Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Technology has contracted Water Solutions Private Limited to formulate a management plan for the six protected sites in Laamu Atoll.
The contract was signed under the Enhancing National Development through Environmentally Resilient Islands (ENDhERI) project. The contractor is tasked with formulating a 10-year action plan within 10 months by holding consultations with stakeholders, preparing charts, and formulating the concept design for the development plan.
At the signing ceremony, Senior Conservation Officer Lisama Sabri said the formulation management plans often lags behind the designation of protected sites, but that the management plans for Laamu Atoll will be at an adequate stage of implementation.
Also at the ceremony, Director General at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ibrahim Naeem highlighted some common misconceptions about protected areas. He said that protected areas should not be left abandoned without any development, and that such should be developed by formulating management plans after consultations with stakeholders.