St Martin’s Island declared ‘protected’ area

In 1999, a total of 590 hectares area of the island was declared as Ecologically Critical Area (ECA)

The government has declared St Martin’s Island as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) to protect its rich biodiversity and ecosystem.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued a press release on Wednesday in this regard. Public Relations Officer of MoEFCC, Dipankar Bar, informed the media regarding the press release the same day.

Around 1,743 square kilometres of the Bay of Bengal adjacent to the island has been marked as protected area in the fresh measure under sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Wildlife Act-2012.

The island now becomes the largest Marine Protected Area in the country.

In 1999, a total of 590 hectares area of the island was declared as Ecologically Critical Area (ECA).

With the new measure, the government hopes to protect the coral and marine aquatic life and marine biodiversity of the island.

Moreover, limiting sustainable extraction of marine resources from this protected area will result in increased marine fish resources and aquatic animal breeding in the protected area, the government hopes.