Strict steps to save Saint Martin’s

With an aim to protect the biodiversity of Bangladesh’s only coral island Saint Martin’s, the government has prepared a set of guidelines making online registration beforehand and a fixed travel fee mandatory for the tourists planning to visit the island.

Moreover, only a specific number of tourists, as per the effective real carrying capacity of the island, will be allowed to travel the island per day during the tourist season.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on May 23 issued a gazette notification containing 35 such guidelines, titled “Environment and Biodiversity Conservation of Saint Martin’s Island and Eco-Friendly Tourism Guidelines, 2023,” and asked all authorities concerned to implement them right away.

According to the notification, notices, billboards and pamphlets containing the list of dos and don’ts would be published for tourists and locals to protect the island’s biodiversity and environment.

An eco-friendly fish landing station and marketing centre will be built on the island for its fishermen and traders. Fishing boats will not be allowed to ferry tourists. Fishing or business permits will be cancelled if any fishing boat carries tourists.

The initiative to control the number of tourists on the island was first taken at an inter-ministerial meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office in March 2020. Considering the overwhelming number of tourists as a serious threat to the island’s existence, the meeting had even recommended a five-year ban on tourism in Saint Martin’s.

However, the government then restricted the number of tourists visiting the island per day to 1,250 to protect its biodiversity. But the Tour Operators Association of Cox’s Bazar demanded 3,000 tourists per day.

According to locals, 5,000-8,000 tourists visit the island every day during the peak season between December and March.

According to a research report on Saint Martin’s published in the Ocean Science Journal, the island may lose all of its corals by 2045. In addition to corals, the island is home to a variety of wild and marine animals, including the nearly-extinct olive ridley sea turtle, four different species of dolphins, and some endangered species of birds.

Environmentalists have been warning for a long time that the island is in the face of destruction due to the unregulated activities of tourists and severe pollution. They had also suggested temporarily banning tourist travel to Saint Martin’s.

Protected area

The May 23 notification said that the Forest Department will identify Saint Martin’s Island’s core marine protected area and ensure that ships do not enter there. Mobile courts would be conducted to maintain law and order, stop excess passenger transport on selected vessels and ensure environment-friendly tourism.

Sustainable eco-friendly tourism will have to be ensured by training the local youths as tourist guides. Tourist ships will have to anchor at the jetty 200 meters away from the shore to keep the regeneration of algae and corals in the sea unhindered.

The notification also states that the Cox’s Bazar Development Authority Act will have to be followed to build new infrastructure and facilities. Also, no-objection certificates will have to be secured from the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry and the Department of Environment (DoE).

All establishments, dormitories and hostels of government agencies cannot be used commercially, it added.

Regarding land management, the notification said Cox’s Bazar Development Authority (CoxDA) will handle land zoning and mapping on the island with technical and relevant support from the Land Ministry, DoE and other concerned institutions. CoxDA will also prepare a master plan for the construction or reconstruction of infrastructures.

It said an environment-friendly secondary dumping station will be set up on the island to ensure better waste management and protect the environment. A volunteer team, consisting of local people, will be formed to keep the entire island clean at all times.

All establishments on the island will have to send their waste to the dumping station and the locals will put their waste in eco-friendly bags and keep them in front of their houses.

CoxDA and Saint Martin’s Union Parishad will have the wastes collected and dump them at the dumping station. All garbage and waste from the secondary dumping station will be transferred to the mainland in an environment-friendly manner.

Discharge of waste and sewage on the island and into the sea without permission has been prohibited. Discharge of waste by any ship or vessel will result in route permit cancellation, said the notification.

Moreover, it said that the production, storage, transportation, purchase, sale and use of plastic food plates, packets of chips, water and beverages in plastic bottles, products wrapped in polythene or multi-layer plastic, polythene bag, single-use plastic products, cigarette filters, plastic containers, and cotton buds have been banned on the island.

No motorised vehicles, no bonfires

Regarding the conservation of the environment and biodiversity of Saint Martin’s, the May 23 notification said the economic value of the environmental and ecological damage due to unregulated tourism and the island’s contribution to the economy will have to be assessed.

It also read that motorised vehicles, including motorcycles, scooters, nosimons, korimons and battery-driven auto-rickshaws, have been banned on the island. Only rickshaws, vans and bicycles are allowed to ply the island’s streets.

The lighting of bonfires, sky lanterns and fireworks, and the use of speakers, sound boxes or devices that can cause sound pollution on the island have been banned as well.

Electric generators will have to be equipped with sound-absorbing devices and placed in closed places, said the notification.

Collecting corals, stones, seagrasses, seaweeds, snails, oysters, crabs, starfishes and Keya fruits from beaches and nearby areas, cutting trees and shrubs, and catching or purchasing sea turtles and birds have been prohibited. Chips or any other food cannot be served to the birds from tourist vessels as well.

According to the instructions, prior permission must be obtained to conduct educational tours, group tours, seminars, workshops, shooting, conferences, outreach activities, sports events on the beach, and social activities by voluntary organisations on Saint Martin’s Island.

Permission will be required to use helicopters, seaplanes and drones as well as for scuba diving and marine paragliding.

The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, CoxDA, DoE, Forest Department, Shipping Department, Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute, Cox’s Bazar District Administration, Teknaf Upazila Administration and Saint Martin’s Union Parishad will collectively implement the guidelines.

Also, the Foreign Ministry, Land Ministry, Law and Justice Division, Bangladesh Police and Tourist Police, Bangladesh Coast Guard, Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Bangladesh Water Development Board, Beach Management Committee, and Department of Youth Development will act as implementation partners.