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Saint Martin’s needs biodiversity protection


Published : 11 Mar 2023 02:36 AM | Updated : 11 Mar 2023 05:21 PM

The environment and biodiversity of Saint Martin’s Island, the lone coral-rich island of Bangladesh, will face extreme threat if coral of the island is fully destroyed.

Divers, nature conservationists and environmentalists have said that if steps are not taken now, there will be no coral left on Saint Martin’s Island.

“Corals play the most important role in protecting the natural diversity of Saint Martin’s Island. A 2016 study found that about 67 per cent of corals were destroyed. After this time, more hotels and motels on this island have developed. But there is no waste management. All the garbage comes to the beach and it is lying underwater on the coral. Because of this, the coral is being destroyed. The biodiversity of this island is now under a serious threat,” said Muhammad Anowarul Hoque, Secretary General at Save Our Sea.

He said these following an underwater cleanup programme at St. Martin’s Island. The nature conservationist and others emphasised on the underwater cleanup programme in St Martin’s to save the island.

Save Our Sea, a platform for marine conservationists who work for the marine ecosystem of Bay of Bengal; implemented the underwater cleanup programme. 

Members of the organisation, volunteers and divers took part in the day-long programme to remove various types of plastic packaging food, cans and plastic bottles and other non-biodegradable garbage on the coral in order to protect the natural diversity of Saint Martin’s Island.

Volunteer divers from Save Our Sea removed around 50 kg of plastic waste from the coral. Among the divers were Akter Hossain, Md Amanul Haque, Md Abu Nasher, Tawfiq Azim, Muhammmed Abdul Hamid, Abdul Wadud and Muhammad Anowarul Hoque.

Muhammad Anowarul Hoque said that every year, Save Our Sea is conducting underwater cleanup programmes to increase awareness among people. However, no desired result is got due to the lack of proper role of the authorities concerned.

 In 1999, the government declared St. Martin’s Island an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) to protect its biodiversity. The Department of Environment (DoE) then said that if the number of tourists can be limited to 1000 or 1200 per day, then it will be possible to maintain some balance. However, more than 10,000 tourists are coming during the season, said Muhammad Anowarul Hoque.

 However, MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) were declared last year without implementation of the ECA completely. So, this year also there is no implementation of this new announcement, he added.

 The Secretary General of Save Our Sea said that it is necessary to completely ban the entry of plastic in order to save the corals of this island. He commented that the plastic and other waste under the water of St. Martin’s and Cheradia should be cleaned regularly.

 Saint Martin’s Island has 68 species of corals, 151 species of algae, 191 species of mollusks, 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 various species of animals. 

Many of these animals are now extinct or on the verge of extinction. This biodiversity is slowly disappearing due to climate change and pollution.

 Meanwhile, coral reefs are the highly diversified symbiotic ecosystem in the marine area. The corals are exclusively found in shallow sea and apparently look like plants but actually they are animals as they can’t make their own food. In Bangladesh, corals grow exclusively in Saint Martin’s Island.