Author: JJ Robinson

Democratic Maldives an important global symbol: US State Department

The Maldives is a powerful symbol of a tolerant and democratic Muslim society, US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said yesterday during a visit to the country.

Steinberg was responding to a question regarding the extensive US interest in a such a small and isolated island nation in the middle of the Indian Ocean – an interest apparently not extended to nearby countries such as the Seychelles.

“We have very practical interests in common, such as dealing with the challenges of climate change and piracy – security in this region is of enormous importance to us,” Steinberg said, in likely reference to US military interests in Diego Garcia, south of the Maldives.

However as importantly, Steinberg said, the Maldives’ embrace of democracy showed that convictions such as democracy and freedom of expression “are universal values that transcend culture, history and religion.”

“The Maldives comes from very different traditions and history, but people here aspire to the same goals that people around the world aspire to. That’s a powerful symbol, and shows that these are not just American ideals or Western ideals, but universal ideals,” he said.

Such a symbol, he explained, was of great value to the State Department.

“As I travel around the world and see the different ways in which different societies and cultures interpret democracy and human expression, I can point to the Maldives as an example – that’s as important as the practical cooperation.”

The Maldives, he explained, represented an emerging model for “a tolerant and democratic Muslim society”, and “could have enormous influence in the thinking of countries around the world, as you try to build this new model.”

Steinberg expressed admiration for the “remarkable efforts” on the international stage “for such a small country at the early stages of economic and political development.”

The upcoming local council elections, he said, we an “important step” in building that democracy, “and we have confidence that they will be calm and respectful.

Speaking to press assembled at the American Centre in the National Library, Steinberg noted that freedom of expression was “the oxygen of democracy.”

Challenged as to whether this moral position contradicted the US government’s pursuit of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who published hundreds of thousands of State Department diplomatic exchanges in a call for greater political transparency, Steinberg replied that the State Department “has a legitimate interest in protecting the confidentiality of some of the conversations we have, not the least of which [concern] human rights when we engage with people who are persecuted.”

“We place high emphasis civil society – unlike in the Maldives where I can meet freely with civil society, there are other far more repressive countries where we have to meet in confidence. People take great risk to meet with us and share their ideas. There is a responsibility to protect those confidences – there is an appropriate place for confidentiality in government but we also believe in the maximum openness that can be achieved. We have a strong commitment to freedom of information, and President Obama has worked hard to reduce our reliance on classified information. That’s very important to us.”

Concerning the State Department’s listing of the Maldives on its tier two watch-list for Human Trafficking last year, two weeks after the Maldives was given a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Steinberg reiterated that “we recognise there are challenges, particularly labour trafficking and making sure people seeking economic opportunity are not exploited.

“This region, quite frankly, has particular challenges in dealing with forced labour and related issues on trafficking. What we are looking for is a road-map and a way forward. The watch-list is not intended to punish, but to motivate efforts to go forward.”

Specific areas raised with the Maldivian government by the senior US diplomat included the challenges of economic development, the need to strengthen education and build educational opportunities, as well as the challenges of confronting growing extremism “and how we can help promote tolerance in the Maldives.”

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In the black: customs documents expose Maldives’ chronic oil addiction

The 15 percent increase in oil prices over the past five months has led to the Maldives spending almost US$100,000 more on fossil fuels, per day.

Customs figures obtained by Minivan News reveal the true extent of the country’s chronic addiction to fossil fuels, and extraordinary vulnerability to even minor price rises.

In 2010, the Maldives spent over US$245 million on fuel (including marine diesel, aviation gas, propane and petrol) – disturbingly, almost a quarter of the country’s US$1 billion GDP.

The vast proportion (US$200 million) of the country’s fuel spend was on marine diesel. Petrol accounted for US$24 million, liquefied propane US$10 million, and aviation fuel US$12 million.

This represents a daily expenditure of US$670,000 to meet the country’s fuel needs, approximately US$800 per person per year in a country where the average annual income is under US$5000.

Oil is currently US$86 a barrel after trending a 15 percent increase over the past five months, which shows no sign of slowing. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), together with other analysts, have confidently tipped that oil will reach an average $90 a barrel in 2011, and potentially top US$100.

