**1. Introduction**

Bangladesh is the country of conglomerate islands in South Asia and one of the world's largest deltas. The country is mainly formed by the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river system and consists of flat and low land. The total land area is 147,570 sq. km. It has a network of many rivers with tributaries and distributaries crisscrossing the country, whereas 405 are recognized in 'Nod-Nodi' [1]. It has a population of about 164 million, and 35.6% of the population is urban [2]. It is estimated that the country's population will be 172.4 million by 2025 [3]. Increasing trends of population increase human activity, which is dependent on the earth's environment and its natural resources system but due to industrialization and various effects of human activities cause, environmental pollution, including the marine environment. The marine environment of Bangladesh is situated at the coast of the Bay of Bengal (BOB), which is the northeastern extension of the Indian Ocean [4]. Being an extension, BOB shares many oceanic characteristics of the Indian Ocean and has active connections with the Andaman Sea, Malacca Strait, Palk Strait, etc. Bangladesh has received 118,813 sq. km. of maritime area in the BOB after the final

dispute settlements with Myanmar and India in 2012 and 2014, respectively [5]. In Bangladesh, the BOB coast covers 710 km in length, and about 36 million people live in this area for their livelihoods like agriculture, fishing and aquaculture, salt farming, forest resources, and nearshore transportation. Over 90% of living and non-living resources of the world are found within a few hundred kilometers of the coast, and nearly two-thirds of the global population lives on the coast [6]. Rapid urbanization, deforestation, and unplanned extraction of marine and coastal resources aggravated the environment complex.

The ocean produces 70% of the oxygen and 80% of the world's animals and plants [7]. It is a part of the cultural and natural heritage of the world [8] and has great importance for tourism, mineral extraction, recreation and transportation, waters, beaches and cliffs, coral reefs, islands, mangrove forests, port, harbors, etc. The ocean compromises 95% of the global water supply [9], and the ocean water covers 72% of the earth's surface. Because of the importance of the world's oceans, the marine environment may have been called the 'lungs of the earth.' However, the marine environment is deteriorating due to unsustainable utilization and exploitation of ocean resources and various sources of pollutants released into the ocean. Several studies have revealed that preserving and protecting the marine environment from different deteriorating agents affects directly or indirectly like marine pollution [10]. As the marine environment is the vital diversity of marine resources, including marine animals and plants, prevention and control of marine pollution are significantly important and interlinked. Marine environmental protection is generally considered 'protection from pollution' [11], whereas pollution has a significant threat to ocean life and affects the marine species, ecosystem, and human health. Bangladesh's marine pollution is mainly caused by land-based and sea-based sources [12]. Several point and non-point sources are the leading causes of land-based sources pollution, whereas sea-based sources pollution occurs mainly due to shipping activities in the Sea [13]. Marine oil pollution can expose human health and other species to diseases [14]. Organic and inorganic pollutants from land-based, including ship-breaking activities in Bangladesh, affect the marine ecosystem essentially [15]. Although various sources of pollution affect the marine environment, several studies have indicated that the sources of land-based marine pollution (LMP) are the dominant threat in Bangladesh [16]. Hence, it has become urgent to enact legislation to regulate marine resource exploitation and utilization and marine environmental Protection regarding the sources of LMP.

Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 states about the Marine Environment Protection from LMP sources like: 'Degradation of the marine environment can result from a wide range of sources. Land-based sources contribute 70 percent of marine pollution, while maritime transport and dumping-at-sea activities contribute 10 percent each. The contaminants that pose the greatest threat to the marine environment are invariable order of importance and, depending on differing national or regional situations, sewage, nutrients, synthetic organic compounds, sediments, litter and plastics, metals, radionuclides, oil/hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Many polluting substances originating from land-based sources are of particular concern to the marine environment since they exhibit toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation in the food chain. Currently, there is no global scheme to address marine pollution from land-based sources' [17]. The above section of Agenda 21 proved that prevention and control of LMP are significantly essential and linked with ocean resources conservation and management, ocean health improvement, and maritime security regarding marine environment protection. Subsequently, arguments for

protecting the marine environment of Bangladesh have been put forward by devising relevant national and international legislation to achieve the goals.
