STATEMENT - Call for Protection of Goidhoo Atoll Marine Ecosystem
The Maldives Coral Institute is deeply concerned about government plans to dredge and reclaim the Goidhoo lagoon for resort development and calls for protection of its exceptional marine environment. The Atoll of Goidhoo in Maldives supports remarkable corals, some of them hundreds of years old, that have somehow survived bleaching and defied widespread national and global losses. These natural assets are nationally and internationally important and irreplaceable.
Why protect Goidhoo Atoll?
Giant Corals
There are multiple coral colonies of extraordinary size and age in the Goidhoo lagoon. These corals are well known to local fishers and used as navigational aids. Maldives Coral Institute and Map the Giants have so far identified and measured 12 giant corals from several genera, including Porites, Turbinaria and Pavona. The corals measure between 15 and 37metres in their maximum circumferences and are conservatively estimated to be 300 to 500 years old. With global marine heatwaves and bleaching events becoming more frequent over the past few decades, it is uncertain whether corals will have the capacity to reach this size or age ever again. These corals are intact, fully alive and have survived three massive coral bleaching events. They supply resilient larvae to the entire reef system and possibly to other regions, and may well hold the key to coral resilience.
High Biodiversity and Live Coral Cover
Diving surveys in Goidhoo Atoll revealed extensive thriving coral ecosystems on the lagoon floor, covering many square kilometres. These areas are dominated by a wide variety of corals, representing more than half of all coral species occurring in Maldives, with living coverage regularly in the range of 50-80%. These levels of coral health are exceptional not just for Maldives, but worldwide. Goidhoo Atoll’s reefs look remarkably similar to images taken by Hans Hass’s 1950s expedition, indicating that the atoll’s reefs represent an almost unprecedented survival of past coral conditions. This resilience makes them both nationally and internationally significant and of exceptional conservation importance.
High thermal Resilience
Maldives Coral Institute have collected and analysed temperature and coral bleaching data from Goidhoo Atoll over multiple years, and can confirm that the reefs show strong thermal resilience.
In the most recent global marine heatwave, peak daily temperatures reached 32.7°C in the Atoll, with hourly peaks of up to 35°C. The recognized bleaching threshold is 30.5°C for Maldives- however, while 74.8% of coral colonies in the area bleached, only 38.3% died and 49.3% exhibited partial or full recovery. Historical maximum temperatures in Maldives over the last 30 years was 32.98°C, further confirming that corals in this area can withstand exceptionally high temperatures.
Benefits of protection are irreplaceable
Protection of Goidhoo Atoll’s marine environment and natural beauty will be far more beneficial its’ communities than revenue from resort development. The high-end local island tourism that the inhabited islands of the atoll currently enjoy is owed to their exceptional natural assets, which once destroyed, cannot be regained. The dredging and reclamation of any area in Goidhoo Atoll will undoubtedly cause environmental and reef degradation, undermining livelihood options, income and human wellbeing of its communities. With protection, the island coastlines will be better defended, water quality higher, the tourism assets more attractive, and marine food sources will be more secure for the future.
Goidhoo Atoll’s resilient corals will act as sources of natural replenishment to other Maldivian reefs, subjects for research into coral resilience mechanisms, a source of corals for propagation for restoration, and a source of wonder for visitors.
One of Goidhoo Atoll’s giant corals. This Turbinaria is over 20 metres long and several hundred years old.
Goidhoo Atoll supports areas of coral that are little different from photographs taken in the first surveys of the Maldives in the 1950s. These remarkable, resilient corals are unexpected survivors - a window to the past and hope for the future.