Geomorphologic Changes and Ethnobotany Losses of Indian Sundarbans in Anthropocene

Abstract

People in the inter-tidal zones of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghana Delta regions are reliant on mangroves for food, medicine, protection, and livelihood. The present Anthropocene epoch has a deteriorated impact on people's societal, fiscal, and demography due to the climate change loss of agriculture and land use. The mangrove vegetation of Indian Sundarbans is declining in the South 24-Praganna district, West Bengal, the world’s largest estuarine forest, and the UNESCO Heritage, site. Remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS) techniques were used to download data of the Landsat 8 OLI from USGS/GLOVIS of SOUTH 24 Parganas, West Bengal and analysed by ERDAS IMAGINE applications for speculation of the land use/land cover dynamics from the year 2015 to 2020. Ground truthing was conducted by site visits and compiled the medicinal use of plants to investigate the sustenance of SDG-3 and SDG-14.2 and SDG 14.5 of life in the Sundarbans. The distribution of various mangrove species was identified in the core, buffer and manipulation zones of the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve, their stratification along the cross-sections, zoning, and use as folk medicines. The research reveals mangrove vegetation is dwindling along the coasts of the South 24 Parganas. There is subsidence, emergence and submergence of land in the archipelago of nearshore Islands. The mangrove loss has been transformed into settlements or agricultural land. Recommendations are made to sustain the inter-tidal vegetation.