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Biodiversity conservation is facing unprecedented challenges at the intersection of rapidly changing climates, widespread ecosystem degradation under the influence of global warming and resultant human tragedies over livelihood, habitation, adaptation and coping needs. These challenges are more acute across biodiversity hotspots in the Global South. This study disentangles the complex interplay to propose alternative paradigms of governance and policy thinking necessary for sustainable biodiversity conservation. Climate change impacts are exposing critical deficiencies of ‘scientific forest management’ pursued for over a century. For example, recurrent disasters and ecological shifts are increasingly obfuscating cognitive and physical boundaries between the reserve forest and human habitations; putting additional stress on livelihoods which in turn escalate pressures on the forest commons and fuel further conflicts between conservation governance and local communities. Instead of assisting in adaptation, the existing conservation governance mechanisms are producing further conflicts between humans and non-humans; livelihoods and conservation; disaster management and development. Conducted in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve –world’s largest mangrove forest ecosystem and a climate change hotspot located along the Bay of Bengal across India and Bangladesh –the study finds an urgent need of rethinking and recalibrating biodiversity conservation in the times of climate change. However, institutional and market-based approaches such as promoting ecotourism or mangrove plantations may have little impact in this regard, the study finds. Instead, integrating cultural ecosystem services and co-producing knowledge will be critical to tackle the entanglements of climate change and its impacts on local lives, livelihoods and biodiversity conservation.

Introduction: - This thesis examines the magnitude of vulnerability and risk in the Sundarbans and tries to explore the differences existing in the two Sundarban deltas in the context of the environment. The Sundarban areas are situated on the coast of Bay of Bengal, and this deltaic region is shared by Bangladesh (60%) and West Bengal (40%). It holds one of the most extensive continuous mangrove forests in the world and has been recognized as an internationally famous world heritage site. This Ganga-Brahmaputra deltaic region is characterized by frequent flood, storm surge, etc. natural phenomena and unpleasant humid conditions. Objectives: - This research offers a glimpse into the life and work of vulnerable households, the perception of local inhabitants, their existing disaster preparation, and the difference between current and older generational economy and other cultural change. In short, this study looks into the different environmental scenarios and the socio-cultural behavior of the Sundarban areas.Data and methods: - This study was carried mainly by primary data sources. According to the sampling estimation, a total of 368 households have been surveyed in eight villages of West Bengal and Bangladesh. For the purpose of the study various statistical tool has been used like: - Likert scale analysis, Graded Response technique, Principle Component Analysis, Marginal probability estimation, multinomial logistic regression, partial proportional odds model, etc. Along with the household questionnaire, some key in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in eight villages have been conducted. Research findings: - The world‘s largest mangrove forest and internationally recognized protected areas provide varieties and abounded resources like fertile soil, ample fishing resource, valuable forest, and plenty of water resources. According to resource availability, the major livelihood of the indigenous people of Sundarbans is agriculture, forestry, and fishing. According to the Census 2011, it has observed this area is very much congested; the density of the Sundarban is above 700 persons per square kilometer. The whole areas of Sundarban in West Bengal and Bangladesh are dominated by Bengali culture, having almost the same cultural and social background. But the religion composition is not the same as each other, and the Hindu community is higher in West Bengal, and the Muslim religion is more in the other part. From Census 2011 of India and Bangladesh to the survey year 2016, it has observed that the sex ratio has been decreased in the Sundarbans, 944 to 940 in the Sundarban of West Bengal, and 930 to 927 in Bangladesh. The people of Sundarbans are facing a lot of challenges of poverty, marginalization, and an acute struggle against geo-climatic conditions in the context of economy and livelihood. The socio-economic situation is not uniform on both sides of Sundarban. This study shows that economic condition is very much fragile in the Sundarbans and 52% households belong to the less than 4000 INR income category in Bangladesh, whereas in 45% of dwellings are having same income in the zone of West Bengal.In the Sundarbans, it has noted that local inhabitants are giving the evidence that climate is changing over the period of time and that has come from the perception of environmental change. According to their perception, socio-economic status has negatively influenced by temperature rising. A majority of the respondents have witnessed temperature change alarmingly. In that deltaic region, 90% of respondents from West Bengal stated that drought is severe and frequent there due to temperature change. The rain-fed agriculture is the dominant occupation in the Sundarbans, where the alternative occupation is very much limited, and only 50% irrigation facility made farmers in an unsafe condition. Regarding environmental perception, the older people and those who are engaged in a primary activity like agriculture, fishing, or forestry are having environmental knowledge, and they perceived more on the environment towards change. In the last two decade cyclone ‗Aila‘ (2009) and ‗Sidr‘ (2007) are the major disasters that occurred in the Sundarbans. The household vulnerability is found higher in the zone of Bangladesh as compared to the West Bengal, 37% and 25% respectively, as an economic loss from 2009 to 2015, due to natural hazard is found more in Bangladesh. The socio-economicpolitical risk regarding the environment is higher in Bangladesh as compared to the West Bengal. While measuring socio-economic-political risk, it has been noted that the government of Bangladesh, as well as the local NGOs in Bangladesh, are more concerned and well aware about environmental problems. While measuring socio-economic-political risk it has been noted that the government of Bangladesh as well as the local NGOs in Bangladesh are more concerned and well aware of environmental problems. Among the interviewed households, 38% and 27% of households are having no disaster preparation in West Bengal and Bangladesh respectively. In the Sundarban areas, only 31% of people can access the community-level flood shelter house as a purpose of flood preparation. Education does play a crucial role in disaster preparedness in Sundarbans. There is a positive association pound between high education and disaster preparation.The current study has discussed one of the deciding factors of an individual‘s choice of a profession while living in the Sundarbans. Along with increasing incomes, standards of living in households also increase. In West Bengal, it has been seen that people improved their living standards compared to the previous generations by 53%. In Bangladesh, it is 42%. Both West Bengal and Bangladesh Sundarbans are facing severe environmental change, and therefore, inhabitants are shifting from their traditional occupations. As a result of this, the usual standard of living has become much lower than it was before. People from the current generation who engage in farming activities and belong to the high-income category are the ones who are most likely to change occupation from their parental occupation. Extreme moisture and humid climate with different natural disasters have made the local people vulnerable, regarding a health condition.

