Sonadia emerges as effective sanctuary for rare species

Sonadia Island, a seven-square kilometer island in northeastern Bangladesh which was declared "Ecologically Critical Area" in 1999, has now become a natural sanctuary for numerous wildlife and birds with manmade mangrove and non-mangrove forests.

"As part of a massive campaign of biodiversity conservation, we have declared 3,191 acres of land as a reserve forest in 2014 to ensure ecological balance in the coastal area. A total of 1,756 acres have been developed as a mangrove forest and 884 acres as a tamarisk forest at Sonadia Island," Divisional Forest Officer of Coastal Forest Division RSM Munirul Islam told the news agency.

Visitors who will travel through waterways from Moheshkhali channel to Sonadia through canals spread like a spider web will find mangrove and non-mangrove growth on the banks where different species of wildlife use mangrove forests inside the island as their breeding ground.

The tamarisk forest, along the Bay of Bengal, enhances beauty of the island as well as protects residents of the island from natural disasters.

The Forest Department is launching afforestation activities through the Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project at the Sonadia Island to expand forest coverage with both mangrove and non-mangrove trees, Munirul Islam said.

"We are also implementing two sub-projects under the Strengthening Regional Co-Operation for Wildlife Protection Project for conservation of different critically endangered species of wildlife and birds," he said, adding that both olive ridley turtles and spoon-billed sandpipers are very rare in the world and they are on the verge of extinction.

Olive ridley turtles are only seen at Sonadia Island and they breed in winter, Munirul added.

"Several thousand babies of olive ridley turtles are released in the Bay of Bengal every year as part of conservation of the wildlife," he added.

"The spoon-billed sandpiper is a small wader, which breeds in northeastern Russia and the rare bird is seen during winter at Sonadia Island... The spoon-billed sandpiper is facing imminent extinction as fewer than 100 pairs remain in the world, Munirul said, adding that 10 pairs were seen at Sonadia Island last winter.

Sonadia Island's importance for wildlife has been recognised by BirdLife International, a global conservation organisation.

The Island has been declared the 20th Important Bird Area (IBA) of Bangladesh by BirdLife International. The island also supports the globally endangered Nordmann's greenshank, as well as other threatened birds like great knot, Asian dowitcher, Eurasian curlew and black-tailed godwit, they added.