THE FACTS : 1) THE BIGGEST MANGROVE FOREST IN THE WORLD. 2) THE SUNDARBANS FOREST IS ABOUT 10,000 SQ KM ACROSS INDIA AND , OF WHICH 60% LIES IN BANGLADESH. 3) HOME TO MANY RARE AND GLOBALLY THREATENED WILDLIFE SPECIES SUCH AS THE ESTUARINE CROCODILE, ROYAL , WATER MONITOR LIZARD, GANGETIC DOLPHIN, AND OLIVE RIDDLE TURTLE. 4) THE FOREST IS RICH IN BIOTIC DIVERSITY AND SUPPORTS 334 SPECIES OF REPTILES, OVER 270 SPECIES OF BIRDS, 42 SPECIES OF MAMMALS. THIS REPRESENTS 28% REPTILES, 36% OF BIRDS AND 33% OF ALL MAMMALS OF THE COUNTRY. 5) DIFFERENT SPECIES OF FISHES, CROCODILES AND DOLPHINS, IN THE SUNDARBANS DEPEND ON ZOOPLANKTON AND PHYTOPLANKTON, ORGANISMS THAT DRIFT IN THIS WATER. THE HABITATS DEER COME TO DRINK WATER THE CROCODILES & GHARIALS GOALPATA TREES THE SHELA RIVER- PLACE OF OIL SPILLAGE THE ACCIDENT & OIL SPILLAGE NEAR SUNDARBANS- UNHCR WORLD HERITAGE FACT : ON 9 DECEMBER 2014, OIL TANKER SOUTHERN STAR-7 WAS CARRYING 3,58,000 LITERS OF FURNACE OIL FROM PADMA OIL DEPOT, KHULNA TO GOPALGANJ POWER PLANT. DUE TO DENSE FOG, IT WAS BERTHED NEAR JOYMONIR GHOL, SUNDARBONS. THE SAME DAY ANOTHER CARGO VESSEL NAMED “MV- TOTAL” PLOUGHED THE SOUTHERN STAR-7 DAMAGING IT BADLY, KILLING ITS CAPTAIN. NEAR THE ACCIDENT IS MIGAMARI- A Hit by a cargo vessel, an oil tanker sinking in the SANCTUARY FOR DOLPHINS. Shela river at Joymoni Ghola of the east range of the Sundarbans THE DIMENSION

• DURING HIGH TIDE, WATER FROM THE CARRIED OIL TO THE FOREST FLOOR. BY DECEMBER 17, THE OIL HAD SPREAD OVER A 350 KM2 AREA.

• 150 TO 250 VESSELS PLY THROUGH THIS RIVER EVERY DAY. • SHEYLA AND POSHUR RIVER WAS AFFECTED DUE TO THIS OIL SPILLAGE • THE OIL SPREAD TO A SECOND RIVER AND A NETWORK OF CANALS IN SUNDARBANS, WHICH BLACKENED THE SHORELINE. THE SPILL THREATENED TREES, PLANKTON, AND VAST POPULATIONS OF SMALL FISH AND DOLPHINS. THE SPILL OCCURRED AT A PROTECTED MANGROVE AREA, HOME TO RARE IRRAWADDY AND DOLPHINS. • BY 12 JANUARY 2015, 70,000 LITRES (15,000 IMP GAL; 18,000 US GAL) OF OIL HAD BEEN CLEANED UP BY LOCAL RESIDENTS, THE BANGLADESH THE ROUTE FOR VESSELS UNDAC Team to help Assesing the Damage INTERNATIONAL HELP

1) A UNITED NATIONS DISASTER ASSESSMENT AND COORDINATION (UNDAC) TEAM HAS ARRIVED IN TO SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT’S CLEANUP EFFORTS OF THE OIL SPILL IN THE SUNDARBANS. 2) THE TEAM SUPPORTED THE GROUND WORK IN COORDINATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT AND ALSO CONDUCTED AN ASSESSMENT AND ADVISED ON RECOVERY AND RISK REDUCTION MEASURES. 3) THIS UN SUPPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF BANGLADESH IS LED BY UNDP WITH SUPPORT FROM THE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP), THE OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA) JOINT ENVIRONMENT UNIT (JEU), AND OTHER PARTNER COUNTRIES INCLUDING THE US, THE UK, FRANCE AND THE EU’S CIVIL PROTECTION MECHANISM. INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE PREVAILED LESSONS LEARNED

• NATIONAL READINESS IN THE CASE OF OIL SPILLAGE HAS BEEN TESTED. • REGIONAL COOPERATION IS NEEDED • INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IS URGENTLY FELT • STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP IS NEEDED • CAPACITY BUILDING IS NEEDED • DISASTER TIME COORDINATION AND COOPERATION IS NEEDED • FELT THE NECESSITY OF HAVING A OVERSIGHT BODY AND POINT OF CONTACT • NOSCOP IN THE MAKING