[00:00:02.04]
[waves crashing]
[birds squawking]

[00:00:11.08]
[gentle instrumental music]

[00:00:14.00]
- [Ahmad] When I started
diving 19 years ago,

[00:00:17.05]
the feeling that I had on
the water was so natural

[00:00:20.04]
and I felt really, really at peace.

[00:00:23.08]
- [Aminath] To really see
what's beneath our ocean,

[00:00:27.09]
how big these structures are,

[00:00:32.01]
was really out of this world.

[00:00:34.04]
It was mesmerizing.

[00:00:35.07]
It makes you feel like
how insignificant you are.

[00:00:41.04]
When we were younger, even in my lifetime,

[00:00:44.03]
you could see the vibrant reefs.

[00:00:46.08]
But now it's very hard to find.

[00:00:50.01]
- [Ahmad] And even the generation
before me, they tell me,

[00:00:52.09]
"Oh, 30, 40 years ago, you
should have seen this reef.

[00:00:56.00]
"It was absolutely fantastic.
So, many colors, so many fish.

[00:00:59.00]
The diversity was beyond."

[00:01:01.01]
That creates this fear and
this frustration inside you.

[00:01:05.06]
And I said to myself, like,

[00:01:07.07]
"Somebody needs to do something about it."

[00:01:10.06]
[gentle instrumental music]

[00:01:20.03]
A healthy coral reef is the
foundation of a healthy ocean.

[00:01:24.09]
If you take away a healthy coral reef,

[00:01:28.02]
not only do you expose
a shoreline to erosion,

[00:01:33.02]
but also, you take away the
foundation of fisheries.

[00:01:37.04]
You take away the foundation of tourism.

[00:01:41.01]
A lot of the research that's
being done today for cancer,

[00:01:44.05]
the resources are being found in corals.

[00:01:47.06]
They also hold space for the
reef fish that live there,

[00:01:51.08]
many shrimps, all sorts of benthic life.

[00:01:54.06]
And that itself is the
foundation of the food web.

[00:01:59.04]
So, all these kind of
things just slowly disappear

[00:02:02.04]
if you don't take care of the coral reef.

[00:02:06.01]
- [Aminath] We are the
seventh largest reef system

[00:02:09.00]
in the world.

[00:02:10.02]
We are an island nation that is built up

[00:02:13.04]
on reefs after reefs,
successively, in millions of years.

[00:02:18.02]
According to IPCC, in just 87 months,

[00:02:21.04]
we may not be able to limit
global temperatures to 1.5.

[00:02:25.04]
What happens then?

[00:02:27.04]
90% of the coral reefs in the
world could be threatened,

[00:02:32.03]
will be threatened.

[00:02:33.08]
So, as a nation that gets protection,

[00:02:37.00]
food and income from these resources,

[00:02:40.07]
we are talking about a death of a nation.

[00:02:44.01]
- [Ahmad] If we tell someone we increase

[00:02:45.08]
the average temperature of
our oceans by one degree,

[00:02:48.06]
two degree, that doesn't
sound very alarming.

[00:02:51.05]
But for all the animals that are depending

[00:02:55.00]
to live in an ocean,

[00:02:56.04]
these slight changes are
very, very strong changes,

[00:03:02.08]
and the corals feel it.

[00:03:04.05]
- [Sonu] So, El Nino is a regular event.

[00:03:06.09]
Historically, they would
take place every 16 years.

[00:03:09.07]
And the process of dying
and regrowing again,

[00:03:14.05]
that rebirth, was a beneficial
process for the coral.

[00:03:17.06]
As a result of greater
acidification in the ocean,

[00:03:20.07]
slightly warmer temperatures,

[00:03:22.04]
the El Nino effects happened more often

[00:03:25.00]
and coral started to grow slower.

[00:03:27.06]
And so, it never really
recovered to its vibrant levels.

