A marine biologist working in the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve has reported the discovery of the remains of a baby shark and endangered sea turtle barbecue on the uninhabited island of Funadhoo, one of the country’s 14 priority nesting beaches legally protected under Maldivian law.
Marine biologist with local environmental consultancy Seamarc, Sylvia Jagerroos, was participating in a beach clean up on August 24 with local people when the group came across the scene.
“We had removed fishing lines, nets, and other marine debris and of course all the garbage from the beach. This consisted mainly of plastic bottles, and that day we found many red bull cans,” she said.
The group then discovered the slaughtered remains of a large, one metre adult nesting green turtle and 2-3 newborn lemon sharks, “still smoking on the barbecue”, surrounded by smashed eggshells.
“We found where the killing took place, there was a lot of blood in the sand, and maybe what was the trace of the turtle crawling to try and nest. I don´t know if she was killed before or after the nesting. I didn’t find any nest, so if there was one then probably all the eggs were eaten already,” Jagerroos said.
“I went snorkeling and found the remains of the turtle in the nearby waters, including the head. Some bones and flippers, were discarded a couple of meters from the barbecue. I also found the remains of baby lemon sharks on the barbecue. The lemon sharks was a newborn sized only around 50-60 cm, the meat had been removed and eaten. My theory is that they saw the green turtle nesting and killed her immediately, while slaughtering and throwing in the pieces in the ocean. The baby sharks were attracted to the smell and since they swim in very shallow waters it’s a piece of cake to catch them.”
Jagerroos noted that the Maldives had proclaimed itself the world’s second shark sanctuary in March 2009.
“For a marine biologist to find a juvenile sickle fin lemon shark on the grill when this creature is listed as “Vulnerable on the red list” with the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and is already extinct in many nearby countries, hurts,” she said.
The catching and consumption of turtles is banned across the Maldives, and turtles – together with many other species – are especially protected in the biosphere reserve.
However turtle eggs are considered a local delicacy and can fetch up to MVR 10 each – a single nest can contain between 100-200. The practice is generally not illegal, but is prohibited on the country’s nesting islands.
Marine biologists working on resorts in the atoll have also privately complained of boatloads of local poachers sneaking onto the islands at night without lights or noisy engines, after hearing of the discovery of a nest of eggs. In some instances, resorts have been forced to post security guards to protect the nests from poachers.
Baa Atoll was in June 2011 added to the UN body’s global list of biosphere reserves after five years of lobbying by the government, placing it in the company of world famous sites such as the Komodo in Indonesia, Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) in Australia and the Galapagos Islands.
The Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve was officially launched alongside with Baa Atoll Conservation Fund by President Mohamed Waheed in July 2012 at a ceremony in the atoll’s capital of Eydhafushi. At the ceremony, the UNDP presented a cheque for US$250,000 as a contribution to the fund, on behalf of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Jagerroos said the team had called the Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) ranger at Hanifaaru Bay – a world famous habitat for mantas and whale sharks – “and he said they’d look into it. But they’d have to patrol the whole area – it’s too big,” she acknowledged.
Director General of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Ibrahim Naeem said he was not aware of the incident or that it had been reported to the Hanifaaru Bay ranger, and referred Minivan News to the Ministry of Fisheries which he said was responsible for sharks and turtles.
“It is not allowed to catch and eat turtles. There is no such ban for eggs. Even in the biosphere there are actions that are allowed,” Naeem said.
Minivan News is seeking comment from the Ministry of Fisheries.
On the afternoon of February 7, 2012, the Maldives was set to sign into existence a plan that would have revolutionised the country’s energy sector, immediately attracting US$200 million of risk-mitigated renewable energy investment. It was proposed that investment would eventually reach US$2-3 billion – a gigantic step towards the country’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2020.
The Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) proposal was produced by the Renewable Energy Investment Office (REIO) under President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, and driven by Nasheed’s Energy Advisor Mike Mason – an unpaid position.
Mason, a UK national, former mining engineer and expert on renewable energy, carbon finance and offsetting, collected and analysed data on energy use and the existing diesel infrastructure across the Maldives.
He discovered that the Maldives was facing an energy crisis that was as much economic as it was existential.
The greater Male’ region generates 30 MW, with a further 8-10 MW for industrial purposes, while government utilities across the island chain generate a further 18 MW. The tourist resorts privately produce and consume 70 MW.
The SREP plan reveals the scale of the problem: “If the oil price rises to $150/bbl by 2020, and consumption grows by four percent per annum, oil imports are expected to reach around US$700 million – or almost US$2,000 per head of population.
“This is clearly unsustainable. Decarbonisation is at least as much a matter of national economic security and social welfare as it is a matter of environmental concern,” the report notes.
Energy revolution
Former Energy Advisor Mike Mason
Mason calculated that solar photovoltaic (PV) could be supplied directly to consumers at US$0.23 per kWh during the day, but only at US$0.44 per kWh from batteries at night. However an optimum mix of solar, battery and wind could supply 80 percent of power requirements at US$0.36 per kWh. Biomass could be supplied to Male at US$0.16 per kWh, or US$0.20 a kWh including capital.
Mason compared this to the volatile cost of import-dependent diesel generation, which ranged from US$0.28 per kWh hour in Male’, and up to US$0.70 per kWh on some of the most inefficient islands.
