IUCN Maldives

This field guide provides information on marine turtles in the Maldives. Marine turtles live permanently in a saltwater environment. Unlike tortoises, marine turtles have a streamlined shell and flippers that allow them to swim quickly, but this is not enough to survive in saltwater. Their breathing and circulatory systems have, therefore, adapted to marine life. 

This report aimed at understanding resource use and dependence, perception of marine conservation policies, and adaptive capacities of communities of North Ari atoll, Maldives. It provides information on the social resilience of 8 local community islands in North Ari atoll, and identifies differences in gender role, in resource use and perception of enironmental issues. This study is key in understanding the value of ecosystem services in one atoll in the Maldives.

This report represents the most comprehensive effort to monitor coral bleaching in the Maldives to date, using a combination of citizen science and expert scientist (governmental, academic and non-governmental) data sets.

Baseline assessment of coral reefs of North Ari is the first study to investigate spatial variation in reef condition within the context of different human pressures in one atoll in the Maldives.