The figures also reveal that the Maldives is highly dependent on several countries for most of its fuel – Singapore (for aviation fuel), the UAE (petrol) and the Bahamas (marine diesel).

The revelation of the extent of marine fuel consumed in the country – over 2 million barrels annually – is one that President Nasheed’s Energy Advisor Mike Mason suggests is a strong argument for a return to sailing.

“I think there is a huge opportunity to take a knowledge of sail, wind and current – the thinking that has served the Maldives well for 2000 years – and apply modern technology such as solar to create a new transport paradigm. A sailing vessel with a modern hull, utilising modern technology can reach 30-40 knots, and would greatly reduce the reliance on diesel.”

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Tunisian revolution ripples throughout Middle East

President Mohamed Nasheed has spoken to the leader of the Tunisian opposition as ripples from the fall of its deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali spread throughout the Arab world.

Speaking to Moncef Marzouki over the phone, Nasheed expressed the hope that democracy, human rights and the rule of law would prevail.

He also condemned the use of violence against civilians during the protests, and the human rights abuses that were occurring in the country.

The government in Tunisia, previously regarded as one of the Middle East’s most stable democracies and a popular tourist destination, was overthrown after widespread protests and growing street violence eventually forced Ben Ali to flee the country on January 14 after 23 years in power.

In a surreal side note, Ben Ali’s wife reportedly retrieved US$60 million worth of gold in person from the country’s central bank before fleeing to the airport with her husband. The bank has denied the reports, leaked by French security officials.

The protests were sparked after Mohamed Bouazizi, a local fruitseller, set himself on fire when police confiscated his cart. That incident sparked a national uprising that led to almost 100 deaths in clashes with security forces, and the hasty departure of the President. The government has since issued an arrest warrant for Ben Ali in absentia.

The violence triggered a wave of regional instability, particularly in Egypt, where tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets on Tuesday in opposition to 29 years of strict rule by President Hosni Mubarak.

Three people were reported killed, including a policeman, while three more self-immolated in imitation of Bouazizi. Protests also erupted in Yemen, Jordan and Algeria.

Regional analysts such as Robert Fisk have observed that Tunsia was widely feted by the West for the stability of its autocracy: “If it can happen in the holiday destination Tunisia, it can happen anywhere, can’t it? The French and the Germans and the Brits, dare we mention this, always praised the dictator for being a ‘friend’ of civilised Europe, keeping a firm hand on all those Islamists,” Fisk wrote in UK newspaper The Independent.

Meanwhile, further revelations from al-Jazeera’s publication of controversial documents detailing 10 years of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process include details of a secret crackdown on Hamas, orchestrated by British Intelligence and executed by the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The 2004 plans also reveal a high degree of security cooperation between Israel and Palestinian security forces, further heightening public anger in Palestine against the PA.

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Plane as day: Mega takes off on back of Chinese tourism boom

The Maldives’ newest international airline, Mega Global Maldives, has just completed its maiden international flight between Hong Kong and Gan, delivering over 230 passengers to resorts in the southern atolls.

The charter flight was the first of what Mega intends to become a weekly service, delivering thousands of tourists a month under an arrangement between the airline, participating resorts, and Chinese tour operators.

Minivan News spoke to Mega’s CEO George Weinmann, a former rocket and satellite engineer with aerospace giant Boeing, as he stood on the beach of Herathera resort surrounded by “235 very happy guests about to go sailing – they are already talking about when they’re coming back.”

Weinmann has lived in China for seven years and believes that the potential of the Chinese market in the Maldives is being underestimated by an industry focused on its traditional, European-centric market.

“My first experience of the Maldives was on honeymoon with my wife, who is Chinese,” he said. “At the time I was looking for an investment opportunity and saw a big market that was developing fast – it has since exceeded our expectations.

“The Chinese market is deep and very rich. We believe there are further improvements to how the market is targeted and served.”