[00:03:30.09]
So, we've invested in
the regeneration of coral

[00:03:33.03]
'cause it's essential for our survival

[00:03:35.01]
and our existence as a
people in the Maldives

[00:03:37.02]
that we keep the coral live,
vibrant, growing, thriving,

[00:03:41.01]
so they can pro protect our islands

[00:03:42.09]
and protect our very existence.

[00:03:44.05]
- The dry period has changed,
the rainy period has changed.

[00:03:48.00]
The monsoons have changed as well.

[00:03:50.03]
Every island in the Maldives is eroded.

[00:03:52.04]
Every island in the Maldives
have run out of fresh water.

[00:03:55.04]
We have observed
increased coastal erosion,

[00:03:59.07]
and coastal inundation and
flooding has increased.

[00:04:03.08]
- [Pres. Nasheed] All
the winds are stronger.

[00:04:05.04]
The waves are higher.

[00:04:07.02]
The droughts are longer.

[00:04:08.05]
The sun is hotter..

[00:04:10.07]
Everything is more.

[00:04:12.01]
And yes, we do need to again impress

[00:04:15.09]
upon the international community
the gravity of the issue.

[00:04:20.00]
This is the time.

[00:04:21.06]
[gentle flute music]

[00:04:26.02]
- [Sonu] Our core
purpose here at Soneva is

[00:04:27.05]
to accelerate the
regeneration of the coral.

[00:04:30.03]
There are some places that
seem to be faring better

[00:04:32.03]
because they've adapted over the years.

[00:04:34.04]
And so, in fact, a few years ago,

[00:04:36.02]
during a trip to the Red Sea,
it was very warm.

[00:04:38.02]
The water would've been about 35 degrees.

[00:04:40.05]
And I remember wading into
sort of knee-deep water

[00:04:43.06]
and seeing these coral blocks,

[00:04:45.03]
and seeing that they
were completely intact

[00:04:48.02]
like pre-'98 El Nino coral was here

[00:04:51.05]
because they've actually
adapted to the conditions.

[00:04:54.01]
And this is what we're
trying to fast-track.

[00:04:56.06]
- It's just a very slow-growing organism.

[00:05:01.00]
Corals officially are animals,

[00:05:03.05]
but I like to think of it
that it's an animal, a plant,

[00:05:07.06]
and a rock at the same time.

[00:05:09.02]
It's a calcium carbonate structure,

[00:05:12.03]
and in the outer shell of
that rock lives a plant.

[00:05:16.07]
It's an algae called the zooxanthellae.

[00:05:19.00]
And that zooxanthellae has
photosynthesis with the sun,

[00:05:22.05]
creates energy in form of a sugar,

[00:05:25.04]
which is passed on to the
animal of the the coral,

[00:05:29.03]
which are tiny little polyps.

[00:05:32.01]
And with that energy,

[00:05:33.08]
the polyps can extend their tentacles

[00:05:36.00]
and grab photoplankton,

[00:05:39.02]
and then they produce the
calcium carbonate again

[00:05:41.02]
to make the corals grow.

[00:05:42.09]
So one can understand why
corals grow so slowly,

[00:05:47.03]
because the amount of plankton
that needs to be consumed

[00:05:50.05]
to actually grow a substantial
amount is quite a lot.

[00:05:55.08]
- [Sonu] It has affected the whole world.

[00:05:57.09]
And by 2030, if we continue
as business as usual,

[00:06:02.04]
the corals in the ocean,
90% will be challenged,

[00:06:06.02]
and they'll disappear

[00:06:07.09]
if we don't do something to change that.

[00:06:10.04]
[rain pattering]

[00:06:12.01]
- [Matthew] Let's have a
quick briefing over here

[00:06:13.09]
before we go out.

[00:06:15.03]
We're gonna split the team up.

[00:06:17.06]
This morning, you four
will go out on the sea.

[00:06:20.06]
And just with the cementing,

[00:06:22.00]
there's a lot of algae and turf there.

[00:06:25.00]
And I think a lot of the
reason alot's falling off is

[00:06:27.00]
because of the cement connection.

[00:06:29.01]
So, yeah, try and clean the
substrate before you cement,

[00:06:32.07]
and also just make sure it's
a really good final position.

