The Resilience Maldives team welcomes the announcement to halt the Dhonfanu reclamation project. We appreciate this gesture, but we must be clear: this is a temporary pause, not a victory. More importantly, Dhonfanu is just one part of a much larger, systemic problem threatening the very existence of the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

We are updating this cause and our petition to address the issue with the entire Baa Atoll and to call for genuine, sustainable solutions.

Our petition, now signed by over 5,000 people, is a call for more than just isolated suspensions. We are demanding a transparent and scientifically rigorous cumulative impact assessment for all reclamation projects in the atoll. Our collective voice has highlighted this core concern, and we must not stop until our government listens.

While the Dhonfanu project may be on hold, other destructive plans continue unabated, threatening all islands and their communities.

The 44.7-hectare airport development on Thulhadhoo is moving forward.

The proposed resort at the Goifulhafehendhoo Lagoon threatens to destroy unique and ancient coral structures, including the famous “Rose Garden,” some estimated to be over 500 years old. These are not just beautiful corals, they hold the key to the future survival of our reefs in the face of a warming climate.

The Maldives cannot afford piecemeal political gestures while our ecosystem is on the brink of collapse.

The science is clear: concurrent dredging and infilling across the atoll will lead to massive sediment plumes, choking coral reefs and seagrass beds beyond their capacity to recover.

We must hold decision, makers accountable. Reclamation is not, and never can be, a substitute for sustainable, long-term development. It is a high cost, high risk solution that often fails to consider all factors, from the irreversible destruction of our marine life to the loss of traditional livelihoods.

The citizens of Dhonfanu deserve genuine, lasting solutions for their future, not short-term projects that will ultimately destroy the very environment they rely on. A promise of land should not be a license for irreversible destruction.

We are at a crossroads. We must choose a different path, one rooted in sustainability and nature-based solutions. We therefore call for an immediate moratorium on all reclamation in Baa Atoll until a proper, independent assessment is conducted.

Don’t let our future generations ask us, “Kobaa Baa ބ?”

(Where is Baa?)

Keep sharing. Keep raising your voice. The fight for our future is now.