Abstract
The project aims to study the biodiversity of Maldivian coral reefs in liaison with local partners. The study will be conducted from 4 different yet complementary angles: Inventories, biogeography, preservation and training The Maldives is a nation composed of 25 atolls. The economy of this country relies entirely on the coralline and oceanic ecosystem. The atolls, dispersed along a long latitudinal gradient of 800 km are situated in between the Western Indian Ocean and Asia. This position, as well as the isolation of the archipelago, makes it an interesting region from a biogeographical point of view when identifying local/regional factors controlling the dispatching of biodiversity. Marine protected areas (MPA), established since 1995, protect diving sites. Facing the pressure of commercial reef fishing, these MPA favour the maintenance of the fauna sought after by tourist divers, who constitute the major economic resource for this tourism-dependent country. From an ecological point of view, the success of these protective measures has not yet been established. One of the principal reasons for this is the lack of references that would help to identify in which local or regional context comparisons should be set up. On this account it is thus convenient to compare habitats and communities of protected and non-protected areas, but also to establish or update taxonomic reference lists which it would be interesting to position in the regional context of the Pacific Indian. Indeed, even though the Maldivian fauna has been studied early on by the first great natural scientists, the effort has not been consistent and little taxonomic information is updated or available for this archipelago. Finally, natural disasters (coral bleaching, tsunamis) that have recently affected the archipelago (1998-2004), might trouble the perception that one could have about the efficiency of management measures. The spatial variations in the quality of habitat due to these impacts should be taken into account. This context results in the identification of the following problems and actions, established in liaison with the Marine Research Centre (MRC), the Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Marine Resources (MOFAMR) of the Republic of Maldives: - Which is the diversity of habitats and the structure of coral communities encountered within the protected areas of the Maldives and outside? Is it necessary to increase the expanse of the protected marine areas? - In what way can the specific richness of these areas be compared to that observed in the Indian Ocean and in the Pacific Indian in general? What conclusions may one draw on the endemism and the evolution of marine species in the Maldives? - With the fishing grounds of invertebrates and reef fish being more and more developed, what is the status of the resource and its habitat? Are the essential habitats used throughout the lifecycle of the major commercial species sufficiently protected? Does the flux of larvae within and between atolls allow the renewal of resources in the exploited areas? Since the techniques for biodiversity inventory are not fully mastered on a local level, scientists and local technicians will get the possibility to participate in integrated workshops where they will get training in reef cartography, visual counting of fish while diving, capture and identification of larva and hatchlings and taxonomy of different groups.
France