St. Martin's Island: Difference between revisions

| population = 4,0008000

Millennia ago, the island used to be an extension of the Teknaf peninsula, but at a later time some portion of this peninsula later got submerged and thus the southernmost part of the aforementioned peninsula became an island, and was disconnected from the Bangladesh mainland. The firstisland settlementwas startedfirst 250settled yearsin ago, inthe 18th century, by Arabian merchants, who named theit island '"Jazira'". During [[British Raj|British occupation]] the island was named after the then Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Mr. Martin as St. Martin Island.<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Martin Island, History, Location, how to go ?|url=https://www.travelandexplorebd.com/post/st-martin-island-history-location-how-to-go|website=Travel & Explore BD}}</ref> Likely because one or more of the Arabs were Saint and whose name could not be identified. Local names of the island are "Narikel jinjiraJinjira"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ontaheen.com/saint-martin-island-bangladesh/ |title=Saint Martin Island Bangladesh |access-date=2016-06-25 |publisher=Abdul Aouwal |date=May 3, 2016 }}</ref> which means '"Coconut Island'", and "Daruchini Dwip" which means "Cinnamon islandIsland". It is the only [[coral island]] in Bangladesh.

Research by the [[Department_of_Environment_(Bangladesh)|Bangladesh Department of Environment (DoE)]], with the assistance of the [[UNDP]], demonstrates that the island has a number of ecosystems, including coral-rich areas, mangroves, lagoons and stony areas. The island is a safe haven to various species of fauna. The presence of 153 species of sea weeds, 66 species of coral, 187 species of oysters, 240 species of fish, 120 species of birds, 29 species of reptiles and 29 species of mammals were recorded at the St Martin's Island in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Zinnat|first1=Mohammad Ali|last2=Roy|first2= Pinaki|date=2015-10-16|title=Biodiversity of St Martin's under threat|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/biodiversity-st-martins-under-threat-157891|access-date=2022-03-18|website=The Daily Star|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-03-09|title=St. Martin's Island and its unique biodiversity face serious threats|url=https://www.iucn.org/content/st-martins-island-and-its-unique-biodiversity-face-serious-threats|access-date=2021-09-16|website=IUCN|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Alam|first1=O|last2=Deng|first2=TL|last3=Uddin|first3=MN|last4=Alamgir|first4=M|date=2015-08-24|title=Application of Environmental Ethics for Sustainable Development and Conservation of Saint Martin's Island in Bangladesh|journal=Journal of Environmental Science and Natural Resources|volume=8|issue=1|pages=19–27|doi=10.3329/jesnr.v8i1.24628|issn=2408-8633|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Paul|first1=Sulav Indra|last2=Rahman|first2=Md. Mahbubur|last3=Salam|first3=Mohammad Abdus|last4=Khan|first4=Md. Arifur Rahman|last5=Islam|first5=Md. Tofazzal|date=December 2021|title=Identification of marine sponge-associated bacteria of the Saint Martin's island of the Bay of Bengal emphasizing on the prevention of motile Aeromonas septicemia in Labeo rohita|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.737156|journal=Aquaculture|volume=545|pages=737156|doi=10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.737156|issn=0044-8486}}</ref> The area in vicinity has been declared as a Marine Protected Area in 2022.<ref>[[Wildlife Conservation Society]], 2022, ''[https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17095/A-New-Marine-Protected-Area-to-Protect-Biodiversity-and-Coral-Habitat-Around-Saint-Martins-Island-in-Bangladesh.aspx A New Marine Protected Area to Protect Biodiversity and Coral Habitat Around Saint Martin’s Island in Bangladesh]''</ref><ref>[[The Business Standard]], 2021, ''[https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/high-powered-team-suggested-supervision-marine-protected-areas-350593 High-powered team suggested for supervision of marine protected areas]''</ref>

