Honeymoon destination, luxury resorts and world-class diving: all words that come to mind when thinking of the Maldives. But behind the pictures and postcards, natural and anthropogenic hazards are putting considerable pressure on the Maldives islands. Challenges that the islands face are similar to those of other Small Island Development States (SIDS), such as groundwater contamination, drinking water scarcity, unprocessed plastic waste, and a large dependency on imported food.
On top of this, the Maldives is the lowest lying country in the world. With roughly 1200 small islands and a rising sea level, this gives cause to additional concern.
Within project Valhu (Valhu meaning ‘source’ in the local Maldivian language Divehi), Tewaii is responsible for water-related field research on a small Maldivian island. This island is setting out to become a pioneer for sustainable island research, and aims to become a research hub and blueprint for sustainable small island horticulture and agriculture for the Maldives, and other small island developing states.
Measuring the water resources will not only give an idea of the current state of the water quality and quantity on the island, but also contribute to the design of a sustainable water cycle for this upcoming agricultural research island.