In 2010 the number of arrivals from China eclipsed arrivals from all other destinations, for the first time in the Maldives’ history. The influx of Chinese guests at resorts has been credited with partially cushioning the industry from the economic crisis in Europe, particularly during the warmer off-season when many sun-seeking Europeans have the option of travelling to closer countries such as Greece and Spain.

Weinmann believes that many resorts haven’t given the Chinese market the attention it requires to develop, in the mistaken belief that the boom in Chinese visitors is a temporary anomaly – a belief perhaps stemming from the trend among many Chinese guests to stay 2-3 days, while their European counterparts log an average of 10-14 days per visit.

“I don’t agree with that idea at all,” says Weinmann. “It’s a little like going back to the 1950s and saying that while the US is making a resurgence, Europe is still the place to be.”

The Chinese, he said, had become one of the biggest-spending tourism demographics in destinations such as France, with a per-person spend “substantially higher that most other [nationalities] visiting the EU. That was not a fluke – it was developed over five years.”

He noted that a colleague in China “has booked 60,000 airline seats to the EU on the basis of that demand from tour operators, and is booking more because of the demand.”

In the Maldives, Weinmann predicts eventual demand for an additional 20 resorts catering to the Chinese market, open all year round. Unlike the European sector, he explains, the Chinese market “doesn’t drop in volume. The weakest months for China are March and April, but that’s the start of the honeymoon season in Korea.”

Mega was unlikely to see competition from the much larger Chinese and Hong Kong carriers, Weinmann suggests, because they still regarded the Maldives as a niche market.

“There currently no flights from Asia that arrive in the Maldives in day time, which is not convenient for either the resorts or the seaplane operators,” he said. “We are seeing travel agents who are not satisfied with the schedules.”

Mega’s initial focus on charter flights in conjunction with tour operators and resorts not only ensures an early steady steam of income for the fledgling airline, but allows development of the product for Chinese visitors. Weinmann explains: “The benefit for us is that as a Maldivian airline we can start the whole resort experience with clients the moment they step on the plane. Tour operators like that.”

The collaboration with resorts and the early focus on the south of the Maldives, had meant a great deal of early support for the airline from resorts such as Shangri La and Herathera, Weinmann says.

“The southern resorts are very keen to have us, and have put together a very attractive package [for us]. We flew some Chinese guest relations officers with us to Herathera, several of our senior management speak Chinese, and the resorts are hiring some people from Thailand who have experience with the language.”

Eventually the airline hopes to operate a scheduled service, and potentially a domestic connection between Male’ and Gan to connect the Gan-Hong Kong route to more of the Maldives “as the market develops.”

The potential for opening other domestic routes was limited by the 264 seats on the company’s 767, but Weinmann says he sees potential to develop routes between the Maldives, Korea, Thailand and India, the latter for business travel as well as tourism – “the Indian [tourism] market is about two years behind China”, he suggests.

Weinmann says Mega has learned from the experiences of Air Maldives, the national flag carrier that declared bankruptcy in 2000 after ambitious over-expansion into international routes.

“I’m very aware of Air Maldives, and although didn’t experience it myself I have from the point of view of some of our staff who did,” he says. “A new airline has to be careful of its own success – if you get the market right it can be tempting to expand quickly. But each plane is a huge one-time cost, and several planes in a row can quickly deplete your financial resources. Then if you realise you haven’t got the market quite right, your expenses are very high and you have to hope you have very deep pockets. We have been very careful about how quickly we have developed.”

Setting up a new airline is not without obstacles, but Weinmann says Mega has been able to overcome those placed in its way so far. As a local carrier it was, he says, gratifying to see bodies such as the Civil Aviation Authority show “enthusiasm for us to succeed.”

Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa said the resort industry was “on the right track” in adapting to rising demand from China, and noted that the Ministry had issued a circular to resorts requesting they provided safely regulations to Chinese guests in Mandarin – tourist fatalities last year were disproportionately Chinese nationals, mostly in snorkeling-related accidents.

There remained, Zulfa said, not enough mid-market beds, which was why the government was pushing for small-to-medium enterprise to develop 3-4 star hotels to compliment the luxury resorts that already existed in the country – a concept Weinmann agrees with: “the Maldives’ geography makes it unique, because the one-resort one-island concept means it can naturally segment the market based on demand.”

