Regulatory and Institutional Framework for the Conservation of Coral Reefs in Bangladesh: A Critical Review

The coral reefs' crisis increases with the combined effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. It is predicted that coral reefs could extinct soon from the world. Bangladesh has only one coral Island named Saint Martin, locally known as 'Narikel Jinjira’. This is one of the most popular tourist spots in Bangladesh, entertaining thousands of tourists per year due to its unique landscape, blue water, and coral colonies' presence. This Island lost most of the coral in recent times. The coral reef ecosystem management needs to focus on reforming the legal and institutional frameworks for enhancing the local administration's capabilities to address the adverse effects of the stressors and promote ecosystem services by improving resilience. The study aims at analyzing the existing institutional and legal frameworks for conserving the coral reefs. Fieldwork was conducted at Saint Martin Island and Teknaf Upazila to collect data. The related literature on legal documents was reviewed critically. It is found that despite having legal mechanisms and institutional frameworks, non-compliances with laws and poor coordination among different sectors are widespread, resulting in severe degradation of coral resources. In most of the laws, robust institutional arrangements were ignored. The study recommends integrating the legal and institutional frameworks governing the environment, tourism, and fisheries sectors. Effective marine governance, increasing coordination among different sectors, amending some existing rules, and activating MCS (monitoring, control, surveillance) system can improve the scenario.