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Bangladesh creates its first marine protected area

Bangladesh creates its first marine protected area

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The new Swatch of No Ground MPA (SoNG), which will protect a wide diversity of species including dolphins, whales, sharks, sea turtles and other marine life, covers around 672 square miles (1,738 sq km) and reaches a depth of more than 900 meters, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

"Bangladesh brings us excellent news as we prepare for the World Parks Congress, a once-in-a-decade event where the conservation community from around the world will gather to discuss and make progress in improving the management and expansion of protected areas on the land and in the oceans," said Dr. Cristián Samper, Wildlife Conservation Society’s president and CEO.

"The Swatch of No Ground Marine Protected Area -- created to protect whales, dolphins, sharks, and other marine life -- helps us on our way to reaching the global target of protecting 10 percent of the ocean's ecosystems by 2020."

The country’s Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) signed the new MPA into law on 27 October 2014. "This is a momentous occasion for Bangladesh," said Said Yunus Ali, Chief Conservator of Forests of the Government of Bangladesh, "and we are proud to protect the rich diversity of marine species inhabiting our waters."

According to Rubaiyat Mansur of WCS’s Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project, there is “an astonishing diversity of dolphins, porpoises and whales including species in need of immediate protection” in the new MPA. Indeed, researchers have found numerous species of cetaceans residing in Bangladeshi waters including Bryde’s whales, Irrawaddy dolphins, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Pacific humpback dolphins, pantropical spotted dolphins, spinner dolphins and finless porpoises.

The Government of Bangladesh and WCS's Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project have collaborated since 2004 on the development of long-term protection of cetaceans in the country’s waters. It is hoped that the creation of the SoNG MPA will encourage neighbouring India to consider similar measures to protect marine life in her territorial waters, which is home to many of the same species.

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