Maldives Biodiversity Association

Maldives (Dhivehi Raajje in native language) is an archipelago of 1,192 coral islands grouped into 26 natural coral atolls in the Indian Ocean stretched from Haa Alif Atoll in the north to the Addu City in the south. Comprising a territory spanning roughly 298 square kilometres (115 sq mi), the Maldives is one of the world's most geographically dispersed sovereign states making around 90% plus sea and less than 10% land. Every island is separate from other islands, there is a lagoon or a sea in between the islands. The Maldives archipelago is located on the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean, which also form a terrestrial ecoregion together with the Chagos Archipelago and Lakshadweep. With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, it is the world's lowest country, with even its highest natural point being the lowest in the world, at 5.1 metres (17 ft). Up to early 2000's Maldives had almost perfect ecosystems. Then land reclamation, harbor projects, pollution and deforestation hit hard and Maldives started to lose its almost perfect ecosystems. Up to now, reefs, lagoons, mangroves, wetlands, vegetation, coastal erosion, soil quality and freshwater lenses are unbalanced and disrupted. All these activities leads to one thing, species finds difficulties to survive on once we called heaven on earth. We have to act before it's too late and it's our responsibility to preserve this beautiful paradise with its biosphere for future generations. We can't call Maldives as what we called a paradise if we are not aware the fact that "paradise" can be called when all the species lives in harmony, in a perfect ecosystem.