The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a huge public health crisis throughout the globe. While imminent health concerns have naturally taken priority, the impact of certain other consequences of the pandemic is yet to be fully appreciated. One of these other consequences includes the unplanned migration of a mostly unorganised labour population in the developing world. To understand the consequences of such a migration on the lives of labourers and wildlife, let us look at the present situation in the Sundarbans in India. The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, India (9,630 sq km) is situated within the world’s largest delta and is the only abode of mangrove tigers. About 4.6 million people live in the Sunderbans and their lives are intricately intertwined with the forests around them. Accordingly, being the largest contiguous mangrove patch in the world, the area has been heavily regulated by the Government of India for its conservation. Traditionally, the livelihood of the residents of Sundarbans is dependent primarily on agriculture, fishing, tiger prawn production, seed collection, wood and honey collection, and ecotourism. Approximately 60% of the total productive population of the area is dependent on agriculture and 88% is dependent on fishing. There was a consistent increase in total agricultural land from 1990 to 2006 (16.9% to 20.93%) and ecotourism grew at 101% from 2003 to 2009. However, there was a sharp decline in these occupations in the following years due to rising sea levels and climate change. The total agricultural land declined to 16.36% in 2013 due to rising sea levels and the supercyclone Aila 2009. Likewise, the residents who have been dependent on fishing for sustenance are finding it increasingly hard to catch fish due to the excessive saltwater intrusion in the inner delta and the overexploitation of common pool resources. This has resulted in a situation wherein 34% of all the people residing in 54 out of the 102 islands in the area are under life-threatening poverty. All of this has resulted in the seasonal migration of men from the Sundarban area to other parts of India in search of better livelihood opportunities. At present, the situation has become so dire that one member from 75% of all families in the area is required to migrate and work in other parts of India to sustain their family. Earlier this year in May, another super-cyclone Amphan caused massive devastation throughout the Sundarbans amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. Officially, 28% of the Sundarban area had been damaged by the disaster and 1,200 sq km (out of the total 4,263 sq km) of forests had been destroyed. With seasonal labour migration halted due to the lockdown and the dropping rates of ecotourism, the socio-economically marginalised population has once again resorted to agriculture as their only means of sustenance. However, given the high levels of saltwater intrusion caused by the rising sea levels and the flooding of the Sundarbans by the cyclone, agriculture does not seem to be a viable option. Accordingly, reduced income opportunities due to COVID-19, destruction of properties due to Amphan, and low productivity of agricultural land due to climate change have pushed the marginalised population of the Sundarbans to the brink of survival. The combined impact of these issues has forced the population to resort to illegal means to sustain a living. Thus, there has been an increase in the illegal exploitation of mangrove resources and tiger poaching activities. While local relief efforts have temporarily managed the situation in the remote Sundarban islands, it may take decades for the islands and islanders to heal. The economic austerities brought about by the pandemic will further delay this recovery. There is a serious need to introduce alternative green-livelihood options for the marginalised and vulnerable populations of the Indian Sundarbans. Some of the possible livelihood options could be the introduction of grocery shops, development of local transport, pond re-excavation, organic farming, handicrafts works, small-scale aquaculture, poultry farming, and plantation of fruit-producing trees. These alternative livelihoods can replace community livelihoods like fishing, aquaculture, agriculture, ecotourism, non-timber forest product collection, etc, which have been adversely affected due to migration of labourers and poaching in conserved forest areas and the shrinking market due to lockdown. With reduction in income sources, vulnerability from natural disasters, and the dangers posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the marginalised island communities can rely only on sporadic and uncertain relief efforts to conserve the largest delta in the world and the last abode of the charismatic mangrove tigers. It is imperative that the concerned state governments should pay heed to this issue and provide alternative means of sustenance for the people living in the Sunderbans.