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Palestinian Authority under fire as Al-Jazeera leaks details of peace negotiations with Israel

News agency Al-Jazeera has published thousands of confidential documents concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East, providing an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at peace negotiations between US, Israel and Palestine.

The leak includes nearly 1700 files including thousands of pages of diplomatic correspence, as well as memos, emails, maps and minutes of closed meetings between 1999-2010.

According to Al-Jazeera, the revelations include the surprising willingness of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to concede settlements to Israel in East Jerusalem, compromises made by the PA regarding the return of refugees, and details of security co-operation with Israel.

The leaks have already led to widespread condemnation of the PA across Palestine, after it was revealed that its negotiators privately conceded Israel’s definition of itself as a Jewish state while refusing to recognise Israel’s existence in public, and offering Israel “the biggest Jerusalem in history” – an offer which was rejected.

The leaks further reveal that Palestinian negotiators had agreed to Israeli demands that only 10,000 refugees would be allowed to return to Israel, out of a total refugee population of 5 million.

Al-Jazeera and the UK’s Guardian newspaper, which was also granted access to the leaked documents, described the overall impression of the decade of leaks as revealing “the weakness and growing desperation of PA leaders as failure to reach agreement or even halt all settlement temporarily undermines their credibility in relation to their Hamas rivals.”

The Guardian contends that the leak also reveals “the unyielding confidence of Israeli negotiators and the often dismissive attitude of US politicians towards Palestinian representatives” – at one stage former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice suggests that Palestinians could live in Latin America, and in the minutes of a meeting with Palestinian negotiators in 2009, Rice’s successor Hillary Clinton is heard to ponder why Palestinians were “always in a chapter of a Greek tragedy”.

Palestinian authorities have responded to the leaks by attacking al-Jazeera for “distorting the truth” and playing “a propaganda game through the media in order to brainwash Palestinian citizens”.

Chief negotiator Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat has dismissed the minutes were “a bunch of lies and half truths”, while angry protesters stormed al-Jazeera’s offices in Ramallah before being stopped by police.

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Lithuanian ‘island of blondes’ to be shaped like giant high-heeled shoe

Ambitious plans by Lithuanian mega-brand Olialia to develop an ‘all blondes’ resort – in the shape of a gigantic high-heeled shoe – have entered phase two, after the company reported that a delegation had visited the Maldives and selected three islands suitable for the project.

Olialia did not reveal the name of the islands, but did publish CGI images of the planned resort, designed by “famous Lithuanian architect” Valerijus Starkovskis, and claimed it that construction would begin “in a few years” with a grand opening in 2015.

Tenders for operators of the hotel, restaurants and serivce providers “would be announced soon”, the company said, also claiming that it would hold a “worldwide competition” to select the manager of the blonde island, “which every citizen in the world will be able to participate in.”

Aside from reclaiming an island in the shape of women’s footwear, the present draft includes an initial 61 guest villas, several restaurants, a nightclub, a beauty salon and spa centers, a marina, a boardwalk, mall, helipad and a “centre of harmony and psychology”. Olialia said it intends to eventually increase the resort to 500 rooms.

The central gimmick of the proposal is to staff the resort entirely with blondes and ensure all buildings “comply with the spirit and the worldview of blondes”, because, according to Olialia’s managing director Giedre Pukiene, “blondes are a great power that should not be underestimated. We are smart, beautiful, reckless and purposeful.”

Olialia's MD Giedre Pukiene

In addition to the resort, a specially designed charter airline staffed only by blondes, ‘Olialia airlines’, will deliver tourists to the island, Pukiene claimed.

Investors apparently include interests in Lithuania, Russia, UK, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and an as-yet undisclosed Maldivian travel company.

Olialia is a highly recognisable brand within Lithuania with a reported income of $US10 million. It claims to be an Eastern European version of Richard Branson’s Virgin company, and is well known for its gratuitous use of blonde women in its marketing. The company now markets an assortment of products ranging from Cola and Italian pizza restaurants to luxury limousines, a nightclub and a (blonde) modelling agency.

