Zurich/Switzerland — For the fragile Sundarbans delta, the largest mangrove forest in the world, the global awareness brought by participating in the current New7Wonders campaign could mean survival. According to an article this week in The Telegraph’s Calcutta edition: “Though the UNESCO world heritage site status for the Sundarbans didn’t help much, the ‘wonder’ status just might bring, along with more tourists, more attention and more funds, and may save the Sundarbans.”
Both Sundarbans expert Tushar Kanjilal and Sailen Sarkar, the Bengal environment minister, echo the concerns. In fact, Sarkar has urged central environment and forest minister Jayram Ramesh to raise the issue of the Sundarbans at the upcoming Copenhagen summit on climate change.
The article continues by noting that, “Perhaps the wonder status will finally ensure a master plan for the Sundarbans and its people to ensure livelihood and basic services.”
For this and other reasons, West Bengal’s Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has called on his countrymen to support the Sundarban’s bid to become one of the Official New7Wonders of Nature.