Existing solar initiatives in the Maldives, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)’s 675 kWh of solar panelling on schools and other public facilities across Male’, were “stupidly priced, uneconomic, symbolic, and don’t address the problem of energy storage,” Mason noted. He also proposed that large scale wind generation suffered from extreme seasonal variability and risked impacting the stability of the grid.
Mason concluded that the most realistic and commercially-viable renewable option was to run 90 percent of the country on solar supplemented by small-scale wind power, while a 24 megawatt biomass plant could provide the baseload of the greater Male’ region at more than 40 percent less than existing rates.
The pricing was attractive, but the challenge was attracting the significant upfront capital investment required: “with renewables, on day one you buy 20 years of electricity,” Mason explained.
Attracting this capital investment was therefore crucial, however “because of its political history and economic inheritance, the Government of Maldives is poorly placed to raise capital at normal ‘sovereign’ rates of interest,” the SREP report noted.
This was to be a key innovation in Mason’s proposal: rather than pour donor funding into myriad haphazard capital-intensive renewable energy projects, Mason’s plan was to instead use the available World Bank and Asia Development Bank funding to dramatically reduce the commercial and sovereign risks for foreign investors, lowering the cost of capital to attractive levels comparable to other countries.
“In practice, the guarantees may not be needed for all projects or by all developers, and once the Maldives becomes an established destination for renewable development finance the need for guarantees is expected to diminish,” the SREP proposal notes.
“Right now the cost of capital, if you are in Germany, is very low. In a country like the Maldives, it is stupidly high,” Mason explained to Minivan News.
“If [the Maldives] wants to get somewhere it has to take out the risk – at least risks not in control of the investor. If you can do that, then the cost of capital drops to 6-7 percent – about the same as a powerplant [in the West]. The whole thing becomes economic – the sensible thing to do – rather than a matter of subsidies,” he explained.
The World Bank team working on the project had given verbal approval for the plan, describing it as one of the most “exciting and transformative” projects of its kind in any country, according to Mason.
“It was a shoo-in. But the coup happened the day we were due to submit it – later that very day, in fact,” he said.
Amid the disintegrating political situation, the decision was made to suspend the submission.
“The whole point of the plan was to take out the instability. The thing about a coup is that it takes that model and turns it upside down,” Mason told Minivan News.
As the political instability increased, so did the cost of capital. Investors who had been “queuing up” made their excuses.
In an email exchange, incoming President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan requested that Mason continue with the submission and remain in his current position as Energy Advisor.
Mason chose to resign.
“I don’t think Dr Waheed is a bad man – actually I like him a lot personally,” he wrote, in an email to an official in the Trade Ministry obtained by Minivan News. “However, he has done nothing to assure me that this is really a democratic process. Rather, my intelligence tells me this is a Gayoom inspired coup with Dr. Waheed as an unfortunate puppet.”
Mason added that if the new government sought political accommodation with the MDP, made “a concerted attempt to remove the corrupt judiciary”, and ceased police brutality “so that people can walk the streets freely as in any other civilised country”, “then I will be back on side in the blink of an eye.”
“I have given the best part of my life to this over the last 18 months, but I fear I have a set of democratic and moral principles that override other considerations,” Mason stated.
President Waheed responded on March 23:
“It would be nice if you listened to something other than Nasheed’s propaganda. He is free to go anywhere he wants and say what ever he wants,” Waheed wrote.
“Have you ever thought that Nasheed could have made a stupid mistake under the influence of what ever he was on and blown everything away? I thought you had more intelligence than to think that I am someone’s puppet and Maldives is another dictatorship,” the President said.
Further emails obtained by Minivan News show that Waheed’s new government was interested in continuing with the submission of the SREP plan.
“I am certain that this is the wrong time to press ahead with the SREP IP. It relies at its heart on getting the cost of capital down by reducing risk,” wrote Mason, to a government official.
“That is not believable in an atmosphere in which [airport developer] GMR is being attacked as an investor in infrastructure; the legal system is, frankly, corrupt so contracts cannot be relied upon; the politics are (in the most charitable possible interpretation) a major risk factor; and the President has no parliamentary party of consequence. I also doubt that the SREP sub-committee will approve funding the plan as they too will see through the plan to the problems (or at least they should if they are any good),” he wrote.
“If things clear up, and faith in democracy and the rule of law is restored than a second go at this would be worth while – but meantime I am sceptical. A much more limited and less ambitious plan – say for the smaller islands only, might fly.”
The very premise of the plan – mitigating investor risk – had been scuttled by the political upheaval and both domestic and international challenges to the legitimacy of Waheed’s government, said Mason.
“Even if I did work with Waheed, I couldn’t deliver the plan now [because of falling] investor confidence,” he told Minivan News. “[The perpetrators] have destroyed US$2-3 billion worth of investment and condemned the country to an unstable economic future based upon diesel.”
Climate of crisis
Earlier this month President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said the new government would “not completely” reverse the previous government’s zero carbon strategy: “What we are aiming to do is to elaborate more on individual sustainable issues and subject them to national debate. Previously, these discussions on sustainability were not subjected to a national debate, such as through parliament,” Riza said.
President Waheed last week attended the Rio +20 summit and announced the Maldives’ intentions to become the world’s largest marine reserve in five years.
