Speaker of the Parliament and former President Mohamed Nasheed says the Maldives must use nature-based solutions to prevent shore erosion in the country.
Nasheeds made these comments after sharing a paper on the subject via Twitter today.
He said that nature-based solutions include growing coral reefs and mangroves to prevent shore erosion.
Nasheed also said that the country must also use the latest science to speed up coral evolution, making corals genetically stronger and more able to survive bleaching events, where ocean temperature spikes kill corals
In a series of tweets, the speaker called on the country's main international financial donors such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank ADB not to fund projects that dump 1920s technology on the country.
He said that the country needs to embrace the latest methods and techniques that match its developmental needs.
Nasheed shared a paper titled ' The effectiveness of coral reefs for coastal hazard risk reduction and adaptation' that was published back in 2014. The paper said that that coral reefs can provide comparable wave attenuation benefits to artificial defenses such as breakwaters, and reef defenses can be enhanced cost-effectively.
It further said that reefs face growing threats yet there is an opportunity to guide adaptation and hazard mitigation investments towards reef restoration to strengthen this first line of coastal defense.
