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Coral reefs are not only the foundation of the Maldivian economy but also the foundation of every island; they act as natural barriers and protect the low-lying islands from the eroding forces of the sea. Yet, due to over exploitation – fishing, tourism, pollution, coastal development and climate change – these reefs are degrading and losing their capacity to support the people who depend on them.
In collaboration with local NGO Maldives Resilient Reefs (MRR), Blue Marine has made significant progress in increasing marine protection in the Maldives. Notably, our #AgainstLonglining campaign with other partners halted the issuance of new longlining licenses. More than 160 international scientists supported a campaign led by local and international conservation NGOs, local fishers and tourism groups and co- signed a letter to the government to express concern over moves to reissue licences. The campaign moved the wider public, with more than 30,000 signatures on a digital petition over a matter of weeks.
Empowering communities through citizen science, MRR and the Blue Marine team have trained more than 20 new SCUBA divers from Laamu Atoll in 2023. Seven of whom have now been trained in the national coral-reef monitoring protocols.
Other highlights include MRR and the Blue Science unit’s baseline socio-economic assessment in Laamu Atoll for the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy. The team surveyed 171 resource-users across 10 local islands and two tourist resorts to gain insights into local marine ecosystems. Work with Laamu Hithadhoo Council is underway to establish an innovative Community Conserved Area at the island. The adaptive management of the sustainable resort-reef fishery programme is ongoing at Six Senses Laamu and Baa Amilla resorts. This work will continue into 2025 with the addition of innovative vessel-monitoring technology with local fishers to improve sustainability. A seafood sourcing survey conducted with 30 resorts provided valuable insights for expanding the programme across the industry.
In 2021, Blue Marine launched the Laamaseelu Masveriya programme in collaboration with Six Senses Laamu, as an initiative to help protect the reef ecosystems in Laamu Atoll.
Our online education platform, Masmahaa-Veshi, now includes ten modules and has engaged more than 100 fishers and 200 community members on sustainable fishing practices and the benefits of marine protection. Blue Marine has also formalised a Memorandum of Understanding with MRR over the next four years, to support the continuity of impactful conservation efforts in the islands. We are in discussions with the government and partners to support the 30×30 ocean protection targets.
The Blue Climate unit supported MRR and the University of Northumbria in research into mangrove die-back, and specifically the significance of climate change, increasing extreme weather events and rising sea levels. This work will help guide our engagement with the Maldivian government about conservation, restoration and rehabilitation of mangroves in the coming years. Our Blue Education unit also collaborated with MMR to develop a seagrass education model for Maldivian children, which is now on Masmahaa-Veshi.
Meanwhile Blue Economics explored a number of financing mechanism that might be deployed to support marine conservation. We presented these to several departments and conducted an in-person presentation to the relevant ministries during a visit to the Maldives by our Economics Adviser in March.
Timeline of Success
Our Grouper Fishery and Conservation project from 2016-18, led to improved grouper fishery management measures such as size limit revisions for highly targeted species and ban of destructive fishing gear.
In 2019, Blue Marine and Six Senses Laamu launched the #ProtectMaldivesSeagrass campaign, urging resorts to stop removing seagrass for clear lagoons. This led to over a quarter of Maldives resorts committing to protect nearly 3,000,000 miles of seagrass.
After our #FishForTomorrow campaign in 2021, which raised awareness on vulnerable and ecologically significant species on Maldivian reefs, all species of parrotfish were declared as protected in the Maldives.
In 2023, Blue Marine launched the #BeGentleToGiants campaign with The Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP). We developed the Whale Shark Code of Conduct to provide clear guidance for tourists and tour operators to follow during a whale shark encounter to reduce their impact on the shark.
After the #AgainstLonging campaign led by Blue Marine, at the end of August 2024, the government reversed its plans to permit longline fishing, a decision that reaffirmed the Maldives’ commitment to traditional one-by-one tuna fishing and to protecting vulnerable species.