During his speech in Rio, Waheed also pledged that the Maldives would “cover 60 percent of our electricity needs with solar power, and the rest with a combination of biofuels, other clean technologies and some conventional energy.”
“Progress towards achieving these goals is slow because of the huge financial and technological investments involved. If we are, as a global community, committed to the concept of transitioning to a green economy, then developing countries will need significant financial and technical support,” the President stated, going on to appeal for financial assistance.
“A small island state like the Maldives cannot, on its own, secure the future we want. We rely on our international partners to ensure that their development paths are sustainable and don’t negatively impact on vulnerable countries like the Maldives,” Waheed said.
Former President Nasheed’s Climate Change Advisor – UK-based author, journalist and environmental activist Mark Lynas, who drew a monthly stipend of Rf10,000 (US$648) for expenses – told Minivan News that the loss of democratic legitimacy in the Maldives had destroyed its ability to make a moral stand on climate change-related issues, and be taken seriously.
“I think that the Maldives is basically a has-been in international climate circles now,” Lynas said.
“The country is no longer a key player, and is no longer on the invite list to the meetings that matter. Partly this is a reflection of the political instability – other countries no longer have a negotiating partner that they know and understand,” he said.
“Partly, I think it is because of the lack of democratic legitimacy of the current regime – in the climate negotiations the entire ask of the small island and vulnerable countries is based on their moral authority to speak on behalf of those who are most suffering from the impacts of climate change.
“Yet Waheed and his representatives have no moral authority because they were not elected, have strong connections with corrupt and violent elements of the former dictatorship, and took power in the dubious circumstances of a police coup,” Lynas argued.
The government’s high expenditure on international public firms such as Ruder Finn – also responsible for the Philip Morris campaign disputing the health hazards of smoking – had further undermined its credibility with journalists across the world, Lynas said.
“Journalists and others are aware that the Waheed regime has hired PR agencies to act on its behalf – which makes them doubly suspicious. It is widely understood that the Maldives post-coup government has no real interest in the climate issue, but is instead trying to use it as a greenwashing tool in order to buff its credentials abroad and in order to obscure its undemocratic nature at home. I don’t think this will work, as it is hardly very subtle and journalists are not stupid,” said Lynas.
“The Maldives has lost many years of work already – it has little credibility left with donors or international investors. Investors and donors alike are looking for stability and strong governance – and they will not get either of those whilst the political system is essentially deadlocked between competing parties, with regular protests and ensuing police violence.
“In climate terms the Maldives is well on its way to becoming a failed state – I see no prospect of it achieving Nasheed’s 2020 carbon neutral goal, even if that goal is still official policy,” Lynas said. “I think time has basically run out now – unless there are early elections quickly and a legitimate government re-established there is no real prospect of resurrecting the Maldives’ leadership on climate change. By 2013, it will certainly be too late – other countries will have overtaken it and the Maldives will essentially be left behind.”
President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan on Wednesday officially launched the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and Baa Atoll Conservation Fund at a special ceremony held in Eydhafushi.
The President, in his speech, appealed for support from everyone in protecting the environment.
“Discussions about the biosphere came in August 2009 when I was still the Vice President. I advised that this should be done with suggestions from the people of Baa Atoll,” said the President.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Environment and Energy Dr Mariyam Shakeela remarked that Baa Atoll obtaining the status of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve was a source of national pride to Maldivians. She said that the Biosphere Reserve is a Maldivian contribution to the global effort to conserve the environment.
In the ceremony, Azusa Kubota from UNDP handed over a cheque for US$250,000 as a contribution to the fund, on behalf of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Treasur,y Ismail Shafeeq, also handed over a cheque for US$50,000 dollars to the fund.
The Baa Atoll Conservation fund will be used to finance projects to conserve the environment in Baa Atoll as well support livelihood activities. The fund is a collaborative effort between the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
In her speech, Azusha Kubota said the Conservation fund is the first of its kind in the country and marked an important milestone for the people of the Maldives.
Tourist resorts in Baa Atoll, including Soneva Fushi, Coco Palm, Four Seasons and Anantara and several other resorts have pledged to donate to the fund.
On his trip to Baa Atoll, the President also officially opened the Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve Office, which will manage and develop the reserve. The office will function under the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
One person from Eydhafushi was arrested following clashes between police and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters who had tried to cross into the police cordoned area. The President received a warmer welcome from supporters who lined up near the jetty further away from the MDP protesters.
Baa Atoll, which includes Hanifaru Bay, an area world-renowned for sighting whale sharks and manta rays, was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in June 2011, after more than five years of lobbying by the government.
The process which led to the declaration was supported by the Atoll Ecosystem-based Conservation (AEC) Project, led by the government with support from the UNDP and funding from the GEF. The AEC works to establish protected areas and promote economically and environmentally sustainable livelihood practices for ecosystem conservation in Baa Atoll.
The project received US$2.7 million dollars from the UNDP and US$1.3 million dollars from GEF.
World Biosphere Reserves are places where conservation, research and development successfully interconnect. They integrate biological and cultural diversity, combining core protected areas with zones where sustainable development – and innovative approaches to it – are fostered, tested and developed by locals and enterprises alike.
Parents all over the world want to live in a way that ensures the best possible future for their children and grandchildren. This must also be the goal for the world’s leaders when we meet in Rio.
