St Martin's Island: Tourism curb sparks ecological revival

Abdul Aziz, a resident of St Martin's Island in Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar, was on a morning walk along the island's southern shoreline when he noticed a thick layer of snail and oyster shells deposited along the coastal kaya trees.

In recent days, the number of snails and oysters washing ashore has visibly increased.

"These changes might be happening because the island has remained undisturbed for over a month after the tourist season ended," said Aziz, an environmental activist.

Speaking to locals, it was learned that the island's biodiversity is undergoing a remarkable restoration.

A layer of snail and oyster shells has sedimented along the shoreline, the number of turtles arriving to lay eggs has increased, and mangrove forests in different parts of the island are flourishing as human and vehicular movement has significantly declined.

Local resident Joynal Abedin said a mangrove forest is emerging over more than an acre of rocky coastline in the island's southern region, including Diyar Matha.

Md Jamir Uddin, deputy director of the Department of Environment's (DoE) Cox's Bazar office, said with tourist activities and battery-powered vehicles restricted, at least seven to eight kilometres of beach along the island's southeast and west have seen an accumulation of seashells.

These shells help prevent beach erosion and protect the island's dunes. Previously, locals collected and sold these shells to traders who used them to make showpieces and jewellery.

He said drones were used to locate waste deposits, leading to the collection of over 930 kilogrammes of waste in a cleanup operation that began on February 12.

Around 90 percent of the waste consisted of chips packets, polythene bags, and biscuit wrappers.

He said the number of Olive Ridley turtles coming to the island to lay eggs is rising, as artificial lights and loudspeakers -- major deterrents for turtles -- have been restricted.

Authorities are also protecting the turtles and their eggs from stray dogs that previously attacked them.

Various studies have identified 1,076 species of biodiversity on St Martin's, including corals, seaweed, turtles, shellfish, marine fish, birds, mammals, and crabs.

The island's sandy shores are a critical nesting site for endangered turtles. However, unregulated infrastructure development, excessive tourism, and environmental pollution have put the island's ecosystem at risk.

To protect the island, authorities set a deadline of January 31 for tourist visits this year, allowing only 2,000 visitors per day for two months. In previous years, the island remained open for tourists from October to April, with over 5,000 visitors arriving daily.

Due to unchecked tourism, the island's biodiversity was being destroyed, said environmental activists. Tourists roamed every corner of the island on battery-run vehicles or motorbikes, which damaged the beach and mangrove forests. They also took away snail and oyster shells.

Last year, conservationists collected around 1,400 turtle eggs from 13 turtles. This breeding season, they have already collected 2,500 eggs from 19 turtles. Over 160 eggs have hatched, and the baby turtles have been released into the sea.

In 1999, the DoE declared St Martin's an Ecologically Critical Area. On January 4, 2023, the environment ministry designated 1,743 square kilometres of the Bay of Bengal adjacent to St Martin's as a Marine Protected Area.

However, Habibur Rahman, a former member of St Martin's Union Parishad, said some marginalised people are breaking corals into small pieces to sell as construction materials. Local people and hoteliers are buying these stones.

"They are doing this because their income has dropped significantly due to the restrictions on tourism," he said.

Despite the tourism curbs, many locals continue fishing, drying fish for trade, and cultivating vegetables and watermelons for their livelihoods.