Life, economic prosperity and social development in Maldives depend upon maintaining our atoll ecosystems in a healthy natural state. Our reefs, islands and surrounding seas and their component biodiversity are the natural assets on which the tourism and fishing industries depend, which provide us with land for development and materials for building, and which protect us from storms. More than almost any other country in the world, our future is inextricably linked to the quality of our environment.
There is widespread recognition that conventional approaches have not been effective in conserving our natural environment and biodiversity. We are losing charismatic species like sharks, several fisheries are in decline, the land and seas are increasingly polluted, and we are threatened with coastal erosion, storms and sea-level rise. There is an urgent need to plan and manage the country’s natural resources in a more integrated and conservation-oriented manner that is appropriate to the country’s unique geography and ecology, socio-economic development and patterns of resource use. Only by achieving this will future generations have the same rich natural resource base to support them that has sustained our development to date.
Recognizing this challenge, the Government of Maldives established the Atoll Ecosystem Conservation Project (AEC Project) in 2004 (with support of United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the purpose of designing and demonstrating an effective management system for atoll ecosystem conservation and sustainable development on Baa Atoll, which could then be replicated throughout Maldives.
The project’s vision is to make Baa Atoll: a world class model of atoll ecosystem conservation where sustainable use supports a prosperous economy and good quality of life for all, for ever – for replication across the Maldives.
Baa Atoll was selected as the demonstration atoll for this project on account of its globally significant biodiversity, the commitment and capacity of local communities, the potential to address threats to biodiversity and demonstrate sustainable use.
Through close collaboration with the communities of Baa Atoll, the private sector, and all relevant stakeholders, the AEC Project, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, successfully achieved the objectives set out for the project during its duration from 2004 to 2012.
Efforts to designate Baa Atoll as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve began in early 2009, with a series of workshops and meetings conducted throughout the atoll, involving active participation from all key stakeholders.
Discussions were also held at the national level, bringing together the Ministers of Environment, Tourism, and Fisheries to deliberate on the potential designation. Following the workshops and meetings, which consistently supported the proposal, a final round of community consultations was carried out later that year. The consultations revealed that over 95% of Baa Atoll’s residents supported the declaration of the atoll as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
On 28 September 2010, the Government of Maldives submitted Baa Atoll for UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status. Subsequently, on 28 June 2011—during the 40th anniversary of UNESCO’s “Man and the Biosphere Programme” in Dresden, Germany—the entire atoll was officially designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, becoming the first such reserve in the Maldives.
Upon the declaration of Baa Atoll as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the Atoll joins an illustrious list of international Biosphere Reserves including: The Galapogos Islands, Ayer’s Rock in Australia, the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil, the Niagara escarpment in Canada, the Sundarbans of India and the Amboseli National Park in Kenya etc.