Olialia made headlines worldwide in September after it first proposed the Maldives resort concept, sparking heated debate over whether such a resort would be discriminatory or too controversial for the country’s conservative self-image – or even whether the whole idea was a devious marketing gimmick.

If legitimate, the resort faces several practical obstacles – the first being that so far, the Maldivian Tourism Ministry knows nothing about the project.

“I’m sure I would have heard about this,” said Minister of Tourism Mariyam Zulfa, adding that such project would eventually pass through the tourism ministry, be subject to the Tourism Act and ultimately require cabinet approval “and debate over the various merits and demerits.”

However, she said, the government “promoted private enterprise, and was not in the [business] of either killing or encouraging ideas. What a private party does is their prerogative and we do not interfere in how resorts are run.”

After lowering cabinet’s raised eyebrows, a second challenge for Olialia would be Maldivian employment regulations, which state that resorts must employ a minimum of 50 percent Maldivian staff – few of whom are naturally blonde.

Thirdly, several local marine biologists contacted by Minivan News who were shown images of Olialia’s resort pronounced it “ridiculous”.

“I couldn’t comment until I see the shape of the original island,” said one, “but there’s no visible beach protection and the island would suffer from huge erosion – the beach would just disappear – while sedimentation could kill the surrounding reef.”

“I don’t know if I should laugh about it or cry about the degradation of human species,” said another, after seeing the images.

Nonetheless should the Maldives hesitate in its embrace of the concept, “we have received offers of cooperation from the owners of islands in Greece and the Carribean,” Pukiene noted.

“Currently, the experts are studying the benefits of 12 islands. We do not exclude the possibility of opening several blondes resorts, because the interest in the project is huge.”

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Islamic Foundation condemns reports of “pre-emptive” anti-terrorism bill

Comments made by government officials to Indian magazine The Week, concerning the potential for homegrown terrorism in the Maldives, risk portraying the country as a safe haven for terrorists and creating problems for Maldivians overseas, the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives has said.

The cover feature of The Week quoted a “Maldivian intelligence official” as saying that the spread of an extremist belief system in the Maldives “is fueled by hate preachers like Sheikh Fareed and Sheikh Ilyas. Both are [under surveillance],” the magazine reported a “Maldivian intelligence official” as saying, adding that a large section of Maldivian youth were becoming “hooked” to ideas of “transnational jihad”.

“The signs are ominous as seven radicals chose to contest the Maldivian polls in 2008. Though all [of them] lost, we found that Islam is being increasingly used as a political tool in Maldivian affairs,” the magazine quoted the intelligence official as saying.

In response, the Islamic Foundation warned that the government was raising such concerns and allegations “at a time when there is a tremendous rise in religious awareness and people’s attempts to return to mainstream Islam.”

“Apart from the threat of being arrested and interrogated by authorities abroad and being kept under surveillance by foreign governments, the government’s action may create obstacles and insecurity for the Muslim religious scholars and the people of Maldives in travelling abroad,” the Islamic Foundation said in a statement.

“We also call the government to stop stereotyping the people of this country with the hope of getting financial benefits from the enemies of Islam. We also urge the individuals involved in such acts to get repent and return to the Path of Allah.”

In the statement, the Islamic Foundation expressed specific concern about the forthcoming counter-terrorism bill The Week revealed the government was drafting, reportedly in consultation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Interpol.

“If the proposed bill has been passed, the law enforcement authorities would get a free hand to crackdown on religious activities with the pretext to preserve national security. The law is likely to provide an ample opportunity for the authorities to arrest Muslim religious scholars and extradite them or send them abroad for investigation, and also ban preaching Islam in public or conduct sermons and lectures to a wider audience,” the Foundation warned.

In the article, Deputy Commissioner of Maldives Police Service Ahmed Muneer is quoted as claiming that the bill would “provide sufficient powers to act pre-emptively on national security matters.”

“Our radical preachers are enjoying street credibility and radicalisation is visible at the street level. It’s a problem for us, but things would aggravate if the radicals get integrated into Maldivian politics,” Muneer told the magazine.

