The environmental status of reefs on Maldivian resort islands: a preliminary assessment for tourism planning

1. An assessment of reefs of 43 Maldivian resort islands is reported, based on analysis of ordinal data on a range of reef attributes from questionnaires completed by ‘dive base’ leaders. 2. Current overall reef condition is correlated most strongly with reef fish species, and also significantly with live coral cover and coral species. Coral bleaching was reported for 48% of the resort islands, and is associated with significantly reduced coral cover. 3. Cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling are used to classify the resort islands (sites) according to the reef attributes examined. Overall reef condition is correlated positively with distance from the capital, Male, and negatively with age of resort. 4. Two different analyses reveal a significant increase in algal abundance, increase in the number of divers and decrease in overall reef condition. Changes in coral fish abundance and coral species are also evident. 5. The net environmental effect of resorts and their use reflects a dynamic balance between harmful and beneficial impacts. The latter are shown to include a conservation benefit, since the creation of a resort island can lead to discontinuation of earlier, more harmful practices (e.g. coral mining) at that site. 6. The quality and utility of environmental data from questionnaires are reviewed. It is concluded that the study provided a useful broadscale environmental appraisal of Maldivian resort island reefs, but this is not a substitute for detailed ecological monitoring.