Sonadia Island

Sonadia is located at Kutubjom Union in Maheshkhali Upazila, 15 km north-west of Cox's Bazar District Headquarters.

[1] The illegal harvesting of turtle eggs, bycatch in offshore fisheries, and alterations of sand dunes and nesting beaches are the main threats to sea turtles in Bangladesh.

[1] Despite complete legal protection since 2010, sea turtles continue to face severe threats in Bangladesh, and many of the nesting rookeries remain poorly studied.

[1] The island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of wintering migratory waders, including great knots, spoon-billed sandpipers and spotted greenshanks.

[2] Sonadia is seen as a potential deepwater port lying on the Bay of Bengal that could serve the landlocked parts of India, Myanmar and China.