Maldives

The Maldives targeted their activities of the International Day for Biological Diversity to school children, as they will play an important role in taking steps to conserve biodiversity in the country.

A special meeting to mark IBD was organized by the Environment Research Centre (ERC) of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Water on the morning of 22 May 2007. The Minister of Environment, Energy and Water, Mr. Ahmed Abdulla, Acting Minister of Higher Education, Employment and Social Security, Mr. Abdul Rasheed Hussein, and other government officials attended the meeting. In his speech, Mr. Abdulla spoke about the critical importance of environmental sustainability and protection of the rich biodiversity of the country.

Various publications by the Environment Research Centre were released at this meeting, including: Public Perception on the Environment: A Maldivian Perspective; Kasim and the Hawksbill Turtle: A Children’s Storybook; and the first issue of their monthly newsletter, Pemphis.

A special video song made by the Acting Minister of Higher Education, Mr. Abdul Rasheed Hussain, with a plea to leaders and elders to join hands to save the environment and the biological diversity was also released. The song appealed to listen to the world's plea, and to look at environmental crimes and bring about justice for the environment.

The Environment Research Centre organized a reef sight-seeing tour in the “Tourist Submarine” for school children on the morning of 22 May 2007 in the capital island, Male’. The purpose of the trip was to show the children the diversity of the coral reefs and explain about the vulnerability of the reef ecosystem to climate change. A special video session was held with students who participated in the reef tour. A video documentary on healthy reef ecosystems and the CBD video on Biodiversity and Climate Change were shown to the students.

A marine museum tour was organized for school children on the afternoon of 22 May 2007. Students were taken to the Marine Museum of the Marine Research Centre, to show the fish and marine animals on display and to explain about the species of fish and coral found in the Maldivian reefs.

The local television, radio and dailies covered the day’s events. Television Maldives broadcasted special reports and interviews regarding the day.

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