Economic valuation and conservation, restoration & management strategies of Saint Martin's coral island, Bangladesh

Tropical coral reefs render a large number of ecosystem services, although without sustainable use practices and conservation measures over the last couple of decades many tropical coral reef ecosystems have been damaged because of excessive use of reef resources. This study provides an estimation of economic benefits from both direct and indirect use of Saint Martin's Coral Island resources, one of the ecologically critical areas (ECAs) of Bangladesh. The coral reef and the associated habitats of St. Martin's Island contributes 33.6 million USD/year to the local economy from fishing, tourism, shoreline protection, seaweed culture, and gathering of intertidal shellfish. Tourism and fisheries are the major economic sectors, generating annual direct use values of 19.4 million USD and 13 million USD/year respectively. The indirect use value of shoreline protection is estimated to be about 180,000 USD/year. Economic benefits of around 1 million USD, could also be generated from an entrance fee collected from tourists visiting the island. The net present value (NPV) of benefits from all of the resources of Saint Martin's Island over a 25-year time frame, with a 6.5% discount rate, is about 545 million USD. A coupled socio-ecological-political, restoration and management framework is recommended. The government should come forward with a conservation, restoration and management plan so that the framework could be used for the management and restoration of a degraded coral reef ecosystem. •Coral reef contributes 33.6 million US$, of which 57% comes from fishing and 39% from tourism.•The reef is damaged, mainly from; fishing, anchoring of boats, and waste discarded by tourists.•Main reasons for the destruction of the coral reef ecosystem, is due to the lack of knowledge on the value of the reef.•Economic incentives, training, and attractive alternative livelihoods; could effectively enhance community participation.•A coupled socio-ecological-political, restoration and management framework was developed.