Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · Maldives · 2019–2024

Maldives awards Gulhifalhu reclamation contract to Boskalis without tender

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

The Gulhifalhu reclamation, presented as protection against rising seas, created 150 hectares from about 18 million cubic metres of sand. Save Maldives says it will destroy a 13 km² reef and a dive site protected since 1995.

What?
The Maldives awarded dredging and reclamation work at Gulhifalhu, Addu and Hulhumalé using seabed sand; the Gulhifalhu phase one fill went to Boskalis without tender. Edition.mv
Where?
Gulhifalhu, Hulhumalé and Addu, Maldives Dredging Today
When?
Reported in 2019 (Edition.mv) and 2023 (Harbour Master); Gulhifalhu fill reported complete in April 2024 (Dredging Today). Dredging Today
Who?
Gained
  • Boskalis — Gulhifalhu phase one fill, USD 53 million, awarded without tender Edition.mv
  • Van Oord — Addu reclamation of 194 hectares, USD 84 million Edition.mv
  • A Belgian dredging company — Hulhumalé phase two contract, about USD 59 million (company not named in the sources reviewed) Edition.mv
  • ING — lender whose financing, according to the Finance Minister, required that the work go to a Dutch firm Edition.mv
Lost
  • Gulhifalhu reef and dive area — reef and dive site protected since 1995, about 13 km² according to Save Maldives Edition.mv
Harmed
  • Seabed at Gulhifalhu — about 24.5 million cubic metres of sand removed, according to Save Maldives Edition.mv
Why?
Presented as a plan for resilience to rising seas (Dredging Today); Addu's purpose was tourism (Edition.mv 2019). Dredging Today
How?
Sand was dredged from the seabed and pumped to create new land; the phase one contract was awarded without tender and financed by a loan from ING, while Addu was financed by an Indian Exim Bank loan. Edition.mv
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Dredging Today reported in April 2024 that about 18 million cubic metres of sand had created 150 hectares of land at Gulhifalhu, presented as a plan against rising seas.

Save Maldives said 24.5 million cubic metres of seabed sand had been removed and that a 13 km² reef and a dive site protected since 1995 would be lost; according to the NGO, the minister accepted the damage.

Edition.mv reported in 2019 that the phase one Gulhifalhu fill had been awarded to Boskalis without tender for USD 53 million, and that the Finance Minister said the lender required the work to go to a Dutch firm.

Van Oord was contracted to reclaim 194 hectares at Addu for USD 84 million, financed by an Indian Exim Bank loan, for tourism (Edition.mv 2019).

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Disputed Reported but not verified: the Save Maldives estimate of 24.5 million cubic metres differs from the 18 million reported by Dredging Today; the sources reviewed do not reconcile the two.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not name the Belgian dredging company for the Hulhumalé phase two contract.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not state whether the reef and dive site have been lost.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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