Speaking to newspaper Haveeru yesterday, Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad confirmed work on bill and said it was an attempt by the government “to bring in a legislative framework due to our concerns.”

“We are not sure whether the laws and regulations currently in effect provide a complete solution to the issues that we face at present. Other nations of the world also deal with such issues through special legislations. So our security forces will also be able to deal with such issues through the necessary legislation,” Dr Sawad told Haveeru.

In response to reports of the bill, the Islamic Foundation said it “will not be intimidated by any threats from the Maldives government, the Zionist Israel and United States (the self proclaimed super-power) to abandon its work to propagate Islam in this country.”

The Islamic Foundation has also been highly critical of the Maldives’ government’s foreign policy following its decision to allow Israeli eye doctors to perform free surgery in the country during a visit in early December 2010.

The Foundation called on the government to “shun all medical aid from the Zionist regime” prior to the arrival of the seven eye surgeons, claiming that Isreali doctors “have become notorious for illegally harvesting organs from non-Jews around the world.”

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‘Telemedicine’ tackles geographic challenges of medicine in the Maldives

The government will introduce ‘telemedicine’ services to three islands this week, according to Health Minister Dr Aiminath Jameel, while the Ministry is also training healthcare staff in the use of the technology in conjunction with the Maldives College of Higher Education (MCHE).

Telemedicine is a combination of medical and telecommunication equipment that allows doctors to examine patients hundreds of kilometres away, usually with the assistance of a trained nurse at the patient’s end.

The Maldives’ first telemedicine facility was donated by Dhiraagu in late December 2010, and installed on Thinadhoo in Gaaf Dhaal at a cost of Rf 2 million (US$155,000). Further services are to be rolled out to Kudahuvadhoo (Dhaal Atoll), Eydhafushi (Baa Atoll), Naifaru (Lhaviyani Atoll) and eventually the southern atoll of Fuvahmulah, in a Rf 5.8 million (US$450,000) joint project between the government and the UAE-based Khalifa Al Nahyan Foundation, and will ultimately service 35 islands across the country.

Technologically ‘telemedicine’ ranges from two laptops and a webcam with a consulting doctor at one end and nurse at the other, to set-ups involving remote diagnostic equipment capable of compressing and sending complex medical imaging data across low-bandwidth connections – a challenge in many isolated areas with poor connectivity. Such deployments are seen as a practical application for unified communications technology developed by networking giants such as Cisco and Polycom, and is used all over world to supply medical expertise in remote and isolated communities in places such as Africa and Australia.

The particular system donated by Dhiraagu includes a cart consisting of a general exam camera, digital electronic stethoscope, dermascope, ENT otoscope, telephonic stethoscope, digital spirometer, 12 lead interpretive ECG, and digital vital signs monitor.

A statement from the company noted that the equipment would allow doctors to remotely check blood pressure, pulse rate, diagnose and follow-up respiratory illnesses as well as see the patient over the webcam.
The donation allows the telecom firm to show of its connectivity as well as fulfill its corporate social responsibility objectives, said Dhiraagu spokesperson Mohamed Mirshan Hassan, while the technology itself was a natural fit for an island nation such as the Maldives.

“Many patients currently need to travel to their regional hospital or Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’. With telemedicine, a health assistant and a consulting hospital can mean the patient avoids having to travel long distances and gains increased access to medical care. And the doctor at the other end can be anywhere in the world.”

Image: An example of a common telemedicine cart.
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Eco Centres in the spotlight as Kuramathi centre wins prestigious industry prize

European travel and tourism group TUI has awarded the Eco-Centre at Kuramathi its ‘International Environmental Award’, “recognising its exemplary contribution to the protection and conservation of nature and biodiversity” and in particluar its work protecting coral reefs in the Maldives.

The award, which includes a prize of €10,000 (US$13,500), was presented during a ceremony held at the resort yesterday attended by President Mohamed Nasheed.

