An Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) is an environmental protection zone in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. In 1995, specific areas in Bangladesh could be deemed Ecologically Critical Areas as a result of the Environmental Conservation Act. Bangladesh has a wide variety of ecosystems that include over 300 rivers that creates marine and fresh water environments. There are a multitude of areas that have been considered ECAs.

Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar (; bn, কক্সবাজার, Kôksbajar; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and district headquarters in Southeastern Bangladesh. It is located south of the city of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the na ...

is on the border of Bangladesh and Myanmar in the southeast corner of Bangladesh. The Teknaf Peninsula is 80 km of sandy beach and holds a variety of species as one of the longest beaches in the world. The Sonadia Islands are home to some of the last mangrove forests that house distinct species that can tolerate the high salinity of the mangrove forests in this area. The

Sundarbans Sundarbans (pronounced ) is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bangladesh's division of Khulna to the Hooghly R ...

also contain mangrove forests and was named an ECA because it continues to suffer from over-exploitation and illegal urban development.

St. Martin's Island Saint Martin Island ( bn, সেন্টমার্টিন দ্বীপ) is a small island (area only 3 km2) in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and fo ...

is known for its coral-algal that overwhelms its rocky reefs. The island is a refuge for globally threatened marine species. Finally, the

Hakaluki Haor Hakaluki Haor ( bn, হাকালুকি হাওর) is a marsh wetland ecosystem of north-eastern Bangladesh. It is one of Bangladesh's largest and one of Asia's large marsh wetland resources. Hakaluki Haor is bounded by the Kushiara river ...

found in greater Sylhet is an ECA because it has an extensive amount of wetland habitats that support a wide variety of life. Gulshan-Baridhara Lake was declared an ECA in 2001. In September 2009, the four rivers around the capital city

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

—

Buriganga River The Buriganga River ( bn, বুড়িগঙ্গা, ''Buŗigônga'', ) is a river in Bangladesh which flows past the southwest outskirts of the capital city, Dhaka. Its average depth is and its maximum depth is . It ranks among the most ...

Shitalakshya River Shitalakshya River ( bn, শীতলক্ষ্যা নদী pronounced: ''Shitalokkha Nodi'') (also known as Lakshymā River) is a distributary of the Brahmaputra. A portion of its upper course is known as Banar River or Banor River. In the ...

Turag River Turag River ( bn, তুরাগ নদী; ) is the upper tributary of the Buriganga, a major river in Bangladesh. The Turag originates from the Bangshi River, the latter an important ''tributary'' of the Dhaleshwari River, flows through Ga ...

and

Balu River The Balu River, located in Bangladesh, is a tributary of the Shitalakshya River. It passes through the wetlands of Beel Belai and Dhaka before its confluence with the Shitalakshya at Demra Demra ( bn, ডেমরা) is a (metropolitan) Than ...

—have been declared by the Department of Environment as ECAs.

References

Protected areas of Bangladesh Nature conservation in Bangladesh {{environment-stub