning services (e.g. fish and shellfish, woods, and honey), cultural services (e.g. mangrove tourism, religious value), regulatory services (e.g. carbon sequestration), and other supporting services (e.g. soil formation). Particularly, provisioning services from the Sundarbans help to ensure employment, income, and food security and constitute a last resort activity when all other livelihood options are lost. However, a number of threats and stressors, both of natural and anthropogenic origin, continue to affect the flow and quality of the ecosystem services due to overuse and degradation. This chapter submits that for sustainable delivery of ecosystem services, urgent research and policy attention is required to manage the wetland in a manner that is socially equitable and ecologically sound.