While many resorts in the Maldives now run eco-centres and environmental awareness programs, a trend that has grown in parallel with the increasing eco-awareness of guests from leading markets such as the UK. The Kuramathi centre, currently headed by Dr Reinhard Kikinger, is one of the oldest such facilities in the country. It was founded in 1999 by Director of Universal Resorts Ali Noradeen, in response to catastrophic coral bleaching caused by the el Niño effect which destroyed 95 percent of the country’s shallow reef coral – a disaster from which the country’s coral is still recovering.

“Water pollution and over exploitation through tourism can lead to irreparable damage,” TUI said in a statement following the event.

“The compelling concept of the Kuramathi Eco Centre was bringing nature conservation and tourism into harmony based on research, the sustainable use of resources and the raising of public awareness, which are performed in cooperation with TUI and the local population.”

Eco-conscious trend

Many resorts in the Maldives now run eco-centres and environmental awareness programs, a trend that has grown in parallel with the increasing eco-awareness of guests from leading markets such as the UK.

Marine biologist Verena Wiesbauer Ali, currently a consultant with Male’-based Water Solutions but who has worked at resorts all over the country, explained that the concept of running an eco-centre and employing a resident marine biologist was one that took off in the Maldives after increasingly eco-conscious guests began to ask more and more questions of resort staff.

“The first centre was opened at Kuramathi, but in 2009 I counted 12-15 centres at resorts across the Maldives. There will be many more by now,” she said.

Many of the marine biologists and eco-centres in the Maldives communicate with each other over a lively online newsgroup, reporting aquatic abnormalities and swapping tips on how to convince resort managements of the potential impacts of practices such as manta and sting ray feeding exhibitions (with one suggesting that feeding mantas leads them to mob snorkelers, who can panic and potentially stand on a sting ray).

Initially, Wiesbauer said, there was an assumption among many resorts that a marine station generated no income and was just “a luxury addition” to the resort – “but I believe that if run properly, they do [generate revenue] – I did my Masters thesis on it. ”

Guided dives and snorkel tours, and presentations on marine life and reef protection, might be the most self-evident activities of a marine station or eco-centre, Wiesbauer explained, but broadening the role of marine biologists to incorporate other aspects of the resort could greatly improve its sustainability – literally, in cases of beach erosion.

“As well as guiding snorkeling tours they can help improve things like energy efficiency, and even things like the purchasing department – for example, there are currently a lot of illegal transactions going on around the purchase of lobsters [from local fishermen]. Only a few resorts have asked their marine biologists to make sure the lobsters they are buying meet minimum size limits.”

Some resorts, Verena noted, were heavily involved in marine research – with academic work carrying the potential to greatly enhance the prestige of a resort.

“For a resort to fully benefit, the marine biologist has to be involved in many departments,” she explained. The end result – ‘going green’ – was a highly marketable benefit in key European markets such as the UK, and at upmarket resorts such as Soneva Fushi, a key feature of the resort.

A rising trend at many resorts with eco-centres was to develop them into focal points for environmental awareness programmes and marine biology classes in nearby communities and schools – effectively exporting the resort’s eco-knowhow to the community, as the Kuramathi centre does with neighbouring Rasdhoo.

“This is something that is especially important for resorts in the outer atolls,” Wiesbauer said, observing that in her experience many local teachers lacked enthusiasm for the field work and expeditions needed to bring the subject alive for young students.

“Mostly it is taught [in the Maldives] as a scientific, book-based subject, and the kids say it is not being made clear to them. Things like the nature expeditions for schools organised by Soneva are very successful.”

However resorts, she acknowledged, were very different from each other and not all had the scope for an in-house marine biologist – some relied on visiting consultants, others disregarded the concept altogether.

“Some resorts focus on diving and snorkelling, while at others guests hardly ever go in the water,” Wiesbauer said.

Nonetheless, she suggested, while there was a balance to be struck between sustainability and providing the five star luxuries such as monsoon showerheads that many guests expected, it was important to provide visitors a choice when it came to simple things – such as reusing towels. Far from feeling inconvenienced, guests were usually very supportive of such measures, she said: “across all the resorts I’ve worked, I haven’t once had a guest come up and say to me ‘I’ve paid thousands to be here, I can do what I like.’”

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Verena Wiesbauer Ali was presently completing her Masters. She has completed her Masters and is now working on her PhD.

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