A “Coral State.” Socio-political implications of the reefs' crises in the Maldives

Coastal and archipelagic countries share specific adaptation needs, and they carry a great part of the global costs of climate change. Currently, national governments and local authorities operate to foster the integration of adaptation measures within the broad spectrum of national development policies. In the Maldives, corals act both as a connection and a symbol of this priority. Reefs are vulnerable ecosystems facing environmental changes and are also one of the main resources of the country's cultural and natural heritage. As in other countries across the Indian Ocean Region, in the Maldives, coral material has been widely utilized in architectural constructions. Furthermore, the Maldivian national economy is highly dependent on international tourism. Indeed, the country’s leading position in the international market is largely based on the attractiveness of coral reefs and coral sand beaches. Therefore, the effects of climate change on coral reefs directly threaten the key sector of the national economy. Moreover, tourism plays a strategic role in national adaptation and resilience strategies, as highlighted by the Ministry of Tourism and UNDP in 2012. Coral stone mosques entered the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2013. This strategy could facilitate the promotion of heritage sites as tourist attractions, allowing the country to maintain its competitiveness in the tourism market even while facing a scenario shaped by massive losses of reefs’ richness and biodiversity. In this contribution, we discuss the value and function of corals and the value their preservation (as both heritage and ecosystems) might have in environmental policies at national and local levels; we propose an overview of their socio-political meaning; and we open the discussion on the contemporary effectiveness of a taken-for-granted duo: healthy coral reefs and tourist attractiveness.