EcoChamp to the Rescue

Nala Nala Raajje (Beautiful Maldives) NOW ON LINE

2008-01-22T02:41:00.000-08:00

The National Public Waste Awareness project I worked on in the Maldives is now up and running and the web link is www.erc.gov.mv\wasteaware

The first TV ad has been placed on the website under the audio/media section on the front page and the national radio program is up and running.

Sri Lankan Safari

2007-10-16T04:33:00.000-07:00

I recently visited the beautiful and exotic country isle of Sri Lanka, as it was an extra long weekend in the Maldives for the end of Ramazan I had the chance to escape to the lush and fertile ancient land of Lanka. I had been on a trip previously just to Colombo and this time went further north and inland, ventured on an elephant safari in Kaudulla National Park, climbed Sigiriya Rock to view the ancient frescos, budhist monastry and palace, visted the ancient cities of Polonnaruwa and Kandy, enjoyed an Auryuvedic massage and swam under the stars in the 40 m pool at Thilanka a beautiful boutique hotel in an orchard setting, watched a wonderful local dance performance with walking on hot coals, meditated at the Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga centre and visited Pinwalla elephant orphanage.

An elephant grazing by the side of the road

On safari searching for elephants

As the sun started to set a huge electrical storm rolled in and we left the park in haste as the sheets of lightning lit the sky around us

Turtlemania

2007-10-01T08:01:00.001-07:00

Went for a dive on Grand Final Day - GO CATS! couldn't get the coverage in Male' and instead had a great time with the turtles.

Sea Stars

Sea Cucumber

Black Coral

Clown Fish - my favourites - still trying to find NEMO

Waste not want not!

A bit of a wreck!

Field trip to Huraa Island

2007-09-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

Taking a Dhoni Ride to Huraa Island

My colleagues Elaine and Shazna from Live and Learn

The beach at Huraa

The main shopping strip on Huraa

A communal well

Rainwater Harvesting - Water tanks are now being distributed to all islands

Chillies drying in the sun, good reuse of materials

Used cooking oil containers - these are also reused for growing plants

A Vegie Garden at the Health Centre

A traditional wall made from coral, most buildings are now made from concrete

Art decorating the walls

A visit to the Waste Management Centre at Huraa Island

Plastics and Metals are separated and bagged for eventual collection

Outside the Waste Management Centre organic materials and other waste is burnt, there has been a push by the aid agencies to get the islands to separate organics and set up composting systems as well as shredding plant materials for mulch.

Rubbish bins outside Sunset restaurant, cigarette butts can be placed in them, the first I have seen these bins anywhere

Another bin outside a small island shop

A close by resort private island

Mangroves at Huraa - we had to get some pics for the Live & Learn Field Guides

Crabs - very difficult to photograph

Drifting along

2007-09-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Today I got back into the water for a couple of drift dives. On the first dive the current was quite strong. This stingray was settled in a cave under some sand until we came along.

Here is a close up of a beautiful lionfish

This is a nudibranch (pronounced noodie brank) or sea slug

Such beautiful design in the coral

How cute is this fish, I think it's called a box fish

This is a pipefish

This is a stone fish, very well camouflaged, can you see it? - quite deadly if you stand on it, it opens up sharp spikes on its back that can pierce booties, I saw a good story on them recently on Animal Planet with Steve Irwin and the grandson of Jacques Cousteau, Steve's team were collecting the venom to assist in research for an anti venom.

Nala Nala Raajje (Beautiful Maldives): Why Waste?

2007-08-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

My assignment here in the Maldives is to work with the Live and Learn team on a World Bank funded project to develop a National Waste Awareness Media Campaign, part of a larger National Waste Management project to improve awareness of increasing waste, poor waste management practices, stakeholder responsibility and the new government 'polluter pays' policy. The campaign involves the development of TV and Radio segments and ads, and Newspaper articles and ads. As a tourist you would not see the waste management problems in the Maldives as you would be segregated from the local muslim communities. You would experience an idyllic tropical island and the waste problem would be "out of sight - out of mind". However on the local inhabited islands its a different story.

Here at Mahibadhoo Island, as is the case for most of the inhabited islands, most of the waste is dumped on the beach and burnt and there is a huge problem with dumping of waste into the ocean around the islands. After the 2004 Tsunami there was a huge effort to clean up the debris on the affected islands by the International Red Cross societies. The United Nations Development Program funded the development of Waste Management Centres on some islands to store waste and recyclables. Most of the waste from Male' and the resorts and local islands is taken to Thilafushi or what is affectionately known as the "Rubish Island". Below is the Waste Transfer Station in Male'. Bangladeshi workers are used to pick the PET bottles from the waste as there is no household source separation of recyclables.

Here is the tip burning face on Thilafushi.