[00:06:37.02]
This is our coral colony,

[00:06:39.03]
and we're currently
growing these from scratch

[00:06:41.07]
in our coral nurseries.

[00:06:43.00]
And what we basically do with this is

[00:06:44.08]
we break it down into smaller fragments,

[00:06:46.08]
such as, like, this size.

[00:06:48.08]
And over the course of the
years of growing these back

[00:06:51.06]
into a full size like this one,

[00:06:53.08]
we're then planting
these back onto the reef

[00:06:55.08]
using the cement as our glue.

[00:06:58.03]
So, from one coral colony

[00:07:00.00]
you might get between 20 and 50 fragments,

[00:07:03.04]
and you can place these all
around the reef, glue them on,

[00:07:05.06]
and then they'll start to grow.

[00:07:07.01]
And over about two or three years,

[00:07:08.07]
it'll look like something like that.

[00:07:11.05]
So, these guys are just gonna start

[00:07:13.00]
massaging the water in with the cement.

[00:07:15.08]
When we have coral deliveries,

[00:07:16.09]
we have about 30 to 40 bags

[00:07:18.06]
that we're preparing in the morning,

[00:07:20.01]
so it can take us up to an hour.

[00:07:21.08]
Not the most fun thing,

[00:07:22.08]
but when you're down there

[00:07:25.01]
and you're squishing the
corals with cement, it's a lot.

[00:07:28.07]
It's very rewarding 'cause
you have instant relief

[00:07:31.06]
for the coral getting stuck down,

[00:07:33.06]
and it makes all this
labor worth it as well.

[00:07:37.00]
- Thanks.
- Can you rest?

[00:07:38.05]
- Ah.

[00:07:39.03]
- You want your's in?

[00:07:40.02]
- Oh, perfect.

[00:07:44.02]
- All right, let's go.

[00:07:46.03]
- Easy peasy.

[00:07:49.08]
- [Ahmad] Usually, we dive twice a day.

[00:07:52.04]
Morning dive, afternoon dive.

[00:07:54.00]
One team is doing
maintenance on our nursery.

[00:07:57.06]
The other team was diving
in a different spot,

[00:08:01.04]
a spot where we actually
outplant the corals already,

[00:08:05.02]
and they also do need maintenance.

[00:08:08.03]
[water sloshing]

[00:08:09.04]
[indistinct chatter]

[00:08:12.00]
- Yes.

[00:08:14.01]
- Okay.

[00:08:15.00]
- Bonne chance.

[00:08:18.05]
[gentle instrumental music]

[00:08:26.01]
- [Ahmad] We have a coral nursery

[00:08:28.02]
that hosts about 50,000 corals.

[00:08:31.03]
These are 432 tables,
called "nursery tables."

[00:08:35.06]
These tables are where we grow the corals,

[00:08:38.06]
because there's a better
survival chance if the corals

[00:08:41.04]
that we planted are a little bit bigger.

[00:08:45.00]
There's less predation.

[00:08:50.01]
Some of the corals might
not attach properly,

[00:08:53.09]
so we have to make sure that
they stay where they are.

[00:08:58.05]
Or sometimes, we have
predation from snails,

[00:09:03.03]
from cushion stars, from even
triggerfish and parrotfish

[00:09:07.09]
that like to munch on these corals.

[00:09:10.01]
Just making sure that the corals

[00:09:11.09]
that we outplant are in
best conditions to grow

[00:09:14.09]
and to propagate and
to repopulate the reef

[00:09:17.02]
around Soneva Fushi.

[00:09:20.04]
Parallel to that,

[00:09:21.03]
we bring still corals
that have been fully grown

[00:09:25.02]
and we save them from a dredging project,

[00:09:28.05]
and then we attach them straight where

[00:09:30.09]
there used to be a healthy coral reef.

[00:09:34.07]
And that is going really well.

[00:09:38.01]
Oftentimes I do say we are
like underwater gardeners.

