Sustainable management of natural resources "key to safeguarding environment for posterity"

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih says that exercising sustainable management of Maldives' natural resources "is key to safeguarding [the] environment for posterity".

The president said this in his address to mark World Environment Day on Saturday, shedding light on the significance of preserving the Maldives’ natural ecosystems and sustenance of natural resources.

Highlighting that 13 percent of natural house reefs spanning 73 different regions of the Maldives have been declared protected regions, President Solih noted that three atolls have so far been declared as UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.

With this being said, the president also noted the importance of protecting the country's natural resources to pave way for positive impacts on the country’s economic growth.

Three significant industries in the Maldives rely heavily upon natural resources; tourism, fisheries and agricultural sectors. Maldives currently has over 50,000 individuals employed in the tourism sector, both directly and indirectly, with 17,000 persons being employed in the fisheries and agricultural sectors.

The incumbent administration has undertaken several projects to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources, including a plan to declare 20 percent of Maldives’ waters protected by 2030. The plan mirrors the worldwide initiative of the Global Ocean Alliance to protect at least 30 percent of the global ocean as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by 2030.

President Solih went on to highlight the government’s commitment to sustainable governance of the ocean and environmental resources under the “Blue Economy” initiative. He went on to urge the preservation and protection of natural resources without causing imbalances to ecosystems, which will take many years to heal naturally.

Some of the initiatives Maldives has taken to ensure this include sustainable waste management and the government’s ambitious plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

The Solih administration has already banned the import of several single-use plastic items into the Maldives, with a promise of banning more items in the coming years.

The president went on to shed light on renewable energy sources in the Maldives, such as the solar PV hybrid energy systems established throughout the country totaling over 31.5 megawatts of power.

Celebrated on June 5 each year, the World Environment Day focuses on ecosystem restoration under the theme 'Reimagine, Recreate, Restore' this year.