Resilient Island Plan-1

Resilient Island Plan and detailed elaborations for S. Hulhumeedhoo

Introduction

Hulhumeedhoo, an island of Addu City, in the south of Maldives, is a typical partly inhabited atoll island with two villages, agricultural activity and once a week a tourism excursion. Like every island in Maldives, the island of Hulhumeedhoo is facing several challenges. Some of these challenges are eminent, clear visible in every day life. Social problems like drug addiction, abandoned houses, lack of awareness and lack of social cohesion. Environmental problems like excessive deforestation, water pollution, illegal waste dump and sand mining. Economic problems like unemployment and related drug addiction and immigration, poverty and crime. But some of these challenges are unclear, invisible and unknown; challenges that are becoming problems in the long term, rather then today. The most striking long term challenge is the impact of climate change. Already today beach erosion, heavy rain flooding and storm damage are occurring, but these problems will be worse in future when the climate changes.

 

The future of Hulhumeedhoo is insecure. All these problems together make it likely that the Maldives will be uninhabitable by the year 2100, except when something will change. Action is needed today, to create a future for tomorrow.

 

This change is brought into action on the island of Hulhumeedhoo with a workshop, held in March 2011. The workshop and the after workshop process aim to create a resilient island. A resilient island is an island that can recover from and adapt to certain shocks, like food crises, economic crises, natural disasters and climate change. Twenty inhabitants of different background participated in the workshop and have worked together to identify problems and find solutions. In the end the workshop resulted in a basic plan containing various good solutions. Furthermore action plans have been made on how to implement these solutions. Also an action group have been formed that has organized a community action day. On that day inhabitants of Hulhumeedhoo have collected coconut seedlings from houses and planted them at the ocean coast to prevent erosion. The full report of this workshop can be found on the CD in the back of this report.

 

This basic plan contains various ideas, but on an abstract level. To make them realize they must be researched in detail, elaborated and becoming place specific. This has been done in the after workshop process and this report presents the outcomes of that elaboration. All components of the basic plan are detailed and elaborated, in descriptions, photos and place specific designs. All these elaborations together form the resilient island plan, the start for the resilient island. Once implemented the island is protected to climate change for at least 100 years, is unpolluted and healthy, produces its own food, creates jobs and opportunities for youth and initiate tourism activity. In short the plan creates an island that has a brighter future.

 

First the resilient island plan is introduced, including the ten components in short. Also the future potentials with the plan are presented as well as the meaning of the plan for Addu City and the country of Maldives. In the chapter three, all components of the resilient island plan are described in detail.

The country of Maldives and his location on the world map. Highlighted is Addu Atoll in the south, containing the island of Hulhumeedhoo

Addu Atoll, since a few months Addu City, is the southern most atoll of Maldives. It consists of various islands, including the island of Hulhumeedhoo. Hulhumeedhoo is a typical partly inhabited island with two villages, agricultural activity and once a week an excursion from the nearby Herathera Resort.

 

Some characteristics of the two villages (Census 2006):
Meedhoo (northern part)
1458 inhabitants
165.95 ha
8.79 person / ha
Annual growth rate of – 2.36
Unemployed: 22.2 %
Hulhudhoo (southern part)
1147 inhabitants
151.82 ha
7.55 person / ha
Annual growth rate of – 3.77
Unemployed: 38.0 %

The cross-section of Hulhumeedhoo is showing the elevation of the island. It is clear that the edges are higher as the centre. The ocean east side is the highest point with around 2 meter above high sea level. The lagoon coast, in the west, is less as 1 meter above high sea level.

 

In the depression in the middle a swamp has been formed. This is also the main water infiltration area. One can find taro and banana fields on the west edge of the swamp.

The villages are built close to the lagoon. There one can find easy boat access. Agricultural activity takes place on the higher soils towards the ocean.

 

The groundwater flow is from the swamp towards the village, because in the village most of the groundwater is extracted. In the village contaminated water from septic tanks is leaking in the soil, mixing with the groundwater. Houses on the east side of the village have cleaner groundwater as houses on the west side.

 

One major problem is the management of waste. People either dump it illegally on the beach, in the forest or the swamp, they burn it in their home garden or they bring it to the main waste centre. There it is stored or burned.

The smoke is polluting the village and the agricultural fields, whereas rainwater is mixing with the waste, infiltrating in the swamp and contaminated the ground water.

 

The coast is already heavily eroding. This happens especially on places where the natural vegetation is thin or completely gone.

How will the coast look like when sea level is rising and climate change is causing more storms?

 

 

 

One can find a huge amount of abandoned houses and half built houses on the island. Inhabitants are moving away towards the higher populated islands and the capital for searching jobs, finding higher education, various socials functions and a good hospital.

They leave their house behind unattended. These left over houses are currently a shelter for drug practices, illegal workers, and diseases carrying animals. Instead the houses are excellent for reusing building materials and space for new housing. They should be renovated or replaced.

 

Agriculture is a good source of income and therefore a growing sector. Enormous areas are deforested to make it suitable for agriculture. But the soil is very nutrient poor and alkaline. Especially when deforested it becomes very dry. When there was the forest it was richer and moist.

Deforestation degrades the soil. So farmers must invest a huge amount of fertilizer and irrigation to make the soil fertile and suitable for agriculture. Proper land management is missing to avoid over deforestation.

 

What will happen to the island of Hulhumeedhoo when the government and the community continues this way? What will happen to a country as Maldives when the development continues this way?

 

The image on the right shows a very sad future of Hulhumeedhoo. When deforestation, pollution and erosion continues it is likely that the island becomes uninhabitable by the year 2100. The image shows how the island will look like under the worst case climate scenario (1 meter of sea level rise in the next 100 year). Then the island is almost completely inundated and eroded and there is no healthy place left to live on.

 

Of course this is not the future the community wants and therefore we started the resilient island workshop; a workshop that acts today to create this better future for tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 inhabitants participated in a workshop, where we have done group work, plenary discussion and presentations and a field excursion. We have made maps to better understand the environment of the island. We have listed all problems and brainstormed on solutions. This has resulted in a solution map for the island (see next page).

After the workshop we went with the report to the mayor of Addu City. Butmost import we did the first action by collection coconut seedlings from houses and planted them at the poor vegetated ocean coast to protect it against erosion.

 

 

 

This is the basic plan for the island of Hulhumeedhoo. It contains 11 great ideas that together will make the island safe, healthy and resilient against various threats. It leads to climate change protection as well as food security and economic potential.

 

But this plan is basic. Details are missing and it is far from implementation. Therefore the workshop participants and this author worked together to improve this plan.

 

In the next chapters the elaboration of this basic plan is presented. First the detailed plan is explained and in the chapters after the eleven different components.

 

 

Resilient islands plan and detailed elaborations
for S. Hulhumeedhoo, Maldives
By P.I.M. (Pim) Kupers