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Sunderbans is the stretch of a mangrove forests located in the southern tip of West Bengal which touches the Arabian Sea. The site is declared as a forest reserve by UNESCO, and in the year 1989 Sundarbans area was declared as Biosphere Reserve. The literal translation of the word in Bengalis is "beautiful jungle" or "beautiful forest". Many believe that the word "Sunderban" is taken from “sundari” and “ban”, which means "the forests of sundari" -referring to the large mangrove trees. It is the largest Tiger Reserve and National Park in India. It is a place for birdwatchers as the thick forest here is home to the rarest varieties of birds such as Masked Fin Foot, Mangrove Pitta and the Mangrove Whistler. The national park is famous for its tiger population and it is home to more than 250 tigers. The trees here have a capacity to hold the high salinity, lack of soil erosion and daily inundation by high tides. The plants here have adapted to the changing ecosystem. The terrestrial and the aquatic life are maintained by the tidal forms and the mangrove vegetation in Sundarbans.
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