BLUEPEACE blog

Thilafushi aerial view

Thilafushi was originally a lagoon called ‘Thilafalhu’, with a length of 7 km and a width of 200 metres at the shallowest regions, situated a few kilometers from Male’. Reclamation of Thilafalhu started on 7 January 1992, in order to solve the problem of garbage generated in Male’. Thilafushi waste disposal centre was initially started as the main waste disposal centre for Male’. Presently waste from nearby atolls and resorts are also disposed there.

Thilafushi lagoon fill, with used batteries, asbestos, lead and other potentially hazardous waste mixed with the municipal solid wastes, is an increasingly serious ecological and health problem in the Maldives. Even though batteries and e-waste are quite a small fraction of municipal waste disposed at the Thilafushi, they are a concerted source of toxic heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium. Chemicals can leach out into water table or sea and endanger the surrounding sea and reefs.

Waste collection center in Malé

Potentially hazardous wastes are not sorted at the collection or disposal ends in Thilafushi. However, nowadays at the disposal site at Thilafushi and in the main collection centre in Male, scrap metals such as copper, tin, zinc, steel, plastic bottle, cardboard boxes and used oil are sorted. According to the Custom Statistics scrap metal is the major export from Maldives to India.

There are no recycling facilities for the safe disposal for the hazardous waste such as used batteries, lead, asbestos and mercury in the Maldives. Asbestos are mainly found in the Maldives as corrugated asbestos-cement sheets or “A/C Sheets” locally know as Simenthi tinu (Cement roofing sheets).

A growing number of mobile phone and electronic equipment purchases in the country and rising number of tourist arrivals in the recent decades lead to an increase in disposal of used batteries and other potentially harmful electronic or e-waste. These are mixed with municipal waste and are inappropriately disposed in the Maldives.

Likewise, e-waste with other hazardous waste such as mercury, lead and cadmium in the used batteries can mix in the salt water at Thilafushi dump and cause even more danger.

The scariest part is that unlike the landfill, in a lagoon fill or sea fill, toxics chemicals can easily seep out into the coastal zone and enter into the lower level in the food web, algae, zooplankton, and fish. Once these toxics chemicals are released it is very difficult to remove them from the food web and can end up on our dinner plate in fish or lobsters.

During the last few years, we have been witnessing a rapid human encroachment on the terrestrial vegetation, reef and wetland ecosystems of uninhabited islands and inhabited islands in the Maldives. Impacts on these islands in the Maldives are unprecedented, their scale and speed alarming. Habour dredging, channel blasting with dynamite and massive reclamation projects – many without proper Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – are in progress. Never before have we seen such a scale of coastal modification and change in the topography of islands of the Maldives.

Hudhufushi Island of Lhaviyani Atoll

The Maldives is a party to the Biodiversity Convention, Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Under these treaties the Maldives has obligations to ensure the conservation and protection of habitats and species in both national and international context.

Of course, in order to meet these national and international obligations the Government has declared some protected marine areas and few terrestrial sites. These designated protected sites are poorly managed and monitored. These sites are declared protected on papers. Some argue these marine protected areas are protected for divers. Thousands of divers go diving in these designated marine areas annually; their impact on the fragile coral ecosystems still need to be assessed.

There are instances where islands with rich biodiversity and ecological significance are selected for industrial activities such as tourism. The use of such islands for industrial purposes causes negative environmental impacts on the islands and loss of rich natural biodiversity for the country. Such a classic example is Hudhufushi island of Lhaviyani Atoll, selected for development as a tourist resort. Hudhufushi, with a unique V-shape forming a natural bay, makes it one of the richest islands in marine biodiversity in the Maldives. Baby sharks and rays flourish in that area.

Hudhufushi and Dhiffushimaadhoo are located in the same lagoon. It is one of the richest natural heritage sites in the Maldives. In fact these islands are still evolving; in the case of Dhifushimaadhoo, it was originally four islands, namely, Dhiffushi, Maadhoo, Shalhlhifushi and Hiriyaadhoo.

Hudhufushi-Dhifushimaadhoo area should be left intact from human encroachment and preserved as natural heritage for benefit of present and future generation.

Bluepeace had raised concerns in the past about impacts on island biodiversity and ecosystems from the selection of uninhabited islands for tourism and other industrial activities.

http://www.bluepeacemaldives.org/news2007/coastal_vegetation.htm

http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=8952_0_1_0_M109