The Sundarbans is a deltaic mangrove forest, formed about 7000 years ago by the deposition of sediments from the foothills of the Himalayas through the Ganges river system, and is situated southwest of Bangladesh and south of West Bengal, India. However, for the last 40 years, the discharge of sediment-laden freshwater into the Bay of Bengal through the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forests (BSMF) has been reduced due to a withdrawal of water during the dry period from the Farakka Barrage in India. The result is two extremes of freshwater discharge at Gorai, the feeding River of the BSMF: a mean minimum monthly discharge varies from 0.00 to 170 m3·s−1 during the dry period with a mean maximum of about 4000 to 8880 m3·s−1 during the wet period. In the BSMF, about 180 km downstream, an additional low discharge results in the creation of a polyhaline environment (a minimum of 194.4 m3·s−1 freshwater discharge is needed to maintain an oligohaline condition) during the dry period. The Ganges water carries 262 million ton sediments/year and only 7% is diverted in to southern distributaries. The low discharge retards sediment deposition in the forestlands’ base as well as the formation of forestlands. The increase in water flow during monsoon on some occasions results in erosion of the fragile forestlands. Landsat Satellite data from the 1970s to 2000s revealed a non-significant decrease in the forestlands of total Sundarbans by 1.1% which for the 6017 km2 BSMF is equivalent to 66 km2. In another report from around the same time, the estimated total forestland loss was approximately 127 km2. The Sundarbans has had great influence on local freshwater environments, facilitating profuse growth of Heritiera fomes (sundri), the tallest (at over 15 m) and most commercially important plant, but now has more polyhaline areas threatening the sundri, affecting growth and distribution of other mangroves and biota. Landsat images and GIS data from 1989 to 2010 at the extreme northern part of Khulna and Chandpai Ranges revealed the formation of a large number of small rivers and creeks some time before 2000 that reduce the 443 km2 forestland by 3.61%, approximately 16 km2, and decreasing H. fomes by 28.75% and total tree cover by over 3.0%. The number of the relatively low-priced plants Bruguiera sexangula, Excoecaria agallocha and Sonneratia apetala, has, on the other hand, increased. Similar degradation could be occurring in other ranges, thereby putting the survivability of the Bangladesh Sundarbans at risk. The growing stock of 296 plants per ha in 1959 had been reduced to 144 by 1996. Trend analysis using “Table Curve 2D Programme,” reveals a decreased number of 109 plants by the year 2020. The degradation of the Bangladesh Sundarbans has been attributed to reduced sediment-laden freshwater discharge through the BSMF river system since commissioning the Farakka Barrage on 21 April 1975 in India. To reduce salinity and forestland erosion, the maintenance of sediment-laden freshwater discharge through its river system has been suggested to re-create its pre-1975 environment for the growth of H. fomes, a true mangrove and the highest carbon-storing plant of the Sundarbans. This may possibly be achieved by proper sharing of the Ganges water from the Farakka Barrage, forming a consortium of India, Nepal, Bhutan and China, and converting parts or whole of the Ganges River into water reservoir(s). The idea is to implement the Ganges Barrage project about 33 km downstream, dredging sediments of the entire Gorai River and distributaries in the Ganges floodplain, thus allowing uniform sediment-laden freshwater flow to maintain an oligohaline environment for the healthy growth of mangroves. The system will also create healthy hinterlands of the Ganges floodplain with increased crop production and revenue. The expenditure may be met through carbon trading, as Bangladesh is a signatory of the Copenhagen Accord, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The total carbon reserve in the BSMF in 2010 was measured at about 56 million metric tons, valued at a minimum of US $ 280 million per year. The forest is rich in biodiversity, where over 65 species of mangroves and about 1136 wildlife species occur. The BSMF acts as a natural wall, saving property as well as millions of lives from natural disasters, the value of which is between 273 and 714 million US$ . A 15 to 20 km band impact zone exists to the north and east of the BSMF, with a human settlement of about 3.5 million that is partly dependent on the forests. Three wildlife sanctuaries are to the south of the BSMF, the home of the great royal Bengal tigers, covering a total area of about 1397 km2. Construction of a coal-fired power plant at Rampal will be the largest threat to the Sundarbans. It is a reserve forest, declared as a Ramsar site of international importance and a UNESCO natural world heritage site.