[00:09:42.07]
The nursery is kind of like the greenhouse

[00:09:45.02]
where we grow the corals.

[00:09:47.09]
And at some point, we'll take 'em

[00:09:49.04]
and we'll place 'em at
their final destination

[00:09:52.00]
where they can continue
to grow and propagate

[00:09:54.02]
and hopefully spawn and
repopulate the reef around them.

[00:09:59.02]
[gentle instrumental music]

[00:10:03.01]
- [Sonu] It's really an
exciting time here at Soneva,

[00:10:05.04]
at AquaTerra.

[00:10:06.09]
We want to try as many
technologies as possible.

[00:10:09.00]
And I think what we
here can offer the world

[00:10:12.00]
is the opportunity to take ideas

[00:10:13.06]
that have been well-developed
and researched in laboratories

[00:10:17.01]
and give them a real context

[00:10:19.03]
in a real ocean marine environment.

[00:10:22.06]
And that's really our opportunity here.

[00:10:25.03]
- What has been slowly
becoming a normal practice

[00:10:29.04]
is assisted evolution.

[00:10:31.04]
We just take gametes and reproduce them,

[00:10:35.04]
and then we stress test them.

[00:10:37.00]
Those corals that survive these tests,

[00:10:40.00]
the 20% strongest ones,

[00:10:42.09]
are the one that we take in,

[00:10:44.04]
either outplant them,

[00:10:45.08]
or we create a new batch
of them, reproduce,

[00:10:49.02]
and there again we take the strongest 20%.

[00:10:52.02]
So, we kind of do what's
naturally happening in the ocean.

[00:10:55.01]
We just speed up the process
and call it assisted evolution.

[00:10:58.09]
- [Sonu] We're also looking at coral

[00:11:00.01]
that's survived bleaching effects,

[00:11:02.04]
and we're trying to take the genes

[00:11:04.00]
of those super corals and mix them.

[00:11:06.08]
In a way, we're trying to accelerate

[00:11:08.05]
the evolution of the coral.

[00:11:12.00]
- [Aminath] We have been
experimenting artificial ways

[00:11:16.04]
to enhance coral growth

[00:11:19.01]
using mineral accretion technology.

[00:11:22.04]
Essentially, what it was
doing is helping coral grow

[00:11:26.08]
by ironizing the water around it,

[00:11:30.00]
which saves energy for corals.

[00:11:32.03]
And the result was quite good,

[00:11:35.07]
and the reef recovered quite quickly.

[00:11:39.01]
- [Ahmad] And we even had
a very beautiful event,

[00:11:43.02]
which is a spawning event.

[00:11:44.04]
When the corals feel good

[00:11:47.04]
and they, you know, wanna
release their gametes

[00:11:51.03]
to resettle around the reef.

[00:11:53.06]
We had about two spawning events already.

[00:11:56.08]
So, these corals that we brought in,

[00:11:58.06]
not only do they cover a degraded reef

[00:12:01.05]
but they also repopulate it sexually

[00:12:04.05]
by releasing their gametes.

[00:12:06.07]
[water lapping]

[00:12:09.03]
- [Matthew] These are the drupella snails

[00:12:11.03]
that we're bringing up.

[00:12:12.05]
Yeah, we just bury them,

[00:12:14.00]
and then put the shells back
into the water later on.

[00:12:16.08]
'Cause the shells can still
be used by hermit crab.

[00:12:20.05]
I love being underwater

[00:12:21.07]
and seeing, like, a
sea turtle just passed,

[00:12:24.08]
passed by when we were diving there,

[00:12:26.03]
and just take a few minutes to watch it.

[00:12:28.01]
And to be close with any type
of nature is really amazing.

[00:12:32.07]
But I think, locally, like, it's nice

[00:12:35.05]
when you've cemented corals
on a couple of months ago,

[00:12:38.06]
it's nice to see them actually
growing over the cement

[00:12:41.03]
and onto the rock and those
corals and are living there.

[00:12:44.01]
Where they would've come from,

[00:12:46.01]
they would've been dead by now.

