Saving the Seagrass Beds of Maldives – Using Social Media to Make a Difference

Seagrass Beds | Image Credit : Jstuby at English Wikipedia, Seagrass Grahams Harbour, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons

A campaign to save and conserve seagrass beds in Maldives is growing in popularity; this is according to an online article published last month on TTR Weekly. Initiated by the Blue Marine Foundation, this social media campaign promoted under the hashtag, “#ProtectMaldivesSeagrass” is gathering momentum not just in the public sphere but amongst private resorts as well. Many properties including the likes of Reethi Faru Resort have signed up for this campaign which is seen as an essential part of being a genuine eco-resort Maldives has to offer.

This campaign looks to not only protect seagrass but raise awareness to prevent its extraction; certain resorts carry out a destructive practice forcibly removing seagrass at lagoons in order to “beautify” the surroundings. This, however, has a detrimental and devastating effect on the marine ecosystem as seagrass plays a vital role in everything from supporting fish and sea turtles to preventing beach erosion.