The Maldives Tourism Industry Association (MATI) announced on Sunday that it fully supports the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent measures to combat the severe large-scale coral bleaching affecting the region.
EPA has called for an immediate halt to all major coastal development projects through June 10, 2024 to alleviate the environmental crisis.
Canceled activities include reclamation, dredging, beach renourishment, sand pumping, laying pipelines and cables to coral reefs, and building dike walls. The decision comes as the bleaching alert level issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Monitoring Agency is now “warning,” indicating a significant threat to coral ecosystems. be.
“Furthermore, we urge all members and all stakeholders in the tourism industry to provide our full cooperation and comply with these mitigation measures. “We are confident that this will definitely help reduce the impact of the current large-scale coral bleaching event, which is recognized by experts as one of the most severe on record,” MATI said in a press release.
The Maldives Marine Research Institute (MMRI) warned that the situation is likely to worsen further in the coming weeks and urged the EPA to take decisive action. The temporary ban on development activities is part of a broader strategy to reduce stress on corals, which are being driven out by symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae due to rising water temperatures. This process, known as coral bleaching, puts corals at risk of disease and death, but can recover if conditions improve.