[00:12:47.01]
So, it's nice to know that you've helped

[00:12:49.06]
that coral in some way.

[00:12:51.08]
[gentle instrumental music]

[00:13:07.00]
- [Pres. Nasheed] There
is so little work done

[00:13:08.07]
on the genetics of coral

[00:13:11.01]
and how to see that this
animal actually can survive.

[00:13:16.05]
Yes, it is a delicate story.

[00:13:18.06]
I mean, when food grain
was genetically modified

[00:13:22.05]
or animals were genetically modified,

[00:13:25.01]
there is huge environmental concern.

[00:13:27.04]
We also do not know what
might happen to the ecosystems

[00:13:30.08]
with new genetically modified coral

[00:13:33.05]
when we've already fooled
with Mother Nature,

[00:13:35.08]
and the ghost of that is out there.

[00:13:39.03]
We've already done it.

[00:13:40.08]
We've already emitted
enough poisonous gases

[00:13:44.04]
into the atmosphere

[00:13:46.01]
to create an imbalance in our environment.

[00:13:49.00]
And even if we all go
back to sleep tomorrow,

[00:13:53.00]
climate change is going to happen.

[00:13:55.00]
Our reefs are going to die.

[00:13:57.01]
And so, therefore, we
must find ways of living

[00:14:00.08]
with the nature that is going to come.

[00:14:04.03]
- [Ahmad] Well, the thing is,

[00:14:05.03]
we can't have only a look at
our reef here at Soneva Fushi.

[00:14:10.01]
It needs to be beyond that,

[00:14:11.07]
and beyond that means we have
to work with other islands.

[00:14:15.01]
We have to work with the local community.

[00:14:18.05]
And the idea is to create

[00:14:19.08]
some sort of a best practice approach

[00:14:23.06]
that can be easily shared.

[00:14:25.01]
And I think they're,
you know, since Maldives

[00:14:27.07]
and the Maldivians are so
closely related to the ocean,

[00:14:30.09]
they know that the health of the ocean

[00:14:34.06]
is very much related to corals.

[00:14:38.01]
[waves lapping]

[00:14:40.05]
- In the Maldives,

[00:14:41.05]
a lot of people would
understand climate change

[00:14:43.07]
but maybe in a different way,

[00:14:45.03]
maybe not in a conventional
way, you know, in terms of like,

[00:14:48.04]
you know, the scientific
explanations for these things.

[00:14:50.07]
But there is a level of awareness,

[00:14:52.08]
and I think that level of awareness

[00:14:55.05]
is through the lived experiences,

[00:14:56.09]
whether it's in terms of
what happens to, you know,

[00:15:00.06]
their farmlands,

[00:15:01.06]
whether it's in terms of
how long a dry season lasts,

[00:15:05.07]
whether it's in terms of,

[00:15:08.03]
you know, what is happening
to the coral reefs.

[00:15:10.05]
So, that awareness is definitely there

[00:15:12.08]
and people are talking about it.

[00:15:14.07]
- Especially this year,

[00:15:16.00]
we've heard so many stories about erosion.

[00:15:19.00]
Every single island has
been having drastic changes.

[00:15:22.06]
And for the last five years,

[00:15:23.07]
when this was a hot topic in the Maldives,

[00:15:26.06]
it wasn't really linking
to people and their lives.

[00:15:29.05]
But we found that this year,

[00:15:31.09]
there has been so many
people talking about this

[00:15:34.02]
in a way that they haven't before.

[00:15:37.05]
- This island, this is where
we started our project.

[00:15:40.07]
And when we started our project,
the beaches were not clean.

[00:15:44.08]
The reefs were not very healthy.

[00:15:46.05]
People didn't know about it.

[00:15:48.04]
So, we made our project
as a community project.

[00:15:51.09]
So, we wanted people from
the island to work with us

[00:15:54.09]
to protect our island.

