As the new year begins, I, too, wanted to end the year with renewed excitement, hope, and dreams. Last December, I travelled to St Martin’s Island to witness the year's final sunset, and the first sunrise of the New Year. I had a great smile on my face, realizing I'd be returning to the island after 13 years since my last visit in 2009. My memories of that island were of coconut trees, sandy white beaches covered with seashells, and an ultramarine sky with stunning blue water that seemed to stretch on forever.
Although St Martin's Island is Bangladesh's most south-eastern point, it has become one of the country's most popular tourist spots in recent years. Because of its beautiful scenery, clean water, and coral colonies, many people come to the island every year. If one likes to find coral colonies, this is the only place in Bangladesh where one can do so.
However, the island's beauty, which I first saw 13 years ago, seemed to have completely vanished. The island's gorgeous coral reef is nearly gone, and the beach was littered with plastic waste. An unpleasant odour pervades the entire island, and many dogs roam the streets, unneutered, hunting for food here and there.
Resorts are disorganized and pricey, and lack of customer services were seen all throughout the island. The easy bikes were scattered over the island, where there are insufficient roadways to accommodate the large quantity of bikes. There were no price points chosen; instead, the vendors asked for the price that looked most profitable to them.
To add to that, drinking water is a serious issue on the island due to saline intrusion. Their principal sources of drinking and household water are deep tube wells and dug wells. During the summer, the sea level rises, allowing salinity to enter mainland bodies of water. Because the entire island is submerged in saline sea water, fresh and usable water is a key concern for island residents.
As a result, rainwater collection via the creation of new wetlands and artificial lagoons, as well as the preservation of existing ones, are the only reliable sources of drinking water. Despite the scarcity of drinking water, it's hard to fathom that so much water is currently being wasted every day.
Another shocking fact is that, according to scientists, St Martin's is shrinking rather than growing geologically, as it should. The fact that sea turtles are dying in large numbers indicates that something is wrong. Ibrahim Khalil Mamun, chief executive of the Youth Environment Society (YES) in Cox's Bazar, claimed they have information regarding the deaths of more than 40 turtles and dolphins at St Martin's since the beginning of the new year.
Moreover, the island's distinctive plants and wildlife have undergone remarkable changes in the last two decades. Because the beach has been constantly disrupted by human activity, just one species of sea turtle that used to nest on the island has survived. The number of wintering shorebirds on the island has also decreased considerably as a result of human activities.
Human activities pose a consistent threat to marine life, and these include but are not limited to: Oil pollution and heavy metal pollution, sewage and chemicals from fertilizer runoffs that leads coral to die, the removal of algae and seagrass, extreme noise pollution that disturbs the marine life, overfishing, damaging fishing methods that includes slaughtering the turtles, and unplanned construction of hotels and resorts.
Finally, the price of very limited land on the island has increased as a result of trading activities. Valuable mangroves and hills have been destroyed and cut down in order to construct tourist houses or hotels. The government's recent environmental restrictions have not been adequately coordinated or conveyed to the general public.
Increased tourism has had a detrimental impact on the ecology's health; the unique vegetation and fauna of St Martin's Island will perish unless tourists begin to engage in an environmentally sustainable manner as soon as possible. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of tourists acting responsibly and with respect for the island's aquatic nature, or else the island will become history in the future years.
Sayeda Karim has studied Masters of International development practice at Monash University, Australia. She is an independent researcher working on environment, climate change, and gender.
