“The report lacks clear legal justification for encroaching on protected areas, as it does not demonstrate why avoidance is impossible, why public interest outweighs ecological loss, or why alternative options are infeasible," reads the decision statement.
Via @IndependentMV
https://t.co/Ua3EJeNqYt
@ThimaaVeshiHQ@MoEnvmv@AdduCityCouncil@aleeshareef It's heartbreaking to see the loss of mangroves in the Maldives. These vital ecosystems protect our shores, support marine life, store carbon, and sustain biodiversity. Too many still fail to understand their true ecological value. #SaveMaldives
@MoEnvmv has now gazetted a new boundary of Addu Nature Park without consulting the people of Addu or even the council.
The process was also hastily begun before the new @AdduCityCouncil was inaugurated, on the inaugural day.
This is a cowardly act by minister @aleeshareef who is going out of his way to facilitate ECOCIDE without the CONSENT of the people of Addu. Should we also remind you that Addu is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Minister?
We have also heard on the grapevine that @ERA_Maldives is approving an EIA for this 2nd reclamation today. No stakeholders have been consulted for this EIA, and it’s our first time hearing about it.
@Hassaan_Mhmd should not approve these bogus EIAs that do not have proper stakeholder consultations!
In addition to not acknowledging our concerns in the EIA report, “Theorem International” also stole our aerial photograph of the reclaimed area of Fishimathi. They neither asked us for it nor gave any credit.
If the consultant went through our profile to find the photo, they definitely should have seen our posts regarding Fishimathi.
The attitude and lack of professionalism from these EIA consultants have been increasingly difficult to ignore.
From aggressively attacking and interrupting people during consultations to now straight up stealing the property of others, we must direct our attention to these firms that are facilitating ecocide and making bank from it.
“4198+ hectares of land reclaimed b/w 2000 to 2024”
“Housing crisis” is a political man-made crisis to centralize the Maldivian population to Male’ area at the cost of destroying our families, env, culture.
https://t.co/zyJMyvwHPF
@MIHUDmv@presidencymv@MoEnvmv@MoHmv
@ThimaaVeshiHQ Join the movement to protect Moolekeda Fishimathi. Protected areas are being destroyed in the name of development. Stand up for our ecosystems and natural heritage. Please ask your friends and colleagues to join and show their support.
What a lame and pathetic decision by @Hassaan_Mhmd to sign-off on the EIA, and an even more cowardly act by @aleeshareef to approve the project by hiding behind an unconstitutional regulation that overrides Article 23 of the Constitution guaranteeing the right to a safe, healthy, and ecologically well-balanced environment !
Your Decision Statement itself says that the criteria set by the @ERA_Maldives was not met in the EIA, and yet you give them 30 days to do these assessments AFTER commencing the project work.
What good would an assessment of endangered species do if they are buried under sand before the report is published (which let’s be honest it never will, and you won’t actually do anything about it).
Your legacy is forever tainted by the harm you wilfully do to our environment, and the loss we have had to endure because you try to hold on to positions of public trust that you clearly no longer have.
ޒިއްމާ އަދާނުކުރެވޭނަމަ އިސްތިއުފާދީ
@musthonomics@MoosaZameer@sto_md None of them offers a real alternative for the Maldives. They all emerge from the same neoliberal political framework and continue to support systems rooted in capitalism and imperialism. Changing faces without changing the system will not address the challenges we face.
Dhivehi Translation: Open letter from civil society organisations and local tourism actors for the urgent attention of President Dr. Muizzu, concerning the recent downsizing and rezoning of the Eidhigali Kilhi and Koattey (Addu Nature Park) Protected Area - likely done to facilitate continued acts of ecocide at Moolekede Fishimathi, Hithadhoo.
@MMuizzu@presidencymv@aleeshareef@MoEnvmv@Hassaan_Mhmd@ERA_Maldives@AdduCityCouncil@DhekunuNizar
The Left Hemisphere by Razmig Keucheyan maps the evolution of radical thought from Marx to Harvey, Nancy Fraser, Achille Mbembe, Ernesto Laclau and Fredric Jameson, tracing how critiques of capitalism, power, ecology and inequality have evolved in the modern era. @VersoBooks
These are a lot of words to say that the EIA ultimately has no weight nor value !
How can you say that “only assumptions have been made to predict the impacts which may or may not be accurate” (p.38) and then start talking about mangrove relocation like it’s gospel?
How can you say that the impacts of mangrove clearance in the project site is “short term and low significance since these species can be transplanted on the periphery of the project site or nearby to negate any impacts on the environment” (p.45-46)? Where’s the scientific basis or the precedents for successful mangrove transplantation?
Then there’s the claim that “the groundwater quality around the project site area is expected to be improved” with land reclamation (p.6). Is this an assumption too? This is crazy.
This EIA will do wonders in a creative writing competition. @Hassaan_Mhmd you cannot approve this !
The credibility and representativeness of the “public opinion survey” in the EIA is difficult to access due to the lack of transparency about its methodology. It provides no information on participant selection, sampling methods, or how the survey was administered.
Regardless of how we look at it, the survey results appear to be selectively presented and biased towards individuals who stand to benefit from the project, especially since majority of the survey respondents reported living “close to the project site” or “adjoining the project site” (p.30).
While the lack of dissenting views in the survey raises questions about the extent to which a balanced range of opinions were sought by the consultant, the unanimous support for the project in the Dhivehi form is highly unlikely and reduces confidence in the survey’s validity.
Also, as far as we’re aware, this survey was not published online, and there is no evidence that the wider public was invited to participate in the consultation process. The survey questionnaire itself is not included in the EIA, preventing an independent assessment of whether appropriate information was provided to the respondents prior to the survey, or whether the questions were neutral or contained leading language.
Given all this, the “public opinion survey” cannot be used as evidence of informed public support for the project.
@Hassaan_Mhmd@aleeshareef@MoEnvmv@ERA_Maldives
Let’s unpack this “EIA”.
First Addendum to the EIA for Proposed Road Development and Land Reclamation in North Hithadhoo, Addu City.
Consultant: Theorem International Pvt. Ltd.
Application date: 19th May 2026
Instruction note to expedite EIA by Minister: 19th May 2026
Terms of Reference date: 20th May 2026
Submission date: 27th May 2026
There were only 7 days between the issuance of the TOR and the submission of the EIA by the consultant.
Issue is MNU SU has not held a competitive leadership election in the recent times. All of their ExCo positions are fixed by an advisory board comprising former presidents and vice presidents (all men)
MNU SU needs urgent reforms.
A company, Theorem International, has made an EIA mkng wild assumptions, recommendng "relocation" of mangroves in Addu indicating a high level of cluelessness!
"100-130 species of mangroves"?
This is another level of blah observed in EIAs in #Maldives!!
@MoEnvmv@MangroveProject