I am working for a more just world. At the same time, parents all over the world want their children to have a better life than they have had. This is why we must promote economic growth and create jobs and security for millions of people. We must encourage the use of more climate friendly technology and more sustainable development. And those who create most pollution must also do most to cut emissions.
The Maldives are by no means among these nations, yet the island state ranks high on the list of countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The low lying coral islands are susceptible to the threat of seasonal storms, high tides and long term sea level rise – factors which probably will be more intense and frequent in the future. Sustainable development in the Maldives is indeed linked to the effective local, national and global management of the environment and natural resources.
This year it is 20 years since sustainable development first hit the agendas of world leaders, when Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian prime minister at that time, launched this new approach to development and environment at the World Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In June, world leaders will once again gather in Rio. This next UN summit – Rio+20 – will be a new opportunity to agree on how to achieve growth and welfare and at the same time protect the environment.
We need to find ways of making growth sustainable. We also need to distribute revenues more equitably as countries become richer. At the moment, every fifth person worldwide lacks access to electricity. Twice as many – three billion people – have to gather fuel to cook their food and heat their homes. The smoke from inefficient stoves is harmful and claims the lives of nearly two million people every year. This is unfair, it is a waste of resources, and is unsustainable. Instead, children should have time to go to school, and adults to take paid work.
In the rich part of the world, we waste electricity and use more than our fair share of the planet’s energy resources. The widespread use of energy from oil, gas and coal is causing dangerous climate change. In Norway, buildings account for 40 percent of all energy use. We can halve our electricity consumption use by 2040 by improving the energy efficiency of buildings – and at the same time live more comfortably and reduce our electricity bills. We are already beginning to feel the impacts of interference with the climate system. But the consequences for those who come after us will be far more serious.
In this dire situation, the Maldives are taking several vital steps; most important is probably the ground breaking plan to become the world’s first carbon neutral nation. The recent establishment of the Baa Atoll biosphere conservation office is another major achievement for the country, and represents an important national follow up of Baa Atoll being declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in July of last year.
I understand that The Maldives have prepared well for the summit in Rio. I look forward to meet Maldivian counterparts in Brazil.
Food is another key area. According to UN figures, about a third of all food is thrown away or destroyed. Every one of us in the rich part of the world throws away an average of 100 kg of food a year. In Norway alone, 500 000 tonnes of food goes into the bin. At the same time, more than a billion people are going hungry. Even in poor countries, a good deal of food is wasted, partly because of poor roads and inadequate storage facilities. If we are to feed all the children in the world properly, we must make some major changes.
These are some of the issues we will be discussing in Rio. Governments, NGOs, researchers and representatives of the business sector from all over the world will work together to identify opportunities. We all agree that the way we are living today is not sustainable. But it is much more difficult to find solutions that everyone can agree to because the key is more equitable distribution. Aid from rich countries to poor countries is one way of improving the situation. But aid is most effective when it stimulates private investment and enables a country to develop its own solutions. Poor countries now have better opportunities to choose environmentally friendly solutions than we had during our industrialisation.
But this is far from enough. The financial crisis, and the elections in a number of key countries, is deflecting the attention of politicians and the general public towards domestic problems and short-term prospects. Rio+20 reminds us that the most serious challenges require the ability to think along new lines. World leaders need to cooperate more closely. We must create the political will needed to ensure that Rio+20 is a milestone towards sustainable development. We must find solutions that make sustainable development profitable.
We cannot produce enough food for everyone simply by producing more food. We also need to look at the whole value chain from farm to fork. When food is lost during harvesting and storage, small farmers lose income and poor consumers must pay higher prices. We must therefore invest in better methods of food production, in infrastructure and in technology that will reduce food waste and bring more food to more people.
Norway is seeking to ensure that Rio+20 culminates in new goals for sustainable energy. We support UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s focus on energy for all. His aim is to double the use of renewable energy and the efficiency of existing energy use by 2030. To do this, we must all work together. The business sector is playing a decisive role in the implementation of the new technology that is needed to achieve these goals.
In the worst case, Rio+20 will be too much talk and not enough action. The pessimists are already pointing out that the UN has been unable to resolve major global problems on several occasions. But the UN is the only arena where all the countries of the world come together to address these issues
We must all make use of Rio+20 as an opportunity to improve the UN’s ability to take action and stake out a pathway of equitable green growth. We are working towards an agreement on new goals for sustainable development. This will require both rich and poor countries to take appropriate steps at home. We must ensure that the world we leave to our children’s grandchildren is a place where everyone can afford to take part. That will require bold decisions at Rio+20 and in the coming years.
Heikki Holmås is the Norwegian Minister of International Development. Photo: Berit Roald, Scanpix
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
The government will “not completely” reverse the former government’s carbon neutral policies outlined by President Mohamed Nasheed during his three years in office, the President’s Office has said.
President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza told Minivan News the government was this week expecting to unveil details of a new environmental strategy for the nation. Riza claimed this strategy would seek to play up national debate about sustainable practices at both an island and national level.
Riza’s comments were made as the government this month launches a number of environment-themed events to coincide with the Rio+20 sustainable development summit that is taking place in Brazil between June 20 and June 22.
Meanwhile, former President Mohamed Nasheed, who maintains he was removed from office in February under a “coup d’etat”, claimed it would be “impossible” for the present government to outline sustainable development strategies unless it had the stability of a democratic mandate.
