Growing up in island country threatened by rising sea levels

Xinhua 14 Nov 09;

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The future of the Maldives, the Indian Ocean islands facing the real prospect of disappearing into the sea, rests squarely in the hands of its younger generations.

As sea levels rise and threaten the very existence of the Maldives, children and adolescents increasingly face the prospect of moving to higher ground, either within their national boundaries or beyond.

Maldivian Vice-President Waheed Hassan told Xinhua that raising awareness about the effects of climate change was a top priority for his government and, while older generations still might cling to antiquated ideas, it was the country's youth that appeared more flexible.

"A lot of young people are educated and they are exposed to the debate on climate change," he said at his home in the capital of Male. "Of course, there are also traditional people, who think, for example, when there is a natural disaster it's the wheel of God and we do not have anything to do with it."

On the international stage, the Maldivian government has taken the lead in sounding the alarm over climate change. Most of the country's 200 inhabited islands are less than a meter above sea level, making them extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels.

President Mohamed Nasheed has announced the establishment of a sovereignty fund to relocate his people beyond Maldivian borders, should his country disappear under the aqua blue waters of the Indian Ocean.

But there is also another, less drastic plan. The island of Hulhumale, an ambitious land reclamation project, is an artificial island built three meters above sea level. It was originally conceived under the previous administration to relocate people living in Male, the most congested city in the world.

But with rising sea levels, Hulhumale will also provide an option for people whose homes are destroyed in extreme storms, tsunamis, or the slower but equally dangerous effects of climate change.

Hassan said the right incentives will lure Maldivians to leave their homes and move to bigger islands, including Hulhumale.

"In the future, I believe that most of the Maldivian people will live on similar bigger islands," he said. "We don't have to force people to migrate from their islands. I think we just have to create the necessary conditions for people to move, and they will."

Older generations who have grown up and learned to live off the land and sea of small islands might be harder to convince, Hassan admitted.

But not for young people.

On Guraidhoo island, a half-hour boat ride from the capital, Xinhua spoke to several adolescents and young adults who did not seemed phased by the prospect of leaving their tiny home should the ocean eventually wash it away.

Aslam Ahmed, 15, shrugged with a smile and said he did not worry about climate change or having to move one day. This is coming from a boy who kept watching a movie when the 2004 tsunami hit on the other side of the island.

Similarly, a group of boys, ages 14 to 18, said they did not concern themselves with "what if" scenarios. They could even laugh about it.

Perhaps the very idea of climate change is too daunting for many local youths. They all expressed a "que sera, sera" attitude.

Yet, even considering how to tackle tangible environment and development challenges seemed just as troublesome for those on Guraidhoo.

The beaches are littered with rubbish, something Shafiu Ahmed, 18, acknowledged made his home look ugly but would do little to change.

In the Maldives, waste is a major environmental headache. With little land to spare, trash is something to be thrown on the beach.

Abdul Hadhee Hussein is the island chief of Guraidhoo. He said his office has been urging locals to stop throwing away their rubbish along the shorelines.

"I have been advising and giving announcements to the people of the island not to do that," he said in Devehi through a translator.

However, so far his office has not doled out any penalties.