Help The Hulk Rescue The Sundarbans

Water Defense, founded by Hollywood actor Mark ‘The Hulk’ Ruffalo has launched a campaign to support the oil clean-up efforts taking place in the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. Last month an oil tanker capsized deep inside this UNESCO World Heritage site, spilling more than 350,000 liters of furnace oil into the waters. The Sundarbans is home to people, the rare Irrawaddy Dolphin, the endangered Bengal Tiger, and countless other species–many that are endangered. Authorities on India’s eastern coast have also been on alert after the incident with India’s Sundarban Biosphere Reserve taking all precautionary measures and the Indian Coast Guard and Border Security Force monitoring the situation. Boats are patrolling the rivers that connect the Sundarban region, which straddles the border between India and Bangladesh. Watch this message from Mark Ruffalo:

Water Defense has proposed a plan to complement the work of the Bangladeshi government and the UN by bringing together a group of local and international experts who can assist with the cleanup of the site. Water Defense will send a small team and a sufficient quantity of open-celled foam, (OPFLEX), which acts as synthetic eelgrass, to assist with the ongoing oil spill clean-up effort. Once onsite in the affected area, this team will deploy OPFLEX materials in the water along main anchoring lines and/or other structures (e.g. boats). The deployment will include mesh belt booms configured into long rolls for deployment with boats, and the synthetic eelgrass. They have engaged a group of Bangladeshis and global citizens who want to help protect the fragile Sundarbans ecosystem and the people living nearby.

Water Defense, is a non-profit based in the United States, working to protect water. The Avengers star Mark Ruffalo who is a passionate environmental activist and also one the founders of Water Defense, was recently honored for his work on behalf of clean water and the environment with the Britannia Humanitarian Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Scott Smith, Water Defense’s Chief Scientist, is the Founder and Inventor of OPFLEX technology and which has been tested at over 50 worldwide water-related disasters. OPFLEX technology was approved and used by BP America to help remove oil from water during the Deepwater Horizon spill off the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2010.

And yes, India should worry too!

The Sundarbans is a unique, fragile ecosystem found nowhere else in the world. There are over 300 species of plants, 150 species of fish, 270 species of birds, 42 species of mammals, 35 reptiles, and 8 amphibian species. Two amphibians, 14 reptiles, 25 aves, and 5 mammals living in the Sundarbans are endangered. The affect of the oil spill on this fragile ecosystem will be wide reaching and long lasting. Waterways throughout the Sundarbans are being contaminated with furnace oil, which is a threat to the bio and eco diversity of the mangrove forest. The oil spill has already blackened the shoreline, spreading over a 60-kilometre-long (37-mile-long) area of the Sundarbans and threatening trees, plankton, and populations of small fish and dolphins. Once the water recedes, a thick layer of oil will cover the vegetation and rinse into the soil. Deer survive on this vegetation and tigers feed on them. In the long run, both animals could suffer, experts have said. Although the spill has not yet had any impact on the tiger reserve territory or marine life on the Indian side of the border, the Chief Wildlife Warden in the state of West Bengal has expressed concern that it may happen.

However to reiterate Ruffalo’s message – ‘one world, one water’ and with Bangladesh’s own admission that they do not have the resources and expertise to handle this enormous crisis, India must immediately step in with all possible aid. In the long term it would be prudent for both India & Bangladesh to work together and enforce laws barring the transport of toxic materials through the waterways of the fragile ecosystem of the Sunderbans.

How can you support the Hulk in his new mission?

1) Share information about the spill on Social Media: For the latest information check on Twitter @Sundarbans_SOS for regular updates and use the hashtag #SundarbansOilSpill.

2) Donate to this Campaign: Water Defense Sunderbans Oil Spill Response