Here is an example of the "sea fill" of the burnt waste at Thilafushi, the waste is used to fill up the lagoon on the island. This "sea fill" is not like an engineered landfill. Leachate is not captured and treated, it simply is left to fill the coral reef bed which is porous, an impending environmental disaster.

PET is stockpiled on the island, I am told that some is recycled.

Piles of contaminated waste is also stockpiled, much of it leaking onto the ground.

Recently we ran a stakeholder consultation Branding Workshop to develop the campaign slogan and key messages. Tedry, the film maker we are working with came up with the name Nala Nala Raajje, its translation is something like Beautiful Maldives and is a popular choice of title for the campaign. Below I am explaining the design of the "Campaign Architecture"

Tedry from Eternal Pictures describes his creative storyboard

Brainstorming and designing creative slogans and images

Examples of the creative ideas for slogans and key messages are put on display under the projects key themes.

Everyone rated their favourite slogans

Flying to Soneva Fushi Resort

2007-08-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Live and Learn team flew to Soneva Fushi Eco Resort via seaplane to meet with the management team as part of a Sustainable Islands Consultancy program. The plan is to provide environmental training to staff and surrounding islands.

Recycling bins on the island

A "rubbish bin" - very organic!

A composting toilet

View from the toilet - over the permaculture garden

Shredded Coconut Husk fibre used as mulch

Bannanas

Vegie Garden

Taking it easy

Male' Street Cleaners

2007-08-15T12:18:00.001-07:00

This is how the streets are cleaned in Male' and this is a rubbish cart

Surfs up

2007-08-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

This is a pic of the surf break near my place, a bit slopy today, I'm hoping to lend a board so I can catch a few waves while I am here. Notice the crabs on the breakwater pillars? These pillars surround the island of Male' and were built with assistance from the Japanese. They were just finished before the Tsunami and assited in keeping the water back.

Maldiving

2007-08-11T02:03:00.000-07:00

It was the moment I had been waiting for, the opportunity to dive into the beautiful azure water and experience the tropical ocean life. I joined a group of dive enthusiasts on a trip with Ocean Dive Desk in Male. On the boat with Sudesh (Red Cross), Minako (working in Maldives assisting with Japanese weddings) and Yasutoshi (on holidays) who we later named James Bond.

My buddy was 'Mario' the dive master his real name is Nixam.

My first dive was to Manta Point near Paradise Island where we saw about 5 huge Manta Rays swimming majestically around us and then a school of about 20 devil rays came over head. I was testing out my new camera housing so didn't get a chance to photograph them. But just recently I was sent these pics of the mantas from my friend Yasutoshi in Japan alias James Bond.

The next dive was on a reef called Margiri Rock and was abundant with colourful fish, a morey eel and lionfish.

And this is how Yasutosh earned his name, James Bond!

Off to Mahibadhoo Island

2007-08-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a beautiful traditional Dhoni boat at Mahibadhoo, one of the inhabited islands that I recently visited to celebrate a belated World Environment Day organised by the Ministry for Environment, Energy and Water. I spent 3 days on the island attending a community environmental workshop, judging a schools environmental poster and re use-art competition. Here are some of the winners.

Sunset on Mahibidhoo

2007-08-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

Going tropo - hot and muggy

2007-08-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

The map c/o mvnewz show the Maldives south west of Sri Lanka, close to the equator, its hot and humid. I'm living in Male' the capital and its busy all the time, approximately 100,000 people sqeeze into the tiny island.

Life in Male' capital of the Maldives

2007-08-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

I love the beautiful colours used to paint the buildings, as everything is made from concrete. The streets are tiny and most women cover up in the Muslim tradition.

Farewell pics

2007-08-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well it was great to see all of my wonderful friends at the Pelican Bar for the send off party. Here are a few shots from my new underwater camera it works fine on land and thanks to Rus for the tips on using it. Great to see my close buddies and the AWARE gang and the mad crew who made it up from the coast. You know who you are and thanks for your love and support. Also thanks to Pat the Cat in fine form as always!

2007-07-09T01:47:00.000-07:00

Hi to all my friends and fellow planet savers!

I am developing this blog as a kind of travel diary to let you know what I will be up to over the next few months as I go to work in the Maldives for Live and Learn Environmental Education

http://www.idea.org.au/liveandlearn/

http://www.idea.org.au/liveandlearn/activities/mal_proj.asp

I will be working on a project to develop a National Public Awareness and Media Program focussing on Waste for the South Ari Atoll region.

At this stage you're probably thinking "beautiful tropical island resorts, diving, atoll surfing and soaking up the sun" and of course you are right, I will be escaping winter in Melbourne and heading to the tropics and enjoying the best the Maldives has to offer on my weekends but this is a serious project targeting waste reduction, recycling and reuse at a national and household level!

I know it sounds like a tough assignment, but alas someone has to do it and it might as well be me!

So where are the Maldives you may ask?

You'll find out more in my next posting!