Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology Aminath Shauna has said that areas designated as environmentally protected in Baa Atoll should be treated as national heritage sites.
Speaking to PSM News, Minister Shauna said that she visited Baa Atoll to gather the necessary information after United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) requested to conduct a review of the Biosphere Reserve in Baa Atoll. During the visit, the minister met with the Biosphere Reserve Office and the Baa Atoll Council to review these issues. After the meeting, she stated that there are world-famous sites in the atoll that are currently being protected and maintained. In addition, she said the areas should be protected and maintained as national heritage sites. As such, she said that 10 areas in Baa Atoll have been designated as environmentally protected sites while three of the areas are being protected in a planned and sustainable manner.
Furthermore, Minister Shauna said the Biosphere Reserve Office, Baa Atoll Council, island councils, and resorts will give their full cooperation to prepare management plans for the unmanaged areas in Baa Atoll. She also said benefits will increase in the atoll with the protection of these sites.
UNESCO re-designated Baa Atoll as a Biosphere Reserve after it received the relevant reports and updated information in September 2021. As such, reports were submitted of the ecological surveys conducted on the coral reefs, islands, and sandbanks. The organisation officially re-designated Baa Atoll as a Biosphere Reserve for 10 more years after approving the results of the work being done to preserve the region.
UNESCO states that Biosphere Reserves are sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity. Biosphere Reserves include terrestrial, marine, and coastal ecosystems and each site promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. Biosphere Reserves are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located and their status is internationally recognised.