New tourism restrictions to protect Bangladesh’s unique wetlands and coral-rich island

Photo by Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman. Retrieved from news.mongabay.com

In a bid to protect biodiversity hotspots in the country, Bangladesh plans to restrict tourism and introduce environment-friendly guidelines and directions for tourists visiting the Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs).

The coral reef-rich Saint Martin’s Island and one of the largest haors — a type of wetland ecosystem — in the country, Tanguar Haor, known to be a habitat for breeding fish and waterfowls, will soon see the first restrictions on tourism.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the newly appointed advisor for the environment, forest and climate change ministry, said, “Initially, we will impose restrictions on night stays at Saint Martin’s Island to reduce the pressure on the island soon. Gradually, we will increase the level of restrictions as well as the number of ECAs under tourism restrictions.”

She added that some of these restrictions would include banning the use of single-use plastic, minimizing the number of visitors and banning all kinds of tourism during the breeding season of the region’s wildlife.

“After implementing the tourism restrictions on the coral-rich island, we will focus on Tanguar Haor,” she said, adding that the government is working with different stakeholders, including tour operators and local communities, to find a sustainable way to protect these ecologically important areas.