Page 60 - Navy Journal 219

Navy Journal 2019

or orca and false killer whales; and hammerhead, blue, whale, tiger and sawfish
sharks (IUCN, 2015). The declared MPA covers 1,738 square kilometers
demarcated as a five-sided polygon with the following corner coordinates:
Northeast – E 89° 40’ 30” N 21° 37’ 35”, Southeast – E 89° 40’ 30” N 21° 20’
28”, Northwest – E 89° 21’ 13’’ N 21° 37’ 35”, South E 89° 31’ 14” N 21° 06’ 25”
and Southwest E 89° 21’ 13” N 21° 19’ 57”; and” (CBD website, 2015).

Figure 1: Declared SoNG MPA(not to scale)

(Source: Primary)
According to the Aichi Biodiversity Target, is an obligation for Bangladesh to
declare at least 10% of its marine area as protected areas by 2020, whereas, the first
ever declared SoNG-MPA is only equal to about 1.46% of the total maritime area of
Bangladesh (Karim & Uddin, 2019) which is a meager beginning only, with no
addition even by 2019 (MOFE, 2019).
Marine Protected Area Defined

Marine protected area in short MPA may be defined as an area of littoral or
ocean area or low tide elevation or terrain, associated with its overlying water,
fauna, flora, cultural and historical features, which are being reserved by law or other
means to protect the ecosystem and biodiversity (Kelleher and Kenchington, 1991).

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