When you think of the Maldives, images of pristine beaches and luxurious cabins perched atop crystal-clear waters are probably the first things that come to mind.

But locals are facing the reality that their homes are sinking. They are using several innovative measures to delay this as much as possible.

The Maldives consist of almost 1190 small islands, with an average elevation between 1 to 1.5 metres above sea level.

Rising sea levels caused by climate change are threatening to swallow the whole country; the shoreline of almost every island is eroding, and 90 per cent of the islands report flooding every year.

In 2021, the former Maldivian president Mohammed Nasheed told America’s ABC News that 97 per cent of the country no longer had fresh groundwater.

Food production has also been affected by erratic and violent monsoons, and fish are reportedly half the size they were a decade ago as their habitats are increasingly affected.

To defend itself, the Maldives are making the most of natural resources combined with technical innovations.

Encouraging nature to help

Since 2019, American-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology Self-Assembly Lab and Maldivian organisation Invena have been testing submersible structures made by harnessing the ocean’s force to encourage sand to accumulate in selected areas to protect islands – and potentially grow new ones.

The experiments have mostly been conducted in the shallows of a reef near the Maldives’ capital, Malé, and have included:

• Submerging a web of rope tied into tight knots to collect sand
• Using a material that transforms from textile to rigid concrete when in contact with water to create a barrier on the seafloor where sand will build up
• Installing a floating garden above a sand bank in the hopes the roots could help stabilise pre-accumulated sand, and collect more.

Self-Assembly Lab founder and co-director Skylar Tibbits told CNN he hoped the experiments would provide a more sustainable method than conventional engineering methods for reinforcing eroded coastlines which have the potential to increase erosion and decrease the productivity of reefs.

“We’re using the natural force of the ocean to guide the sand,” he said.

He said the team’s findings could help rebuild beaches and existing islands; a 2019 experiment that used strategically-placed biodegradable, textile, sand-filled bladders successfully created a sand bank that now measures about 2 metres high, 20 metres wide and 60 metres long.

An island-hopping holiday in the Maldives is one of the world’s most sought-after travel experiences. Photo: Getty

The material used is expected to last about 10 years.

Last month, the organisations installed a scaled-up version of this experiment, with the aim of collecting sand to build a sand bank, no matter which way the monsoon season drives waves and current. A survey will be conducted in November to check the results.

Government downplays concerns

The Maldives had reportedly considered buying land in other countries to move residents when the country is finally submerged, predicted to happen around 2100.

Australia was one of the strongest contenders, and has already agreed to offer residency to the residents of Pacific nation Tuvalu, which is facing similar climate change pressures.

But last year, newly-installed Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu said such a move would not happen, promising instead to reclaim land and build islands higher.

“I can categorically say that we definitely don’t need to buy land or even lease land from any country,” Muizzu said.

Reclamation projects have already increased the country’s landmass by about 10 per cent over the past four decades, using sand pumped onto submerged coral platforms.

But Human Rights Watch said reclamation projects were “often rushed” and lacked proper mitigation policies.

Examples include an airport on Kulhudhuffushi, where flooding became more frequent after 70 per cent of the island’s mangroves were “buried”, and a reclamation project at Addu which damaged the coral reefs that fishermen depended on.

There are also concerns new islands are being created solely to host tourists rather than to provide homes for locals.