There are 64 plant species in Sundarban and they have the capacity to withstand estuarine conditions and saline inundation on account of tidal effects. Sundarban is not only a biosphere reserve but also a world 
heritage site.  

At the present moment attacks on man by tiger have been reduced and number 40 fatalities in the year. Masks, electric dummies etc may have contributed to this reduction.  

No organised poaching has been observed though 2 tigers were killed by villagers in 1989 and one in 1990. It is important to be ever-vigilant to the threat of poaching. It is reported that 2 tigers were poached here in 
1993.  

The habitat shows evidence of excessive felling as huge pressure mounts from local villages that lie on the fringes of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve. Timber smuggling is a dangerous threat to this tiger reserve. Honey 
collectors and wood cutters operate in the buffer area.  

The core area of the reserve is free from all biotic interferences but fishing is a disturbance. This has special reference to the exploitation of tiger prawn spawns leading to destruction of large numbers of fish mullets, depleting the aquatic resources. 900 fishing permits are entertained that carry more than a lakh of people into the buffer, and such numbers will have their impact on the core.  

In Sundarbans the following activities have been under taken in the area of ecodevelopment :-  

1.Provision of pisiculture ponds in the buffer area to be managed by Village Cooperatives for cultivation of prawns. This will help in income-generation.  
2.Provision of solar lights in the villages on the periphery both for lighting, as well as, to scare away the tiger from the villages.  
3.Provision of smokeless chullahs for optimization of fuel consumption.  
4.Raising mangrove plantations on the periphery to meet local fuel wood demand and reduce thepressure on the core area.  
5.Provision of medical care facilities to the villagers through NGO'S. In this scheme one NGO organised  with Young doctors regularly visited fringe villages and not only arranged for diagnosis but also provided medicines which were collected by them as donations from the various pharmaceutical 
companies and medical representatives. This programme had enormous effect in ensuring the cooperation of the local people, towards the protection of the Park. It is hoped that such programmes are an ongoing and integral part of the future activity in this area.  

Some research Projects are being conducted into the area but much more attention is required in this area to ensure the health of these mangrove swamps, since the area is vital as a Cyclone buffer to South Bengal, and 
responsible for coastal fishing anywhere in the globe. Research activity which are minimal are therefore essential for the future.  

Sundarban Tiger Reserve consists of a cluster of islands and many of these islands have attained a height from the river inundation level that flushing of saline water with nutrients is almost absent. This has led to the deterioration in the regeneration status of some areas and any kind of exploitation of forest produce from such areas can create 'forest blanks' in the tiger reserve due to exploitation, and a lack of regeneration. It is therefore vital to review the felling in the buffer and multiple use zones after identifying the status of each island with regard to nutrients and seeds. With this the rate of siltation requires serious analysis to come up with new strategies to protect and conserve this unique tiger habitat. It is clear that much hard work has been done in a very unfriendly habitat in order that it is well protected.  

Billy Arjun Singh former member of the Steering Committee of Project Tiger states. "The very fear of the tiger has kept the Sundarbans comparatively inviolate but his disappearance could presage the large scale incursions of the honey collectors and the hunter gatherers. It is my reading of the situation that the Sundarban tigers are not man-eaters because of a genetic inheritance, for man-eating has never been a handout of parent to progeny but because of shortage of prey, and harsh environmental conditions, the human has been accepted as a prey species, without the selective process which pertains in other areas with well stocked prey availability. The estuarine tiger is perpetually hungry, and unless we can do something for him he might disappear forever from Sundarbans and lead to the collapse of the entire Eco-system which hinges on his survival."