Maldives Marine Newsletter Issue no 1. March 2014 IN THIS ISSUE OUR MISSION P2 INTRODUCTION: IUCN in the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the Maldives world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; P4 MALDIVES MARINE managing field projects all over the world; and bringing govern- BIOLOGIST IN ACTION: ments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies Six Senses Laamu Creates together to develop policy, laws and best practice. Code of Conduct for Dolphin Watching Our vision is a just world that values and conserves nature. P6 MARINE MANAGEMENT: Our mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies through- National Coral Reef out the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and Monitoring to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and eco- P8 MEET A FELLOW MARINE logically sustainable. CONSERVATIONIST The world’s oldest and largest global environmental network, IUCN P9 SPECIES HIGHLIGHT: Marine is a democratic membership union with more than 1,200 govern- Turtles ment and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volun- teer scientists and experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is P11 MARINE CONSERVATION: supported by over 1,000 professional staff in 45 offices and hun- Mangroves for the Future dreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the Programme (MFF) in the world. IUCN’s headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Maldives Switzerland. P13 MALDIVES MARINE BIOLOGIST IN ACTION: IUCN has been undertaking and supporting environmental con- Maldives Tourism Adaptation servation and addressing development challenges in the Maldives Platform since 1985 through its global and regional programmes. Current- ly, IUCN’s work in the Maldives is supported by the Asia Regional P15 FEATURED EVENT: First Office based in Thailand and the Global Marine and Polar Pro- Whale Shark Festival gramme based in Switzerland. 1 Maldives Marine Newsletter - Issue no 1. March 2014 INTRODUCTION IUCN in the Maldives A message from Dr. Ameer Abdulla, Programme Lead-Coral Reefs, Global Marine Programme, IUCN The Maldives is dependency that needs to be sustained for the truly a special future wellbeing of the country. Whether you are place. born in the Maldives or have the luck and oppor- tunity to visit and live here, it is clear that there is With a rich culture a strong appreciation of its marine natural herit- and warm-hearted age by all. Such recognition of the importance of people, its spec- marine resources leads to a commitment to find tacular vistas and innovative ways to protect and manage them for marine life contin- future generations to appreciate and utilise. uously inspire and awe. Even with The objectives of the IUCN Maldives Marine 1190 islands, land Projects were developed to address the environ- is still the scarcest resource in the country, mak- mental priorities and challenges that the Maldives ing up less than 1% of its surface area. As one faces. They include enhancing coral reef resilience of the lowest lying countries in the world (mean (both social and ecological), supporting climate 1.5 m), the country and its people are especially change adaptation, advancing marine species vulnerable to climate change impacts such as management and increasing environmental sea level rise, coral reef bleaching and mortal- awareness across different sectors. These are ity, ocean acidification, and increases in severe ambitious but urgent priorities that require vision, weather events. Importantly, the Maldives archi- dedication, perseverance and commitment by pelago represents a globally unique ecoregion many individuals, groups and stakeholders of and species biogeography. Given the outstand- society in order to address them. ing characteristics mentioned, the Maldives was announced as 1 of 50 Hope Spots in the world1 My message is simple: the whole is greater than by IUCN and Mission Blue. It is clear that the fu- the sum of its parts; this is the true definition of ture of the people and the marine resources in synergy. You, me, ministries, resorts, NGOs, uni- the Maldives is of global significance and inter- versities, students, visitors, and everyone pas- est. sionate about the Maldives’ natural environment, can each play a vital role. I have spoken with many I have visited and worked in many tropical lo- who live and work in the Maldives – from govern- cations in my professional career which include ment officials and general managers at resorts, countries in the Coral Sea, Caribbean, the Red to dive centres and live aboard staff, to women, Sea, the Arabian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. students and fishers- all would like to contrib- Here in the Maldives I see a unique and unde- ute to something bigger, a higher purpose. We niable connection between the people and their are able to better address the marine resource sea, a strong inter-dependency between the challenges of the Maldives together, and make social and ecological communities that inhabit real and positive change that is more lasting and these islands and surrounding waters. An inter- powerful more so than if we each work alone. 