To save the Environment of St. Martin Marine Island, the Govt. declared its 1,743 sq. km. as a protected area
The government of Bangladesh has declared a 1,743 sq km area of the Bay of Bengal of St. Martin Marine Island as an Environment protected area for protection and sustainable extraction of marine resources.
The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Bangladesh, has issued a notification in this regard.
According to the ministry, this declaration has been made to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-14), including the conservation and protection of globally endangered corals, pink dolphins, sharks, ray fish, sea turtles, and seabirds, marine grasses, marine biodiversity, and its habitat. And to improve the livelihoods of the local people through sustainable extraction of the marine fisheries and resources.
The area limits St. Martine island its adjoined Bay of Bengal up to a depth of 70 meters, according to the circular signed by Deepak Kumar Chakraborty, Deputy Secretary, Forest Branch-2 of MoEFCC, Bangladesh.
The area includes some parts from the north, south, east, and west of the Bay of Bengal.
St. Martin is a small coral island of 8.3 sq km in the heart of the sea near the Myanmar border in the far southeast of Bangladesh. The distance from Cox’s Bazar district town is 120 kilometers from it.
The island is a breeding ground for sea turtles. Once there were 68 species of corals, 151 species of algae, 191 species of molasses, 40 species of crabs, 234 species of marine fish, five species of dolphins, four species of amphibians, 28 species of reptiles, 120 species of birds, 20 species of mammals, 175 species of plants, two species of bats and other species of animals.
Many of these species are now on the verge of extinction. This biodiversity is also slowly disappearing as a result of excessive tourists as well as climate change. To protect its biodiversity, the government declared St. Martin’s 590-hectare area is an ‘Ecologically Critical Area (ECA)’ in 1999.
