Coconut Palm - Maldives

The Maldives Islands are spread out over an archipelago of more than 1,200 islands and atolls, none higher than 3 meters above sea level. Long term climatic changes are causing more than rising sea  levels. The Maldives Islands are facing beach erosion, storm surge flooding and a severe fresh water shortage.

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Cocos nucifera - The coconut is not a nut. It is a drupe, a stone fruit surrounded by an outer fleshy skin. Other drupes include coffee, mangos, olives, peaches, and apricots. The coconut’s origin is debated; it has been cultivated by humans throughout history. Coconut trees grow in the tropical regions of the world. The coconut has many uses: the flesh can be eaten or used for making oil, the water contained in the flesh is potable, the fibrous husk can be used as a rope making material, and the shell can be made into utensils or containers.

Hawksbill Turtle - Maldives

Eretmochelys imbricata - The hawksbill turtle has a light weight hydrodynamical shell and large paddle-shaped forelimbs, ideal adaptions for a specialized aquatic life. They are found in tropical oceans, preferring areas with coral reefs. A hawksbill is easily recognizable by the distinctive beak, the source of the animal’s name. It is in danger of extinction resulting from low reproductive rates and because the shell of the hawksbill is used by humans as decorative or fashionable accessories.

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The Maldives has the distinction of being the smallest Asian nation in size and population. With an average ground level of elevation of 1.5 meters, it is also the world’s lowest country. A 2004 earthquake centered off Indonesia’s island of Sumatra sent a tsunami towards the Maldives causing devastating to the social and economic infrastructure of the islands. Several nations: Fiji, Kiribati, the Maldives, Micronesia, Palau, and Tonga head the list of island nations facing the crisis of rising sea levels.