MATI urges respect for measures to slow coral bleaching
MATI urged all of its members and all stakeholders of the Tourism Industry to provide full cooperation and adhere to these mitigation measures.
Summary
MATI urged all of its members and all stakeholders of the Tourism Industry to provide full cooperation and adhere to these mitigation measures.
Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) on Sunday welcomed and expressed strong support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to instill measures aimed at mitigating the impact of the ongoing mass coral bleaching event.
As of May 2, 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch's bleaching alert level for the Maldives is "warning," at alert level 1. The Maldives Marine Research Institute (MMRI) predicts that the alert levels will rise in the coming weeks.
EPA issued a press release on Thursday evening saying that measures will be taken until early next month.
The steps are:
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All land reclamation projects should be suspended for the time being
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Stop the use of heavy machinery such as dredgers, beach development, bandwall, sand pumping, pipeline laying and cable laying on the reefs
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Such ongoing projects and EIAs should be postponed until June 10
MATI in a statement on Sunday urged all of its members and all stakeholders of the Tourism Industry to provide full cooperation and adhere to these mitigation measures.
"We are confident that effective implementation of these measures will undoubtedly aid in lessening the effects of the current mass coral bleaching event, identified by experts as one of the most severe on record," the statement said.
Corals expel the algae living in their tissues when water temperatures are too high, which is called coral bleaching. The algae, called zooxanthellae, give corals their colour and food, and the two organisms have a mutually beneficial relationship. When the coral expels the algae, it turns completely white.
