Environmentalists and researchers have demanded the continuation of government-initiated controlled tourism at the country鈥檚 lone coral site, Saint Martins Island.
The environment wing of the environment, forest and climate change ministry on October 22 issued a 12-point directive, including limitations on tourists鈥� arrival, only daytime travel and bans on single-use plastics and noisy activities on the island.
In a bid to protect the island鈥檚 biodiversity, the interim government in January banned tourism there during the February-October period.
According to the latest instructions, a maximum of 2,000 tourists can visit the island daily only during daytime in November, while overnight stays will be permitted in December and January.
Zoologist Farid Ahsan, a former teacher at Chittagong University and a researcher on the biodiversity of Saint Martins Island since 1981, told 抖阴精品, 鈥楢ggressive tourism has destroyed the island. The interim government-initiated controlled tourism must continue.鈥�
Conducting a research on endangered sea turtles in Cox鈥檚 Bazar area, Farid identified several existential threats, including the destruction of turtle nests on sea beach by unplanned infrastructural development.
Saint Martins Island, only about 12 square kilometres in size, is situated in the Bay of Bengal and falls under the jurisdiction of Cox鈥檚 Bazar, a district on the southeast coast of Bangladesh.
In 1999, the then government declared the island an environmentally critical area due to its rich marine biodiversity.
The coral island shelters about 10,000 people who rely mainly on fishing, seaweed farming and tourism for their livelihoods.
According to a 2023 study titled 鈥楥orals of Saint Martins Island Bangladesh鈥�, the island is home to 46 different species of corals.
Another study on the impact of tourism on Saint Martins Island, conducted between 2005 and 2019, assessed that concrete structures mostly accommodating tourists increased by 175 per cent while the volume of coral reefs decreased by 38 per cent.
As per the new directives, travellers must purchase online tickets with a travel pass and QR code through a web portal authorised by the Bangladesh Tourism Board.
The directives also state that the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority cannot permit any vessel to operate trips to Saint Martins Island without prior approval from the environment ministry.
Before the complete shutdown effective from February, four to five passenger vessels operated in the Teknaf-Saint Martins Island route.
Entry into the Keya forest and harming wildlife have also been strictly banned under the new directives.
The interim government adviser to the environment, forest and climate change ministry, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, said, 鈥楻estrictions are intended to discourage tourism on Saint Martins Island during the breeding season of the region鈥檚 wildlife.鈥�
ANM Moazzem Hossain Riad, chairman of regional non-governmental organisation Save the Nature of Bangladesh, said that controlled tourism on the island was initiated in 2020 by the Cox鈥檚 Bazar district administration, but the move failed due to political influence.
鈥榃e don鈥檛 know what will happen in this connection under the next political government,鈥� he said, adding that the tourism business that covered mainly the hotel and vessel transport facilities was mostly controlled by political goons.
