Strengthening the waste management system on Noonu Manadhoo Atoll and greening the island

Objectives

The main objective of this project was to educate women, children and young people about their immediate environment and its interdependence with their health and livelihoods. The project was expected to instill a collective spirit of caring for the environment and encourage participation in efforts to protect and manage the environment.

Background

Manadhoo in Noonu Atoll was one of the islands of the Maldives hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The population of the island is about 1,200 people, more than half of whom are under the age of 18. Most residents live on the north-east side of the island, where they have basic utility services but lack systematic waste disposal.

Target beneficiaries

The people of Manadhoo (population 1200).

Outputs

• Cleaning of the island’s waste management centre, beaches, harbour and other public areas.
• Organization of five awareness-raising events with 80 participants in total, focusing on environmental issues for community NGOs, the Women’s Development Committee and students.
• Planting by community members of over 100 trees across an eroded beach area.
• Installation of five signboards with environmental messages targeted at waste disposal and littering in different locations around the island.

Accomplishments and challenges

Accomplishments:

The clean-up of the waste management centre at Manadhoo helped to improve conditions there greatly. Project participants sorted the waste at the centre into three categories: solids, liquids and gases.

More community members are now aware of the importance of waste recycling, reuse and composting after an island-wide training programme on waste management. The signboards also positively affected community behaviour, promoting environmental protection activities on the island.

Challenges:

The project faced some difficulty in mobilizing stakeholders. Several volunteers withdrew from the project because they saw no financial benefits from its activities.

Contributions to cross-cutting themes

Communications

Promotion and awareness materials helped communicate the importance of waste management to island residents.

Lessons Learned

The “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” house-to-house campaign proved an effective way of achieving the project’s objectives. Periodic awareness-raising and stakeholder mobilization efforts will be needed to keep the island’s waste management centre clean. Lastly, monitoring the project’s contributions (such as the trees planted around the beach and the household waste management practices) will help to ensure sustainability in the future.