Abbas however maintained that President Waheed would “not totally reverse” Nasheed’s environmental commitments towards carbon neutral policies.
“In the next 24 hours or so we will hope to be unveil more details of our new strategy. We will not be enacting a 180 degree change in direction to the previous government’s zero carbon strategy,” he claimed. “What we are aiming to do is to elaborate more on individual sustainable issues and subject them to national debate. Previously, these discussions on sustainability were not subjected to a national debate, such as through parliament.”
The former government conducted a number of high-profile exercises in a bid to raise the profile of its efforts to secure funding and assistance to make the country carbon neutral by 2020, such as the now internationally famous underwater cabinet meeting.
Riza added that the government was looking to establish new laws and regulations to safeguard nationwide sustainable commitments. There had been “very little” debate on environmental policy in parliament during Nasheed’s presidency, Riza said.
Destination: Rio
The Rio +20 Conference taking place later this month aims to bring together world leaders, NGOs and private sector representatives to outline new directions for political commitments on overcoming the challenges setting back sustainable development.
According to the Maldives government, the conference will focus on bolstering green economies to relieve poverty, as well as improving coordination between various international bodies and national authorities.
In the lead up to the event, the Maldives has launched a new social media service on Facebook, the Future of Maldives Sustainable Development, which details work presently being conducted by authorities towards eco-friendly commitments.
In the next few weeks, a number of sustainability themed events will be held around the country. These include a no-vehicle day in Male’, which will see non-emergency traffic banned from the capital’s roads for several hours next Tuesday (June 12), a renewable energy exchange at schools, and the launch of a Climate Change Trust Fund.
Presidential promotion
During his inaugural address in March, President Waheed claimed that like former President Nasheed, he would remain an internationally outspoken proponent on the plight of small nations facing the destructive impacts of climate change.
“The government will encourage the voice of small island nations to be heard in the global arena with regard to climate change,” stated the president. “The Maldives will always participate in voicing the concerns of small island nations.”
The president was heckled on multiple occasions whilst trying to give his constitutionally mandated address to parliament by MPs of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which continues challenge the legitimacy of Dr Waheed’s government and demand early elections.
Waheed eventually delivered a truncated speech in April during a rescheduled Majlis session, amid loud protests in the parliament chamber and violent clashes between civilians and police in the capital.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed has meanwhile remained an outspoken advocate for the Maldives’ efforts to adopt wide-scale carbon neutral practices.
In an interview prior to the screening of the Island President at the Hay Festival in the UK, the former president said the lack of a stable government in the Maldives would set back efforts to promote its sustainable policies and interests internationally.
“It is going to be very difficult for us to adapt to climate change if we do not have a solid and secure democratic government,” Nasheed told the UK Daily Telegraph newspaper.
In the months following his controversial resignation, Nasheed visited the US to raise awareness on the current political upheaval in the country, as well the documentary film, “The Island President” in a tour that saw him appearing on prime time TV and at talks across the country.
The documentary film chronicles his government’s ambitious pledge to become a carbon neutral nation by 2020, and has received increased global coverage since Nasheed was removed from office.
Speaking to Conde Nast Traveler to promote the film at the time, Nasheed expressed hope that the country would continue to work towards becoming carbon neutral, even as he challenged the legitimacy of Dr Waheed’s government.
“We were making real progress. I hope the government will continue our policies. But you can’t have good policies without democracy. And you won’t address the climate change crisis without good policies,” Nasheed told journalist Dorinda Elliott. “All democratic movements must talk about both climate change and human rights.”
In March, local environmental NGO Bluepeace claimed that ongoing political uncertainty in the country and questions over the legitimacy of the current government had set back the country’s commitments to sustainable development.
Bluepeace Director Ahmed Ikram said discussions on domestic environmental commitments were being sidelined by increasingly partisan political thinking throughout the country.
Ikram claimed that the national media was also not providing much coverage or promotion to climate change adoption in the Maldives. He alleged this was in part due to sections of the media favouring the former president’s political opponents, reflecting the politicisation of environmental commitments.
“We support [former] President Nasheed. Yes there are times when we may have disagreed with his policies, but we still supported him as our president,” said Ikram. “What we are experiencing today – with Maldivian businesses making use of solar panels – are the benefits of Nasheed’s work on the environment.”
Despite his personal criticisms of the current government and the long-term prospects for democracy in the country, Ikram said Bluepeace fully supported the present government’s role in supporting projects such as the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Earth Hour initiative.
Asked if he felt that Maldivians were committed to long-term conservation beyond one-off annual events such as Earth Hour, Ikram said the Maldivian public were generally committed in adapting to climate change.
“I believe that the Maldivian people are the ones who will serve as climate change champions in the end,” he said.
International perspective
Despite Nasheed’s high-profile climate activism, Greenpeace in 2010 told Minivan News that the Maldives acted more “as a symbol than a practical demonstration” of how national development and fighting climate change can be mutually exclusive.
“The Maldives can become a strong proponent of a paradigm shift in the World Bank and in developing countries whereby it is recognised that fighting climate change and promoting development go hand in hand,” said Wendel Trio, Climate Policy and Global Deal Coordinator for Greenpeace International.
The Maldives will be represented through cultural dances on the big stage at Expo 2012 in South Korea.