1 http://mission-blue.org/hope-spots-new/ 2 Maldives Marine Newsletter - Issue no 1. March 2014 So what is it that we can do together? Put con- newsletter is a reflection of our collaborations and cisely: we work locally to address national-scale a testimony to the synergies that can be devel- challenges to marine resource conservation, oped when many are working towards the same management, and sustainability. Scaling up aim. The newsletter is a platform to showcase conservation and management from the local to your work and share insights with others that national and even regional levels is vital. Moving may benefit from it. It is designed to inform and from single unique independent nodes to an in- inspire those who are passionate about the ma- terconnected network and coalition of willing and rine ecosystems of the Maldives and to feature active contributors is key to effectively address- the work of fellow marine practitioners and con- ing these urgent issues. IUCN can support your servationists. This is your newsletter so please work, help develop your objectives and enhance do consider contributing so that worthwhile initia- collaboration between individuals, groups, and tives are recognised, best practice is shared, and projects. The role of IUCN is to convene dif- crucial links are made. Together, the success we ferent stakeholders, build bridges, and develop achieve in the Maldives will resonate in the Indian platforms that we can all contribute to and ben- Ocean and further to other oceans and regions efit from in the short and long term. Our man- touched by the same pressing issues. date is to develop or communicate the neces- sary knowledge that empowers people to govern We look forward to working with all of you. their resources. With warm regards, Our team would be privileged to work with all of you, as IUCN can only do this with you. Our Ameer Photo © Alissa Nagel 3 Maldives Marine Newsletter - Issue no 1. March 2014 MALDIVES MARINE BIOLOGIST IN ACTION Six Senses Laamu Creates Code of Conduct for Dolphin Watching By Rachel Lambert. Marine Biologist, Six Senses Laamu am pleased to announce that Six Senses Laa- tion in the animals’ distribution and range or even mu has successfully implemented a code of habitat abandonment, for example moving out of Iconduct for dolphin watching in order to pro- the atolls. A growing awareness of these issues tect the local dolphin populations. Since the issue is leading to the development of local codes of of disturbance has become a major conservation conduct for the boats around dolphin popula- concern due to the assessed potential negative tions to encourage sustainable tourism. impacts, I decided to implement a local code of conduct for Six Senses Laamu. After completing my Masters, I spent two seasons working with the Sea Watch Foundation, a U.K. For the marine mammals module of my Masters marine mammal charity, on their Cardigan Bay degree, I wrote a review about the issues relating Bottlenose Dolphin Monitoring Project. Part of to whale and dolphin watching and the methods the project included monitoring the boat traffic to in place for ensuring the future sustainability of ensure that the local code of conduct was being the industry. Disturbance is the major conserva- adhered to. Upon arrival at Six Senses Laamu, I tion concern related to the whale and dolphin noticed that the boat drivers did not have a code watching industry as the presence of boats has of conduct in place for driving around dolphins. been shown to change the behaviour of the ani- Drawing on my previously acquired knowledge mals. Disturbance can be separated into three and experience of working in the field, I devel- levels; immediate, short-term and long-term dis- oped a code of conduct for our boat drivers. I turbance. The immediate impacts are the result also consulted with several marine mammal bi- of the boats colliding with or the propellers hitting ologists to figure out the best way to implement the dolphins and causing either injury or death. the code. Since the issue of disturbance and its The short-term behavioural reactions include potential negative impacts has never been ad- changes in surfacing behaviour; travelling direc- dressed here before, I gave a presentation to all tion and speed; feeding and resting patterns; the boat crews to explain why I was implement- group size; acoustic behaviour; mating or nurs- ing a code of conduct. Explaining the issues and ing behaviour; and increased aggressive behav- giving the crews an understanding of why the iour, such as tail slaps2.