The Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy has opened applications for membership in the advisory committee responsible for protecting and managing the South Ari Marine Park.
The advisory committee for the protection and management of the South Ari Marine Park consists of 5 sectors. This time, the opportunity to apply has been opened for members representing the resort, fisheries, and liveaboard sectors.
The member applying for the resort sector must be a party active in a business registered with the Ministry of Economic Development and operating in South Ari Atoll. Additionally, the applying member must be someone who consults with and proposes ideas to the committee in a way that represents all parties in the sector they represent. The member applying for the fisheries sector seat must be someone working in the fisheries sector or a member of an association/organization working in the fisheries sector. Furthermore, the member applying for a liveaboard sector seat must be someone working on a liveaboard.
The Ministry has requested that parties applying for membership submit the required documents for the position before 12:00 on Wednesday, 25 December 2024. The Ministry also stated that documents will be accepted via the email jobs@environment.gov.mv. If more than one party applies for the same sector, members will be selected after considering the education and experience of the applicants, the Ministry stated.
Among the responsibilities of the committee, the Ministry stated, are advising on matters related to the management of the protected South Ari Marine Park area, advising on resolving issues encountered in managing the South Ari Marine Park area, advising on matters related to special events held in the South Ari Marine Park area, and advising on the collection of a fee if one is levied on parties using the South Ari Marine Park area. This work is not a remunerated position.
The South Ari Marine Park is an area protected on 5 June 2009 under Article 4 of the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act of Maldives. This area was designated and publicly announced as the 'South Ari Marine Park Area' on 11 July 2019. The 'South Ari Marine Park Area' is designated as the area extending 1 kilometer from the outer reef of the islands between the northwestern corner of the Rangali reef in South Ari Atoll and the northern corner of the Dhigurah reef. Due to the richness of natural resources and biodiversity, this area is noted globally as an area where whale sharks can be seen year-round. Important biodiversity found in this area also includes protected turtles, rays, and shark species.