An estimated 10 million people from around the world are expected to visit the three-month Expo held in South Korea’s coastal city of Yeosu.
The slogan for this year’s Expo is “The Living Ocean and Coast.” The Maldives’ slogan under this theme is “99% ocean, 1% sand, 100% Maldives”. The Maldives pavillion is designed depicting beautiful underwater scenery and Maldivian culture.
The main focus of the Expo 2012 is on the importance of preserving marine and coastal environments. The exhibition will offer a “golden opportunity for resolving imminent ocean-related problems facing developing countries,” according to the Expo 2012’s official website.
“The Maldives will use the opportunity to gain maximum exposure to potential tourists to the country, in line with the Government’s target of attracting one million tourists to Maldives this year,” said Senior Marketing Officer of the Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC), Fathmath Raheel.
Raheel said the MMPRC has invited local parties interested in selling Maldivian souveniers at the Korean Expo.
“Selling souveniers and authentic Maldivian products will be a very good way to inform people about the Maldives. We will provide assistance to any groups interested in doing this with their own funds at the expo,” Raheel told Minivan News.
The Maldives participation is sponsored by the government of South Korea.
In addition to the cultural dances performed at the Maldives pavillion as well as on the Expo stage, a one-day seminar on the travel trade will be held.
Each of the 104 participating countries will celebrate the National Day of their countries at the Expo. The Maldives’ National Day event will be held on June 4.
South Korea is among the top 10 countries in tourist arrivals to Maldives this year, with 6554 visitors arriving from January to April – growth of 20.9 percent on the same period last year.
“The South Korea market is expected to perform extremely well this year,” the MMPRC observed in its April report. “There is possibility of direct flights from South Korea to the Maldives which would further boost the market.”
Last year the country contributed 2.7 percent of tourist arrivals to Maldives.
A lack of consolidated institutions for climate governance poses key challenges to the Maldives’ effort to save the country from dangers of climate change.
One of the lowest-lying countries in the world, with an average elevation of 1.5 meters above sea level, the Maldives is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise.
In international climate negotiations, as a developing country and a member of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the Maldives has been a vocal advocate for strong mitigation and adaptation strategies against climate change.
The country has also been a recipient of large amounts of funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, under both bilateral and multilateral funding schemes.
According to a preliminary report on Climate Governance Integrity by Transparency Maldives, approximately US$160.5 million dollars is currently being spent on various projects through externally funded grants and loans.
However, the report stated that according to the Government, management of mitigation and adaptation projects has proven to be a difficult task as a result of limitations in human resources, institutional capacity, and local expertise in the field.
According to the report, the Maldives “lacks a comprehensible overall institutional framework and comprehensive policy for addressing climate change”.
The report stated that institutional rivalry and unclear mandates have resulted in confusion within institutions, in situations where one project is dealt with by two or more different institutions.
As as example, Transparency Maldives highlighted the Scaling up of Renewable Energy Projects (SREP). The project was initially planned and formulated by the Ministry of Housing and Environment (MHE) but was later handed over to the newly established Renewable Energy Investment Office (REIO) at the Ministry of Economic Development.
Challenges to climate governance include institutional mandates being in a “constant flux” in a transitional democracy, according to the report.
It noted that the former government appointed two presidential advisors – Mike Mason, an expert on renewable energy, carbon finance, and offsetting, and Mark Lynus, an environment activist and journalist – on climate change related policies, “both of whom resigned following the change of power on February 7. No new advisors have been appointed to date.”
The National Planning Council (NPC) under the Department of National Planning (DNP), one of the main bodies overseeing climate change projects, had ceased functioning following February 7 and was awaiting reform, the report noted.
The other major body providing expert advice on adaptation and mitigation efforts, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2020, was the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC), a 15 member body chaired by President Mohamed Waheed while he was Vice President. The report noted that in 2011 the CCAC only met twice, “even though they initially planned to meet every fortnight according to the government press statement [at the time].”
Speaking to Minivan News, Senior Project Coordinator at Transparency Maldives Azim Zahir said, “New institutions have being created and the mandates are constantly changing. The change of administration in February is likely to affect consolidation as well.”
Another major challenge to climate governance is the absense of a comprehensive database on climate change projects in the Maldives, Zahir said.
“There is not a single institution that has a complete database on climate projects. It is very difficult to gather information and this makes it harder to incorporate anti-corruption safeguards,” Zahir added.
Last year, the NGO stated that it was vital to strengthen the governance structure of the country to properly manage climate change funding in order to meet mitigation and adaptation targets.
The Maldives rose slightly to rank 134 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2011, a mild improvement on 2010 when the Maldives was ranked 143th – below Zimbabwe.
Project Director of Transparency Maldives, Aiman Rasheed, said at the time that the ranking could not be compared year-to-year, especially in the Maldives where there were only a three sources used to determine the index (India has six).
“Corruption in the Maldives is grand corruption, unlike neighbouring countries where much of it is petty corruption,” Rasheed said. “In the Maldives there is corruption across the judiciary, parliament and members of the executive, all of it interlinked, and a systemic failure of the systems in place to address this. That why we score so low.”
Pest control consultant Trudy Rilling-Collins, better known as the ‘Mosquito Lady’ has been working closely with Four Seasons Kuda Huraa resort and the local community of neighbouring Boda Huraa to introduce sustainable and environmentally friendly mosquito control procedures.
