The Sundarbans region of Bangladesh is home to the world’s largest remaining Mangrove Forest, two World Heritage sites and the critically endangered, regal Bengal Tiger.
Bangladesh is a country smaller than the state of Georgia in the U.S. but has a population of 163 million. In one of the world’s most densely populated nations, the Sundarbans is the largest and most important remaining natural area, a wilderness hosting boundless flora & fauna. The Bengal Tiger is the most iconic– but the region is also home to hundreds of bird species (including the largest variety of Kingfishers in the world) and the unique Ganges and Irawadi dolphins. It is also the critical barrier to the ocean’s encroachment from Climate Change in one of the world’s lowest lying nations.
Miles Partnership is supporting the development of this iconic region as part of a sustainable tourism project with USAID and the Government of Bangladesh, coordinated and led by our partners at Solimar International. Miles is a partner in the Bangladesh Ecotourism and Conservation Alliance (BECA) that is working to protect and enhance the natural values of the Sundarbans and the communities that surround it through the development of responsible, sensitive and sustainable tourism.
It is a treasured and irreplaceable natural jewel of a nation – and the world.
The Sundarbans are also a center piece of Bangladesh’s plans to develop international tourism, currently just 3% of tourism in the country that totaled almost $10 billion USD in 2019 (World Travel & Tourism Council). Tourism is a sector with enormous potential to secure the economic future for the millions who inhabit its bordering regions of Southern Bangladesh, without the need to hunt, gather and poach in the park.