S.I. Paul et al. (2021)<ref name=":0" /> collected 9 species of [[Sponge|marine sponges]] (phylum: Porifera) from the Saint Martin's Island. These are: ''Niphates erecta, Mycale macilenta, Plakortis dariae, Cliona celata, Cliona carteri, Cliona viridis, Haliclona rosea, Haliclona oculata,'' and ''Hemimycale columella''.<ref name=":0" /> Marine sponges and their associated microbes produce an enormous array of antitumor, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, antibiotic and other bioactive molecules.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hentschel|first1=Ute|last2=Piel|first2=Jörn|last3=Degnan|first3=Sandie M.|last4=Taylor|first4=Michael W.|date=2012-07-30|title=Genomic insights into the marine sponge microbiome|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2839|journal=Nature Reviews Microbiology|volume=10|issue=9|pages=641–654|doi=10.1038/nrmicro2839|pmid=22842661 |s2cid=16172507 |issn=1740-1526}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Souza|first1=Danilo T.|last2=Genuário|first2=Diego B.|last3=Silva|first3=Fabio Sérgio P.|last4=Pansa|first4=Camila C.|last5=Kavamura|first5=Vanessa N.|last6=Moraes|first6=Fernando C.|last7=Taketani|first7=Rodrigo G.|last8=Melo|first8=Itamar S.|date=2016-10-03|title=Analysis of bacterial composition in marine sponges reveals the influence of host phylogeny and environment|journal=FEMS Microbiology Ecology|volume=93|issue=1|pages=fiw204|doi=10.1093/femsec/fiw204|pmid=27702764 |issn=1574-6941|doi-access=free}}</ref> S.I. Paul et al. (2021)<ref name=":0" /> explored a total of 15 bacterial genera comprising 31 different bacterial species from the 9 collected marine sponges of the island. Among them ''Bacillus subtilis'' strains WS1A and YBS29 have great probiotic potential.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Rahman|first1=M. Mahbubur|last2=Paul|first2=Sulav Indra|last3=Akter|first3=Tasmina|last4=Tay|first4=Alfred Chin Yen|last5=Foysal|first5=M. Javed|last6=Islam|first6=M. Tofazzal|date=2020-09-24|title=Whole-Genome Sequence of Bacillus subtilis WS1A, a Promising Fish Probiotic Strain Isolated from Marine Sponge of the Bay of Bengal|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mra.00641-20|journal=Microbiology Resource Announcements|volume=9|issue=39|doi=10.1128/mra.00641-20|pmid=32972930 |issn=2576-098X|pmc=7516141}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Paul |first1=Sulav Indra |last2=Rahman |first2=M. Mahbubur |date=2022-09-26 |editor-last=Gill |editor-first=Steven R. |title=Draft Genome Sequence of Bacillus subtilis YBS29, a Potential Fish Probiotic That Prevents Motile Aeromonas Septicemia in Labeo rohita |journal=Microbiology Resource Announcements |volume=11 |issue=10 |language=en |pages=e00915–22 |doi=10.1128/mra.00915-22 |pmid=36154193 |pmc=9583808 |issn=2576-098X}}</ref> It can produce antimicrobial compounds and prevent motile ''Aeromonas'' septicemia disease (a major fish disease in Bangladesh) of [[Rohu]] (''[[Rohu|Labeo rohita]]'').<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> ''Bacillus subtilis'' strains WS1A and YBS29 produce different types of antimicrobial peptides.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Fish (''Labeo rohita'') fed with extracellular products of ''Bacillus subtilis'' strains WS1A and YBS29 develop complete disease resistance.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> The metabolites and bioactive compounds derived from marine sponges and sponge microbes also afford abundant potential for pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications.<ref name=":2" />

The only way to reach Saint Martin Island is by water transportation: boats and ships (mostly for tourists) from Cox Bazar and Teknaf. It is the southernmost union of Bangladesh situated in 120 &nbsp;km away from the Cox’sCox's Bazar city.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saint Martin Bangladesh: A Little Heaven |url=https://incredibleasia.org/saint-martin-bangladesh/ |website=Incredible Asia |date=6 December 2022 |access-date=December 6, 2022}}</ref> The only internal transport for island is non motorized van (pulled by man.) The roads are made of concrete, and their condition are decent. All most hotels run generators until 11 PM which are not allowed afterwards, so they then rely on solar power, which is popular throughout the island. There is no electricity supply from the [[electrical grid|national grid]] since a hurricane in 1991.

* In 2011 [[Pirate|pirates]] attacked fishermen 5&nbsp;km off the coast of Saint Martin Island and killed four of them.<ref>{{cite news |title=Four fishermen shot dead by pirates in bay |url=http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/archive_details.php?date=2011-08-29&nid=31791 |work=New Age |date=August 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129183418/http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/archive_details.php?date=2011-08-29&nid=31791 |archive-date=January 29, 2013}}</ref>

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* {{cite web|url=http://geoportal.icimod.org/TrainingandEducation/youthcorner/Posters/Poster_Marufa.pdf|title=Conservation Of Ecosystem And Biodiversity of Saint Martin's Island in Bangladesh|author=Marufa Ishaque|access-date=2013-02-27|archive-date=2014-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222070726/http://geoportal.icimod.org/TrainingandEducation/youthcorner/Posters/Poster_Marufa.pdf|url-status=dead}}

* {{cite web|url=http://en.ptbnewsbd.com/saint-martin-island-the-beauty-queen-in-bay-of-bengal|title=Saint Martin Island: The Beauty Queen in Bay of Bengal|access-date=2017-01-25|archive-date=2017-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021044232/http://en.ptbnewsbd.com/saint-martin-island-the-beauty-queen-in-bay-of-bengal/|url-status=dead}}

[[Category:ChittagongTeknaf DivisionUpazila]]