As the South-West monsoon season reaches the Maldives, wetter weather will bring rain to replenish the water tanks that provide safe drinking water for the people of the islands. But it is not just the human population who will be glad to see the clouds rolling overhead.
The increased rainfall is also particularly appealing to the country’s mosquito population, which will take full advantage of any available water in which they can lay their eggs. Any stagnant body of water will be most appreciated by Aedes aegypti and her cousin Aedes albopictus, the mosquito species that carry the dengue virus which has been afflicting Maldivians in increasing numbers in recent years.
Aedes aegypti will utilise any water available in which to lay her eggs. She will live for only one month, but in that time her larvae will take full advantage of any accommodating bucket, well, puddle, blocked drain or water tank.
She will sustain herself during this period by feeding exclusively on human blood, unlike her cousin who will happily feed off any red-blooded creature.
Aedes aegypti is a particular fan of mid-market tourism, preferring to find accommodation in close proximity to the local community. Eager to ingratiate herself with her human food supply, she can visit up to five people per blood meal, potentially passing the dengue virus to all she acquaints herself with.
She will be able to lay four lots of eggs in her lifetime which is more than long enough to see her young grow into fully grown biting adults, a process that takes only one week.
Fully booked
One place where Aedes aegypti and her kin will not receive a hospitable welcome this year, however, is on the resort island of Kuda Huraa in North Male’ Atoll and the inhabited island of Bodu Huraa next door.
The resort has this year enlisted the help of Trudy Rilling-Collins, otherwise known as ‘Mosquito Lady’, to ensure that its hospitality extends only to the human guests.
Trudy runs her own consultancy, specialising in environmentally responsible pest control, and has been working closely with Four Seasons Kuda Huraa and the Bodu Huraa community to ensure that there are no vacancies for dengue spreading visitors.
The resort on Kuda Huraa and the local community share a symbiotic relationship. The resort provides around 13 percent of the registered population in Bodu Huraa with jobs and has provided vital infrastructure to the local population.
The town’s sewerage system was provided by Four Seasons and the company has even assisted in providing fresh water to Bodu Huraa during the current dry season.
This close relationship is not lost on the mosquitos, who can easily travel the short distance between the islands, to feed happily from tourists and locals alike.
Trudy studied the biological control of insects and became disillusioned with the extensive use of harmful pesticides in what she sees as often futile attempts to control pests.
The use of pesticides in a diesel fuel carrier, referred to as fogging, is widely practised in the Maldives and throughout the tropical regions, although Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, which also pays for mosquito control in the two islands, has not fogged since Trudy’s arrival in April.
“The neurotoxins present in pesticides used for fogging on the islands have the same effects on humans that they have on the insects, it just takes far higher doses to affect humans,” said Trudy.
“Fogging kills only a small percentage of adults, five to ten percent if you’re lucky, and over time results in increased resistance,” she added.
Trudy believes that the key to mosquito control lies in making the area inhospitable to the pests: “80-90 percent of the problem can be sorted by eliminating standing water where mosquitoes breed.”
The effects of these chemicals are also harmful to the local environment, a particular concern for SEAMARC, a Maldivian an environmental consultancy that works closely with Four Seasons.
Alban Viaud, a marine biologist on Kuda Huraa, explained that the fogging chemicals which are quickly washed into the ocean are harmful to marine health: “Only a few parts per million can kill fish.”
Trudy has been working closely with the resort, the local council, schools and the community to implement a sustainable, effective and environmentally friendly way to keep mosquito numbers down.
Strength in numbers
After having visited the islands, there is a strong understanding emerging that, rather than chemicals, it is the community that is the strongest weapon in making Aedes aegypti feel unwelcome.
Measures have been taken to clear breeding grounds during Trudy’s time on Bodu Huraa. She has worked with the islanders to identify and eliminate as many breeding grounds as possible.
Of particular concern were the islands old septic tanks, long since replaced by the sewerage system supplied by the resort, but still capable of retaining water through gaps in the paving slabs. After water collects in such areas, Aedes aegypti is sure to follow.
Covering these gaps with concrete eliminates the tanks as another potential holiday home for the mosquitoes.
A similar, and innovative, method to prevent mosquitoes checking in to household water tanks was in full swing when Minivan News visited Boda Huraa.
Ringed hoses, filled with sand were being constructed in order to secure a fine mesh over the top of the water tanks, allowing access to rainwater but not to mosquitoes.
In the shade of the local council building, three resort employees could be found steadily working on the project. With around 250 tanks on the island, the team had a long way to go but seemed enthusiastic.
One of the men working on the rings was resort employee Rafeeq, who has been assigned the vital task of checking, sampling and clearing potential breeding areas. The job will require four hours of Rafeeq’s time every day, for six days every week.
The town’s households have been surveyed and divided into eight zones, meaning that each house should be checked three times in each one month cycle.
Around the corner, another simple and sustainable method was being used for removing larvae from water supplies. Fish are a far more welcome guest in the ground wells. No room service is required as they feed largely off any larvae they can find in water, which the townsfolk no longer use for drinking. One type of fish often found in the wells can eat up to 40 mosquitoes in three minutes.
Community action
“Energy and action are key components the success of this project. I try to push for simple sustainable solutions,” said Trudy.
