President Dr Mohamed Waheed has announced that the Maldives is set to become the first country to be a marine reserve, and also the single largest marine reserve in the world.
The President made this announcement today at the 1st Plenary Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20. In his statement, the President highlighted the establishment of the first UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Baa Atoll of the Maldives.
Referring to the notable success the country has achieved by relying on sustainable practices, the President noted that the Maldives was one of the only three countries to have ever graduated from the United Nations’ Least Developed Country category.
Highlighting the Maldives’ carbon neutrality targets, President Waheed called for a third global sustainable development conference for Small Island Developing States in 2014. He said that being a global community committed to a greener economy, developing countries like the Maldives are constantly in need of considerable financial and technical support.
President Waheed also conveyed to all world leaders, a message from the children of the Maldives, regarding their environmental concerns for the future. The children presented the President with their concerns at a children’s conference organized as part of the Maldives’ preparations for Rio+20.
