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FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
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INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2060
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RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1320
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001048 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FOR NOAA, USGS 
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY FOR FEMA 
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR U.S. COAST GUARD 
DEPARTMENT OF STATE FOR SCA, OES, AND IO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON SENV PGOV TSPL KGHG TPHY KICR IO CE
SUBJECT: MALDIVES SEEKS ASSISTANCE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE 
ISSUES 
 
REF: COLOMBO 1033 
 
¶1. ESTHOff met with Maldivian government officials on the 
margins of the Climate Vulnerable Forum November 9-10 
(reftel) and in Male November 15 to discuss a range of 
climate change and other environmental issues.  The 
Government of the Maldives (GOM) has called climate change 
its number one national security concern and announced plans 
to reach carbon-neutrality by 2020 -- an ambitious goal for a 
lesser-developed country.  After successful democratic 
elections last year, new policy makers, politicians, and even 
civil servants are in many ways starting from scratch in 
trying to better understand climate change and environmental 
challenges confronting the nation.  While their hearts are in 
the right place, government officials admit that a good deal 
of outside support would be welcomed in such areas as 
training, outreach, capacity building, equipment and 
materials as they seek to enhance their ability to manage 
environmental issues and climate change challenges. 
 
TSUNAMI FOLLOW-ON AND HARBOR MITIGATION ISSUES 
 
¶2. Mohamed Shahid, Director General of the National Disaster 
Management Centre (NDMC), noted that 60% of the nation's GDP 
was destroyed when the tsunami hit the islands on December 
26, 2004, leading to the displacement of as many as 25,000 
individuals.  After nearly five years, 1600 remain displaced, 
although housing units continue to be built on home islands. 
Noting the importance of intact reef systems -- which 
surround the islands -- to protect against both future 
tsunamis and climate change, the DG (on the job for 10 
months) asked for information regarding what he described as 
a NOAA/NASA/Navy project which maps reef systems to ensure 
that harbor dredging and design limits damage to the 
ecosystem and beach erosion.  He also requested FEMA and NOAA 
assistance on capacity building and information sharing. 
Finally, he indicated the USG may have old (25-plus years) 
satellite images of Maldives which are declassified.  Shahid 
asked if these could be shared to assist the GOM in better 
understanding shifts in their own islands. 
 
CORAL REEFS 
 
¶3. Mr. Hussein Zahir, Senior Reef Ecologist at the Marine 
Research Center (MRC), part of the Ministry of Fisheries, 
Agriculture, and Marine Resources, also requested capacity 
building and information-sharing assistance.  He noted that 
the World Bank's "Maldives Environmental Management Project" 
-- a five-year, $13 million project begun in 2008 -- is well 
underway and already producing reports identifying needs, 
including on coral reef issues.  The Maldives participates in 
all Coral Reef Monitoring Network (managed through the South 
Asia Cooperative Environmental Project, SACEP) projects. 
Zahir emphasized that because the 1190 islands of the 
Maldives are surrounded by atolls and coral reefs, the 
country is a particularly good platform for coral reef 
science.  The MRC recently took possession of an island in 
the Male atoll which formerly housed a fish processing plant, 
and is turning the site into a research facility for use by 
scientists worldwide.  Zahir requested assistance in funding, 
equipping, and publicizing the site among the official and 
university scientific community the United States and 
provided a report outlining the location's needs.  He also 
said the GOM is interested in learning more about whether 
coral reefs -- the "forests of the seas" -- could be a 
potential source for carbon sequestration. 
 
¶4. Zahir related the good news that many of the reefs damaged 
 
COLOMBO 00001048  002 OF 002 
 
 
by the 1998 El Nino bleaching incident have rebounded 
extremely well, particularly in the southern atolls and the 
western side of the central atolls.  He requested assistance 
in linking up with scientists in the U.S. to learn more about 
ocean acidification and its potential effects on coral reefs 
and the Maldivian islands.  He explained that the Maldives 
has only six graduate-level scientists working on coral reef 
issues and affirmed outside expertise would be welcomed.  He 
also noted that he has no base-line data regarding his 
country's fisheries, coral reef quality, or beach erosion. 
He asked if any USG agencies might have data from the 1980s 
we could share. 
 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
 
¶5. The GOM is extremely focused on climate change research, 
mitigation, adaptation, and prevention.  Post is aware of a 
NOAA-led ten-day course offered entitled "Planning for 
Climate Change in the Coastal and Marine Environment."  GOM 
officials with the Vice President's office, the Ministry for 
Housing, Transport, and Environment, and the Ministry for 
Fisheries, Agriculture, and Marine Resources all expressed 
interest in exploring options for bringing this 
capacity-building and information-sharing course to Maldives 
in the first half of 2010, something Post strongly supports. 
 
ACTION REQUEST 
 
¶6. Post requests Department assistance in identifying 
governmental, non-governmental, and university partners to 
begin building relationships between appropriate officials in 
the Maldives on environmental and climate change activities. 
Possible interlocutors within the USG from NOAA, FEMA, USGS, 
Coast Guard, Navy, AID, and elsewhere should contact ESTH 
officer Ken Kero-Mentz via unclassified email at 
keroka@state.gov.  Post will also provide copies of the World 
Bank and coral reef research facility reports noted above 
upon request. 
BUTENIS