Maldives

The maldives consists of a chain of atolls stretching 860 kilometers southward from Sri Lanka into the Indian Ocean. While the Maldives encompasses a total of 1,192 atolls raging in size from 0.5 to 5.16 square kilometers, only 199 are inhabited. Over time, this number is falling as smaller, less-populated atolls are abandoned by choice or through government policies to centralize populations. Most atolls are highly vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal erosion. Approximately 80 percent of atolls rise less than one meter above mean sea level, with the highest point of the country being only three meters above sea level. This also makes the country highly vulnerable to tidal surges and tsunamis. Significant damage to tourist resorts and inhabited atolls, as well as the loss of approximately 100 lives, resulted from the December 26, 2004, tsunami.

The Maldives, with a current population of 300,000, has undergone a significant economic transformation over the past twenty years. Despite high economic growth rates the economy remains dependent on a limited economic and employment [Page 1085]base, which is dominated by fishing and tourism. Economic growth has resulted in higher incomes but also increasing environmental impact from rising levels of production and consumption.

The country's rich marine biological diversity faces threats from coral and sand mining (for use in construction), destructive fishing, waste disposal (few islands treat sewage or can bury solid waste), and intensive use of reefs in tourism (diving and snorkeling). Many atolls face long droughts as water lenses are exhausted, polluted, or made undrinkable by salinity. Pollution and waste management is becoming a challenge in the face of limited space. To date they have only been managed through the development of “new” islands, which act as the primary rubbish sites for both hazardous and nonhazardous waste.

Pollution, especially sewage, and solid waste management pose a considerable problem for the capital, Male'. Male' has one of the highest population densities of anywhere in the world, with approximately 100,000 people living on 1.7 square kilometers. Male' faces considerable problems of future population growth and limited capacity to sustainably deal with demand.

The Maldives remains one of the most vulnerable countries in the world in terms of sea level rise and changes to ocean temperatures, as well as the impact of pollution resulting from changing lifestyles and consumption patterns, and population growth (2 percent per year) and concentration. Though it has achieved considerable success in terms of economic development, the fragility of the country's ecosystem means that it will remain highly vulnerable to both externally driven change and threats arising from its own development patterns and demographic growth.