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HEAVEN OR HIGH WATER
CHARLOTTE SHALGOSKY REPORTS ON THE MALDIVES’ ONGOING BATTLE AGAINST WARMING OCEANS AND RISING SEA LEVELS
IN THE OCEAN SOUThOF INDIA, THE REMOTE ARCHIPELAGO of the Maldives has drawn sailors from ages past to seek shelter in its shallow atolls which, from the air, appear in swathes of cerulean, jade and indigo.
Boasting unparalleled dive sites, sumptuous spas and million-dollar beach resorts, this remote island nation has today become the refuge of choice for well-heeled professionals, who frequent its tranquil shores to escape the pollution, overcrowding and stresses of urban life.
Sadly, that immaculate natural environment is now under threat. In the late 1990s, a minute rise in sea temperatures temporarily turned this underwater pelagic playground into a wasteland – coral reefs died, fish disappeared and the diving industry on which so many resorts relied, stuttered.
A decade ago, like so many tourists, I lounged on the velvet sands of these low-lying isles and dived over steep drop-offs; but in the gin-clear shallow waters, I found not dazzling fish species, but acres of bleached coral reef, lying like broken bones on the seabed. This was my first close encounter with global warming.
The world is now finally talking openly of climate change and the mechanics that drive it – carbon emissions, greenhouse gases – a threat that brings not just coral bleaching but increasingly violent tornadoes, torrential rains and desertification around the globe. Scientists have formally forecast a rise in sea levels of up to 1.5m in the next century. with the average Maldivian island sitting just around three to four metres above sea level, the danger is omnipresent.
While opulent resorts offer an escape from hectic urban life, it is the by-products of our urban lifestyles that pose the greatest threat to the destiny of this magical archipelago. Driven by consumerism, we want more, we take more and we pollute more in the process.
“We are upsetting the atmosphere upon which all life depends,” warns Canadian broadcaster, David Suzuki. It is literally costing us the earth. with such a stark reliance on tourism, the cost to the Maldives is quite simply its existence.
Rising water levels bring land loss and beach erosion, and these dangers are compounded further by the threat of tsunamis, one of which devastated parts of the archipelago in 2004. Sea level rises also damage reefs and sometimes infiltrate freshwater wells, resulting in a negative impact on tourism, the economy and the homes and healThof the nationals.
While developed countries are being urged to reduce their carbon emissions (on which sea level rises are blamed), the Maldives produces a mere 0.0001% of global emissions. Nonetheless, conservation organisations and luxury resorts such as Six Senses, Banyan Tree and Four Seasons are actively implementing policies and projects aimed to monitor, alleviate and reduce the negative impacts of global warming on the environment in this region.
The simpler schemes might include recycling, garbage collection, monitoring protected species, imposing beach erosion defence systems or assisting coral re-growThprojects that use underwater frames onto which coral, molluscs or crustaceans form new colonies.
Anke Hofmeister, a German marine biologist working with Six Senses’ Soneva Fushi resort says their policy is more veered towards non-interference – that is, not to remove any corals from the reef, or sand from the beach, and trying to leave as much vegetation on the island as possible.
“We want to ensure that the reef flat area continues to provide enough sand for the beaches and that the lush coastal vegetation buffers the wave energy,” she explains.
Hotel guests in a number of resorts can get environmentally involved by replanting corals, as at Banyan Tree’s resorts, or learning about marine ecosystems from daily lectures, as they do aboard the Four Seasons’ super-luxury catamaran, Island Explorer, or at their two resorts, Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru.
Land-based community projects are just as important, such as Banyan Tree’s plan to dedicate whole islands to organic market farms known as “Gardens For Life”, which will not just boost the local economy by reducing reliance on imported foodstuffs – air-freighted into the capital Malé daily from overseas at great cost – but improve diets with fresh, organic salads and vegetables. Soneva Fushi has also been working on organic gardens, albeit on a smaller scale, on the neighbouring island of Eydafushi.
At Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru, a new Marine Laboratory hosts visiting marine biologists such as Robert Tomasetti, an American who works with Maldivian-born eco-expert Abdul Azeez Abdul Hakeem on a handful of community and marine ecology projects.
The white-haired Azeez, who is the lab’s Director of Conservation, oft en takes young islanders into the pristine waters, educating them on marine conservation and their future. He dreams that one day his archipelago would be run on renewable energy sources such as solar or wind turbines.
Over a span of many years, he has noted beach erosion affecting most of the islands. “Weather patterns have changed. Wind velocity is getting stronger and is coming from odd directions – very different from the past monsoonal wind patterns,” he says, noting that even the Maldives’ ancient calendar is no longer a reliable weather guide.
Azeez says that one of his dreams is to have an island devoted to environmental research and conservation that might one day become part of a National University, where students can earn a degree in marine biology and learn more about global warming, climate change and pollution.
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Four Seasons also sees education and investment in people as key. Working with a local Maldivian organisation, Seamarc, their resorts sponsor a myriad of projects ranging from turtle and fish breeding, to manta ray and whale shark identification and tracking.
