Biodiversity conservationists and researchers have demanded a continuation of controlled tourism in the country’s lone coral landscape, Saint Martin’s Island, amid issuance of a fresh directive from the environment, forest and climate change ministry.
The environment wing of the ministry on October 22 issued a 12-point directive, including limitations on tourists’ arrival, only day-stay travel, and bans on single-use plastics and noisy activities.
In a bid to protect the island’s biodiversity, the interim government in January completely restricted tourism there during the February-October period.
According to the latest instructions, a maximum of 2,000 tourists can visit the island only for a day-stay in November, while overnight stays will be permitted in December and January.
Zoologist Farid Ahsan, a former teacher at Chittagong University, and researcher on the biodiversity of Saint Martin’s Island since 1981, said, ‘Aggressive tourism has destroyed the island. The interim government-initiated controlled tourism must continue.’
Researching endangered sea turtles in Cox’s Bazar area, Farid identified several existential threats including the destruction of turtle nests on sea beach by unplanned infrastructural development.
Saint Martin’s Island, only about 12 square kilometers in size, is situated in the Bay of Bengal and is part of Cox’s Bazar.
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 Corals of Saint Martin’s Island Bangladesh, Saint Martin’s Island is home to 46 different species of corals.
Another study on the impact of tourism in Saint Martin’s 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.
According to 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 to Saint Martin’s Island without prior approval from the environment ministry.
Before the complete shutdown became effective from February, four to five passenger vessels operated in the Teknaf-Saint Martin’s Island.
Entry into the Keya forest and harming wildlife have also been strictly banned.
Adviser to the environment, forest and climate change ministry, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, said, ‘Restrictions on tourism in Saint Martin’s Island are intended to discourage tourism during the breeding season of the region’s wildlife.
Regional NGO Save the Nature of Bangladesh chairman ANM Moazzem Hossain Riad said that controlled tourism in the island was initiated in 2020 by the Cox’s Bazar district administration, but failed due to political influence.
‘We don’t know what will happen under the next political government,’ he said, adding that the tourism business that covers mainly the hotel and vessel transport facilities is mostly controlled by political goons.
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