Living around a wetland certainly has its benefits! In Fuvahmulah, Maldives, Aminath lives close to the vast protected wetland area. Once a month she goes to the wetland to harvest taros from her allocated field. Occasionally she also goes to take a dip in the fresh water lake surrounding the wetland. She is aware that the wetland area help with drainage issues as her island is prone to flooding. Rarely does she wander into the huge wetland areas yet the protected wetland area takes up much of the available terrestrial areas of her island.
She is aware of the ecological significance of the wetland, its aesthetic beauty and the specific source of food it provides. Even though her interaction of the wetland stops there, she often wondered about the services the wetlands provide and wetland associated flora and fauna and how her community can make use of the abundant reeds and screw pines growing wildly in the marshland and wetland.
When the opportunity came through the European Union funded Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, for a handicraft training using wetland associated resources, she participated, as this would pave a way for home or community based incoming generating opportunity for her.
Aminath is now a beneficiary of the livelihood support program for wetland management in Fuvahmulah which aims to empower the local community economically by training them in the traditional Maldivian craft of Thun'du Kunaa weaving (using reed) and Pandanus weaving.
The protected wetland area of Fuvahmulah has abundant reed (known locally as Hau) and wild screw pines (known locally as kashikeyo) growing around it. The participants of the livelihood support program are learning how these reed and screw pines can become a source of livelihood.
The leaves and stems are harvested from the wild and participants would be taught how to splice and dry these leaves and weaving to make mats, bags, pouches, storage boxes and other crafts.
Local Community: Key to Conservation
Protected areas are the primary form of intervention applied to achieve biodiversity conservation in response to anthropogenic threat today. And it is nearly impossible to protect natural resources without community participation. It is generally accepted that community involvement in ecosystem management is a key to success (Mendis-Millard and Reed, 2007).
European Union (EU) funded, Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, managed by the World Bank, is establishing a community-based wetland mechanism for the protected wetland areas of Bandaara Kilhi and Dhadimagi Kilhi of Fuvahmulah. As part of this management mechanism, livelihood improvement and income generating initiatives are incorporated to help the local community to better understand the value of wetlands – and the essentially important services they provide, such as the supply of reed and screw pines for their weaving and as well as provision of taro for their source of food.
With the added knowledge on the sustainable use of natural resources, the participants from the livelihood improvement trainings such as Aminath, can become strong advocates for nature-based approaches to conservation and to safeguarding important ecosystems such as wetlands are protected.
