Sinking Maldives plans to reclaim land from the ocean

Addu Atoll. The mayor says that, as the second-largest populated area in the Maldives, it needs economic change and land. But critics say the reclaimed land will not benefit locals and an environmental assessment says it could bury 21 hectares of corals and 120ha of seagrass meadows. Photograph: Aishath Naj

A controversial project to reclaim land on an atoll threatened by rising sea levels has been announced in the Maldives, with hopes that it may boost tourism balanced against fears that it could “choke the ecosystem”.

The low-lying island nation, one of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change, has commissioned a major shore protection and land reclamation scheme using sand dredged from a lagoon, despite concerns about the impact on this Unesco biosphere reserve.