While climate change is now regarded by many as inevitable, developing what conservationists term “social and ecological resilience” measures are a vital way of adapting to future threats.
Working with a number of prestigious conservation organisations such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Coastal Ocean Research and Development – Indian Ocean (CORDIO), Jerker Talamander has a wealThof experience in the Maldives.
He explains that although climate change is a serious threat, ecosystems and people can recover from climate-related damage, given sound collaboration and support of course, boThtechnically and financially.
“Resilience principles are emerging as an important paradigm for understanding and managing complex ecosystems and the interactions between these and the human societies that depend on them,” he says.
Apart from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, sound management of existing ecosystems and what is termed “stress reduction” are, in his view, essential in order to meet the challenges.
Global organisations such as the IUCN aim to bridge the gap between what experts are calling “resilience science” and practical management. Over time, it is essential to begin to understand and quantify the forces at work, so management strategies can be properly assessed and future changes anticipated. In the case of the Maldives, this is even more imperative, given their particular vulnerability. However, that vulnerability is not unique to the Maldives.
Prior to a climate change meeting in Bali in late 2007, the Maldives’ President spoke about a collaboration aimed at bringing together all nations threatened by rising sea levels. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is an organisation that rallies as a united front to bring attention to, and garner assistance for such nations.
Talamander also supports this holistic, global approach. “We need to be forcefully combating climate change with broad mitigation efforts around the world,” he insists, “starting with the universal adoption of the Kyoto Treaty”. The Maldives was the first to sign this document that commits to reducing damaging carbon dioxide.
Luxury resort and spa brand Six Senses is not just keen to reduce air conditioning and water desalination (which take up 55% of energy costs). Their chefs go as far as refusing to buy undersized fish or lobsters from fishermen, or protected species such as sailfish.
These examples highlights the importance of education in a nation where fishing has been the mainstay for centuries. Until a recent ban, shark oil was used here as weather proofing in wooden boats, coral shards were used for house bricks and turtles were considered a delicacy. Now these activities are no longer deemed viable.
At Soneva Fushi, the owners’ latest eco-dream is to cut all carbon emissions completely by 2010. This involves not just reviewing the resort’s equipment, ventilation, lighting, water heating and water purification systems, but the installation of four-stroke boat engines, wind turbines, solar panels and the construction of a deep seawater distractive cooling system (DSWC) already in place on the Pacific island of Bora-Bora.
The system extracts cold water from the depths of the ocean using pipes. On the neighbouring island of Eydafushi, a wind turbine is being mooted for operation in 2009.
But for a small nation, the wholesale adoption of alternative energy technology is costly, and while the private sector can consider small-scale schemes, the government would need huge funds to make it viable. with little industry and virtually no agricultural land or assets, the Maldives relies upon funding from friendly nations such as Abu Dhabi.
There are also other pressing issues affecting the island nation, such as waste management, sanitation, groundwater remediation and coastal zone protection that require consideration. Landfill has reclaimed areas of Malé, but would this be right for other islands?
The government of the Maldives is highly aware of its responsibilities and has taken measures to educate its youth. Environmental studies are taught in all high schools.
These days, the debate on carbon emissions is taking a new turn, with questions being raised against long-haul air travel. This immediately brings a dilemma to those wanting to spend holidays in the remote island archipelago. However, their High Commissioner in Singapore HE Hassan Sobir points out an interesting theory.
If, after a long flight from Europe, we spend two weeks under a coconut tree reading books, snorkelling or sleeping, living with out the fripperies of our cars, using minimal electricity and eating only locally produced food, are we not possibly offsetting our initial carbon dioxide expenditure in getting to our destination? On the other hand, if we stayed at home instead and continued to drive, shop and consume energy as normal, might we be causing more damage?
It is an argument that science has yet to explore. Let’s just hope the answers – and the help – come soon, as the lives and culture of an idyllic Indian Ocean nation depend on it.
THE FACTS:
• Global climate is changing rapidly due to the impact of human activities and will result in continued rising temperatures boThon land and in the waters around us
• Climate change due to the enhanced greenhouse effect has significant consequences for coral reefs. There is a direct link between unusually warm seawater temperature and bleaching of reef-building corals around the world
• Changing ocean chemistry due to rising carbon dioxide may also have serious implications for coral reefs and other marine calcifying organisms and is likely to alter the make-up of marine ecosystems and weaken coral reef structures
• Increased mass bleaching events have taken place around the world since the mid-1970s and research indicates this is due to global warming
• Well-protected and well-managed reefs are more resilient to stresses but are not protected from the universal threat of rising water temperatures and changing ocean chemistry
SIX RULES OF RESPONSIBLE DIVING
- Do not touch any coral
- Do not stand on the reefs
- Do not stress, chase or hold on to any marine species
- Leave seashells on the shore – many countries now ban their import
- Do take lots of photographs – it helps marine biologists identify what you have seen
- Do not feed the fish or any wildlife unless supervised
USEFUL WEBSITES
Convention on Biological Diversity
www.cbd.int
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
www.IUCN.org
Maldives Tourism Promotion Board
www.visitmaldives.com
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