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by Hassan Moosa
The reef of Villingili
Island, just a few minutes away from Malé, has suffered damage from
reclamation, dredging and harbor construction. It took another hit this year
when warmer ocean temperatures, caused by the El Nino, killed a majority of its
coral. On a recent dive, I found a graveyard on the island’s reef slope. A
slimy layer of brown green algae covered the dead corals, while the few that still
held out were bleached white. Some had startling spots of purple and pink,
indicating a former more colorful appearance.
When we surfaced, my
guide, veteran diver Hussain ‘Sendi’ Rasheed, said: “I take tourists out on
dives almost everyday. I can tell you this is happening across the Maldives.”
The government,
however, has downplayed the extent of bleaching, saying the onset of the rainy
season would lead to a fall in temperatures, allowing stressed reefs to
recover.
But environmentalists
and divers doubt this. Reef resilience has been affected by activities such
as large scale dredging and land reclamation projects, as well as
practices such as sand pumping at resorts, they say.
Indian Ocean
temperatures have been a centigrade warmer than usual since the month of
February.
The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration issued a bleaching warning for Maldives coral in
April, when surface temperatures reached and stayed constant at 31 degrees
Centigrade. The El Nino has now weakened, and temperatures are expected to
return to normal in the next few weeks.
About 35 percent of
corals in the northern and central parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have
been destroyed by bleaching, according to scientists. This is the most extreme
case of mass bleaching ever recorded, they have said.
In the Maldives,
divers I spoke to said the current bleaching event could be as severe as that
of 1998, which reportedly destroyed over 90 percent of Maldives’ coral cover.
But Nizam Ibrahim, an
official at the Marine Research Center, said the extent of the damage would be
lesser “because of the timing of the bleaching this year is coinciding with
Hulhangu [southwest] monsoon and we believe that the sea surface temperature
will decrease back to monthly average soon.”
Both Sendi and the
Divers Association of Maldives disagree.
“I lived through the
1998 El Nino,” Sendi said. “The situation is already much worse.”
The extent of the
damage is still unknown. The last published report on coral bleaching from the
MRC dates back to 2010. Divers and concerned members of the public, however,
have been posting pictures of this year’s bleaching event on social media.
#ClimateChange is a reality today and mature countries do not hide but address the issue #ElNino2016
Coral Bleaching-Devastating after effect of #elnino#reef#maldives #environment #globalwarming @1World1Ocean
Surveyed Faafu, S Ari and Rasdhoo in #Maldives & #bleachingwas everywhere #ElNino @IUCN_Maldives @CoralReefWatch
#Maldives #coralbleaching continues... deeper corals on healthier reefs also now bleaching #prayformonsoon
Meanwhile, an
environmentalist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he works for
the government, said: “Even if coral bleaching is not as severe as that of
1998, coral reefs across the Maldives are under severe pressure. In 1998,
reclamation, dumping sewage, dredging and pollution were not as prevalent.
“The 1998 event was
seen as a one-off event. But bleaching was also seen in 2006, 2010, 2015 and
now this year. We also saw a major outbreak of crown of thorns in the Maldives,
a coral predator, this year.”
Others say the lack
of nation-wide assessments on the status of Maldives reefs and
stressors makes it hard to comment on reef resilience, but many expressed
concern over what they called inaction by the government,
A marine
biologist who previously worked at the MRC said: “If the MRC really
regarded the issue of coral bleaching as a national issue, then why is it not
being addressed at the policy level?”
The MRC, in an email,
said it has set up a National Coral Bleaching Taskforce to advise the
government. The group has asked resorts to “possibly delay or suspend”
activities that may affect reefs.
This is not enough,
said Maeed Zahir of Eco Care.
“We’ve been seeing
bleaching all over Maldives, but land reclamation projects are still ongoing.
Why can’t those projects be suspended to minimize the stress on corals?”
The regulatory body,
the Environment Protection Authority, must be an independent entity, Maeed
said, adding that the agency is now susceptible to political influence as it
currently functions under the environment ministry.
The dismissal of the
agency’s vocal director (later reinstated) and the transfer of its powers to
regulate resort-sector construction had rendered it toothless, he continued.
“We recognize that
development is necessary, that harbors are necessary, but the government needs
to employ sustainable development practices. We have to stop mass land
reclamation and focus on decentralization. We need an independent EPA and a
parliamentary committee dedicated to environment matters.
“Our economy relies on
biodiversity sales through the tourism and fisheries sector. Every economist
knows that you must protect your assets.”
Reclaiming land for
resort construction and sales is a major pledge of President Abdulla Yameen’s
administration.
Back on Villingili,
environmental group Save the Beach said warmer temperatures had killed a coral
nursery they planted to restore the island’s reef.
“It’s like we are in
the midst of a funeral,” a member said.
Additional writing by Zaheena Rasheed
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