Coral Institute to begin first projects by end of year
Nasheed said they have funding in place and are in the first six to nine months of setting up the institute
Nasheed at the Ukulhas Tech Fair
Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that the Maldives Coral Institute will begin its first projects by the end of this year, to make corals more resistant to the effects of climate change.
Nasheed, parliament speaker and founder of the institute, said this at the International Conference on Software, Knowledge, Information Management and Applications (SKIMA 2019) held at the Ukulhas Tech Fair.
Speaking at the event, Nasheed said they have funding in place and are in the first six to nine months of setting up the institute, adding that they will form an advisory board with the world’s best coral scientists.
He said they hope to collaborate with resorts, the government private sector, and civil society, and in the long-term establish a world class institute running cutting edge scientific projects and strengthening coral reefs over the country.
Nasheed said they have a clear understanding of the threats that coral reefs face over the coming decades and what the Maldives coral institute’s mission is and that the coral institute will use the latest technology to help Maldives’ corals survive climate change and create designs for coral friendly infrastructure such as harbors and airports.
He said that the institute believes that there should be an emergency response to fund science to save the coral reefs, since existing coral research is limited and fragmented. He added the institute intends to bring together the leading coral scientists and task them with helping coral reefs survive climate change.
