Environmental impact assessment : for the removal of seagrass beach replenishment activities in Herathera Island Resort, Addu atoll, Maldives

Abstract

The Herathera Island has been experiencing seaweed overgrowth for a number of years, even before construction began on the island. Similarly, the island does not have a natural beach system which is suitable for a resort product. An attempt was made in 2007 and 2008 to remedy these shortcomings by removing seagrass and undertaking beach replenishment. Unfortunately, the beach replenishment design and implementation was flawed and new seagrass colonies have started to emerge. The island is currently is a worse condition, particularly its beach system. These environmental issues are decreasing the economic value of the tourism product being offered Resort and is reaching a point where the product may be unviable. Immediate action is required to address these issues, thus, a new and improved beach replenishment and seagrass removal programme. The proposed project involves the removal of sea grass colonies and beach replenishment. Details of the proposed project components are outlined below. a) Sea grass removal The primary component of the project is seagrass removal. Seagrass areas covering approximately 200,000 – 250,000 m2 is proposed to be cleared (see Site plan in Appendix B), 100,000 m3 of dredge waste. TwoEIA for the proposed Seagrass Removal and Beach Replenishment Activities in Herathera Island Resort Prepared by: CDE Consultancy Page| ix methods have been proposed for the project: 1) using a sand pump; 2) using an excavator and; 3) soft measures. b) Beach Replenishment Beach replenishment has been considered as part of the project to mitigate the severe erosion on the island. The dredged waste from the sea grass removal activity, after cleaning and sorting, will be used to replenish the a 2900 m beach up to 10 m from the existing shore line. Additional sand will be dredged from borrow areas within the lagoon using sand pumps and excavators. Replenishment will be carried out using a three staged process. The first stage will collect and filter sediments on designated sites. The second stage will transfer the cleaned sediments to severe erosion zones using trucks. The final stage will profile the beach using fine sand. For the direct replenishment, sand will be pumped or transferred via barges to a designated location, where loaders and trucks and move the material.