Climate vulnerability assessment – islands of Dhidhdhoo and Hinnavaru, The Maldives

Abstract

The Maldives program to Enhance Climate Resiliency and Water Security is intended to demonstrate the process and outcomes needed to allow island communities to maximize their opportunity to overcome impacts from global climate change. The program will provide assistance to the Government of the Maldives (GOM), and island and atoll councils; the private sector; and residents of two islands in the northern part of the country that will be targeted with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) assistance to become “climate resilient islands.” The underlying purpose and intended outcome of the program is to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that island residents will need to become stewards of their island environment and to make rational and informed decisions on key climate change adaptation issues. This report concerns the islands of Dhidhdhoo and Hinnavaru. The Climate Vulnerability Assessment uses available climate data to assess the vulnerability of water, sanitation, solid waste management services to the impacts of climate change, and feeds into the Utility Service Delivery Assessment, which is documented in a separate report (CH2M HILL, 2012). During a 2 week field effort, a consultant team worked with relevant Ministry of Housing and Environment (MHE) officials, island council members, community groups, and representatives from utilities to evaluate the current state of services, vulnerability of services to climate-related impacts, and priorities to improve the resiliency of services in light of likely climate-related impacts. Dhidhdhoo is the capital of Haa Alif Atoll administrative division in the Maldives. The island lies on the northwestern tip of Tiladummati Atoll. Originally, the island was 52 hectares, but after land reclamation in 2010, the island is now around 85 hectares. There are some estimated 3,740 people in Dhidhdhoo (2009-Registered-Statistical Year book 2010) and it is the largest population in the Atoll. Population on Dhidhdhoo has increased at a steady rate in recent years of about 2.0 percent per year. Hinnavaru is one of the inhabited islands of the Lhaviyani Atoll. Originally, the island was 22 hectares, and after land reclamation in 2010, the island is now 55 hectares. It has a population of approximately 4,500 people with 715 registered households. Population data and growth rates available for the past decade through 2010 shows a slow rate of increase with an annual average growth rate of about 0.6 percent.