“But it takes someone on the ground to create action,” she added.
A vital part of her mission in Bodu Huraa has been to raise awareness and create enthusiasm for the eradication scheme. This has involved numerous presentations given to all sections of the community, from the employees at the resort to the children in the local school.
Shafyga Arif, the island’s Community Health Officer noted that there had been a big reduction in the mosquito population since the scheme had begun.
She also noted that the community would be important in keeping numbers low, with leaders appointed within each of the project’s eight zones. “They have to do it themselves. Each person should take responsibility. People had some previous awareness but didn’t care before,” said Shafyga, who has herself pledged nine hours of her working week to the project.
Back at the council building, the Island’s Council President Abdel Rahman Saleh explained that a local task force comprising fifty members of the local community had been formed to work on the scheme.
The task force members are working on a volunteer basis as there is no space in the council’s current budget for the scheme. Saleh said that he had requested more funds for such projects for next year.
“The task force will work. The government requested that we continue the project for twelve weeks, but we intend to continue it forever,” he added.
The appreciation of the health and environmental benefits of these sustainable methods appeared to be widespread as Trudy neared the end of her time on the islands.
Of equal importance was the realisation that the fight against the mosquitoes will only be as strong as its weakest link, and that the resort, the local government and the community must continue to patrol and eradicate potential breeding sites.
With the entire community working together and remaining vigilant, it is hoped that Kuda Huraa and Bodu Huraa will be receiving poor reviews from Aedes aegypti for the foreseeable future.
The Vice President Waheed Deen has called for the country to prioritise a population consolidation plan to foster sustainable economic development in Maldives.
With a total population of nearly 350,000, dispersed over 196 inhabited islands spread over a distance of more than 600 miles, the Maldives is one of one of the world’s most dispersed countries. The extremely dispersed population and small island communities have been long recognised as key challenges to the sustainable social and economic development of Maldives.
“Without population consolidation we cannot achieve sustainable economic development,” Deen contended, speaking to the media first time since taking office, after parliament unanimously endorsed the resort tycoon as the Vice President on April 25.
Deen observed that islands with population below 400 still demand services such as sanitation, harbors, schools and hospitals, but the distribution of such social and economic services to the remote and least populated islands is an economic burden due the state to the high expenditures.
“So where is the economy of scale?” Deen asked. “If government continues to spend on small island populations, the expenditure will turn out to be a waste.”
According to the new VP, people need to understand that they can have access to be better services under a comprehensive sustainable economic model if they live together. He identified capital Male’, Hulhumale’ and Addu city as key examples of such development.
“Divide and Rule”
Meanwhile, the new Vice President also shared concerns over several obstacles to the resettlement of the people into larger populations.
“A policy of divide and rule has long existed among us and we need to move away from this,” said Deen, well known for his philanthropic works and praised as “the founding father of local government in the Maldives” for spearheading efforts to introduce local governance through elected councils, before resigning as Atolls Minister in August, 2008.
“Getting votes in smaller populations are easier. However, if the community grows larger, influencing or controlling the people will not be easy,” Deen explained. “So, this is a very important point people needs to think about.”
He noted that detailed discussions on the matter are yet to be had with the government, but the issue remains a top priority: “I envision that people of Maldives will live in 25 to 30 islands. Each island will be of twice that of Hulhumale’. Around 60,000 to 70,000 will live on each island. This a a dream I see. I will try to make this dream come true.”
Currently, around 130 islands have populations less than a 1000, and others between 1000-6000, while Male’ accounts for one third of the total population, where the density of the population is over 40,000 per square kilometer.
Failed initiative
Deen’s remarks today on population consolidation mark a renewed ambition to follow through on the much awaited population strategy that has been discussed for a quarter-century, but has fallen short of making any significant outcomes. The former MDP government – now replaced by a coalition of former opposition parties – had favoured connectivity and transportation, but stopped short of relocation.
Population consolidation plans originated in the 1980’s under the banner of ‘Selected Islands Development Project’. However, concerned by the inefficiency of distribution of social services and basic infrastructure in islands with small population, and counter in-migration towards capital Male’, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration embarked on a revised resettlement program called the ‘National Population Consolidation Strategy and Programme’, published in 2001.
Under this proposed strategy, two regional growth centers were agreed to be created serving respectively the Northern and the Southern atolls. In addition, 85 focus islands were selected to receive a high order of services; the other inhabited islands, called primary islands would receive a minimum level of services and population would be encouraged through various forms of subsidies to move toward the focus islands and the regional centers
Resettlement of nearly 17 islands were reportedly under review during the Gayoom’s last term in office, but confronted by the aftermath of 2004 Tsunami and the pre-2008 democratic reforms, the population consolidation plans were pushed to to the background. The talks ultimately disappeared from the tables following administration of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which lobbied for a national transportation network between the islands to boost connectivity and economic progress.
Marine biologists working on resorts in the atoll have also privately complained of boatloads of local poachers sneaking onto the islands at night without lights or noisy engines, after hearing of the discovery of a nest of eggs. In some instances, resorts have been forced to post security guards to protect the nests from poachers.
Director General of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Ibrahim Naeem said he was not aware of the incident or that it had been reported to the Hanifaaru Bay ranger, and referred Minivan News to the Ministry of Fisheries which he said was responsible for sharks and turtles.
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