Is restriction on construction enough to protect St. Martin's biodiversity?
St. Martin's Island -- the only island in Bangladesh supporting coral reef-like ecosystem and coral-associated flora and fauna -- was declared by the government as an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) in 1999. The island has undergone dramatic changes in recent years particularly in the development of local tourism and sale of landed properties. Even after almost ten years of getting protected status the island has yet to see major interventions by the government to protect and conserve the ecosystem and ecological functions that govern the island and near-shore marine ecosystem. Corals and coral-associated flora and fauna form a unique and vital part of this near-shore marine ecosystem. The National Conservation Strategy Implementation Project-1 (NCSIP-1) developed a management plan for the island in 1996-97. As a follow-up St. Martin's Island Biodiversity Conservation and Eco-tourism Development Project (SMBCEDP) was implemented by the Ministry of Environment & Forest during 2000-2007 by the government's own revenue budget. The SMBCEDP collected huge information on the island and near-shore marine biodiversity and also initiated several activities for the conservation and management of the fragile island ecosystem. The results of the said project still remain to be made public. The other project currently addressing biodiversity conservation issues in St. Martin's Island is the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded Coastal & Wetland Biodiversity Management Project (CWBMP) administered by the UNDP and implemented by the Department of Environment (DOE). The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 led to the declaration of the Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA) in 1999. CWBMP is working in four ECAs namely Hakaluki Haor, St. Martin's Island, Teknaf Peninsula beach and adjoining areas, and Sonadia Island. The CWBM Project started with a bang in 2002 and is supposed to continue till end-2009. Several environmental NGOs have been sub-contracted with specific tasks for biodiversity conservation and habitat improvement. Under-water survey in the near-shore is being carried out to assess the status, diversity and identification of hotspots of corals. Local people have been engaged with the process through the formation of the Village Conservation Groups (VCG). Local government agencies and public offices have been involved through the formation of District, Upazilla and Union-level ECA Management Committees. The National ECA Management Committee meeting should be called immediately to discuss the ECA management issues and to develop a guideline or policy for the management of the ECAs and the island, in particular including the concern raised in the following paragraph. ECAs have some defined set of activities prohibited within the protected areas supported by punitive measures. One of the rules proscribes any activity that may destroy or alter the natural characteristic of the water or soil. The dual effect of the ECA declaration and the previous initiatives by SMBCEDP led to imposing a ban in 2006 on any further construction of concrete buildings with foundation in the island. Is restriction on the construction of concrete buildings in St. Martin's Island enough to protect the island ecosystem, ecosystem functions and biodiversity? It is plausible that by limiting construction of new hotels the authorities intend to limit the numbers of available accommodation for visitors, conserve freshwater, improve habitat, etc., etc. Further by limiting the concrete-built areas and with increased rain water retention area the chances for the rain water to percolate and recharge the groundwater aquifer is higher. The fate of existing hotels has in recent years been a topic of much debate by the conservationists, environmentalists and even the government policy makers. But the reality is quite different. Where economics play a significant role in the society, sectors like tourism and associated services will blossom inevitably driven by the market forces while other sectors suffer -- biodiversity and ecosystem in this case. But this should not deter the efforts to preserve our natural heritage. Some other important on-going tasks like demarcation of conservation areas; sewage and solid waste management; freshwater and power supply system; pollution and population control still remain ineffectually addressed. The volume of local tourism has increased multifold and the island is being visited daily by 2,000 visitors, on average, during the winter months. The number of visitors rise to more than 5-7,000 during holidays including weekends. Five cruise-ships now ply daily to carry the passengers to and fro from Teknaf. Recently one ship has been given the licence to operate throughout the year. As the ships dock at the St. Martin's Island jetty the propellers of the ships stir the underwater silt and with help of the water currents the silt spreads and covers the nearby coral colonies to a certain death. The number of ships plying and visitors need to be immediately regulated and monitored by the ECA guardian the Department of Environment (DOE). The government should categorise and fix the number of visitors -- like day-visitors and overnight-visitors and circulate it widely through mass media and instruct the tour operators to implement it on a first-come-first-served basis. Foreign visitors should be excluded from this regulation. Each person visiting the island brings in additional issues to be taken care of like drinking water, sewage, solid waste, food, accommodation, etc. As the saying goes “polluters pay” the tourists are polluting the island ecosystem. A conservation fund may be created by imposing surcharge on every tourist visiting the island. The fund may be managed by an independent committee. Regarding DOE involvement I was told by some friends that DOE has limited manpower and right now is not in a position to deploy anyone. My suggestion would be that the ECA Management Officer stationed at Cox's Bazaar should be designated to regulate and monitor the flow of visitors in association with the Upazilla and Union-level ECA Management Committees. The lagoon in the northern end of the island that used to get flooded daily during the high tide and was a safe haven for roosting waders and wetland birds is now in a very dubious and precarious state. The lagoon is bisected by a road restricting the flow of water. The air in the surrounding areas of the lagoon, particularly close to the newly constructed hospital, is filled with bad odour due to the decomposing organic matters in the stagnant water. The mouth of the creek (in the west of the island -- between Moon Drop and Keari Marjan Restaurants) that was the lifeline of the lagoon is closed due to accumulation of sand (either intentionally or by negligence). Organic waste and leftover food is surreptitiously released into the lagoon by some of the hotels/restaurants located in the vicinity. One can easily see thousands of worms on the bank of the lagoon. Solid wastes can be seen all over; some open bins have been provided by CWBMP sub-contracted NGO but wind blows away the plastic bags, empty containers spreading all over to question the use of such open thrash bins. Despite all the efforts from the government, NGOs and local people to conserve biodiversity and habitat improvement the loss of biodiversity and habitat destruction is more pronounced due to the lack of effective enforcement of the laws and regulations and monitoring of the activities currently underway. Foresightedness, monitoring and quick action to address the fast changing scenarios of the multifarious issues responsible for the maintenance and sustainability of the island biodiversity and habitat are a prerequisite, which unfortunately does not seem to be at par. Cooperation with the various law enforcement and paramilitary agencies like the Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Rifles, and Bangladesh Coast Guards should be further strengthened to protect the island's biodiversity and tourist management. Moreover coordination in all respect between the two projects -- SMBCEDP and CWBMP -- should be established to achieve the common goals. Successful as well as failed efforts should be investigated as case studies and analyzed critically to identify the factors for success or failure, respectively, and the lessons learnt utilized to effectively deal with the issues. Last but not the least the presence of two projects -- one awaiting further extension and the other on-going is a good indication to prove government's intention to conserve the island's biodiversity. However, information gathered regarding the present activities hardly show any monitoring indicators regarding biodiversity. Dr S M A Rashid is Member, Commission on Ecosystem Management(CEM) of the World Conservation Union(IUCN) and Vice Chairman, IUCN/Species Survival Commission/Crocodile Specialist Group(West Asia Region) and Director, Reptiles Farm Limited. E-mail:rashidsma@yahoo.co.uk
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