[00:15:56.07]
We don't have the right eco-consciousness

[00:15:59.03]
within the people of Maldives

[00:16:00.09]
because our islands are scattered around

[00:16:03.09]
and it is not easy to reach
one to each other island,

[00:16:07.06]
and to pass the knowledge is not easy,

[00:16:10.01]
and they don't have the right
education in the islands.

[00:16:13.05]
And that is something
that we have been working

[00:16:15.09]
all through this time.

[00:16:17.03]
- [Irene] It takes time.
- It takes time, yeah.

[00:16:18.04]
- To develop a eco-conscience

[00:16:19.09]
you just need to bring people

[00:16:21.06]
to see the issue.
- [Hassan] Yeah.

[00:16:23.01]
- [Irene] Then they come out and say,

[00:16:24.01]
"Oh, wow, okay. Now, I
understand what is the issue.

[00:16:27.02]
"Now, I understand why it is important."

[00:16:29.03]
So, it's something that you
develop talking with people.

[00:16:35.07]
- Well done.

[00:16:40.08]
- [Aminath] In every election,

[00:16:42.02]
the number one issues that gets raised

[00:16:45.01]
is what's happening to coastal protection,

[00:16:48.08]
provision of safe water
and sanitation services,

[00:16:53.02]
provision of flood prevention measures,

[00:16:56.04]
and basically issues
related to adaptation.

[00:17:01.02]
Maldivians understand that
these are our number one issues.

[00:17:05.05]
So, this is an everyday battle for us.

[00:17:09.02]
It's an election issue for us.

[00:17:11.04]
- We are already spending
about 30% of our revenue

[00:17:15.02]
on adaptation,

[00:17:16.06]
on trying to overcome the
impact of climate change.

[00:17:20.04]
30% spent for things that
we had nothing to do about.

[00:17:25.07]
We did not destroy this planet.

[00:17:27.08]
We did not create the big wave.

[00:17:29.09]
We did not create the drought or the rain.

[00:17:32.05]
But it is there now,

[00:17:33.08]
and we have to spend
money from our revenue

[00:17:37.07]
to overcome these issues.

[00:17:39.09]
We can't just die,
we just cannot vanish.

[00:17:43.08]
We must find ways of surviving

[00:17:47.05]
and how humanity can go on.

[00:17:50.08]
I have children, and
they will have children,

[00:17:54.06]
and we must leave a
planet that is habitable.

[00:18:01.06]
- [Aminath] Larger countries
are not treating this

[00:18:04.02]
as an emergency, and it should
be treated as an emergency.

[00:18:09.06]
Most of the greenhouse gases are coming

[00:18:13.04]
from 20 countries in the world,

[00:18:16.08]
and this is where we need
to find a way to address.

[00:18:20.00]
And these 20 countries are the
most developed in the world.

[00:18:23.09]
The amount of cars each family have,

[00:18:27.06]
how much air conditioning we are using,

[00:18:29.08]
how much heating we are using,

[00:18:32.00]
how much resources we need
to live our daily lives.

[00:18:38.00]
Even individual acts can add
up and make a difference.

[00:18:44.02]
I don't believe that we
are not making decisions

[00:18:47.00]
because of the lack of finance.

[00:18:49.01]
I don't believe that they lack of--

[00:18:51.01]
it's because of lack of technology.

[00:18:53.05]
I really believe that it's because of

[00:18:55.09]
lack of political will.

[00:18:57.06]
So, capturing people's
imagination is an important part

[00:19:02.05]
of how we can affect
decision-making in larger countries

[00:19:07.07]
to have some empathy, to push for

[00:19:11.05]
political decision-making.

[00:19:15.00]
Are we going to let
countries like the Maldives

[00:19:18.01]
just disappear like this?

[00:19:21.00]
And it's not just a country
we are talking about.

[00:19:23.04]
It's 500,000 people's lives.

[00:19:26.05]
A culture,

[00:19:27.07]
a language that is not spoken
anywhere else in the world.

[00:19:31.09]
Where do all these people go?

[00:19:34.05]
We should be optimistic about things

[00:19:36.04]
if there's a collective effort.

[00:19:38.04]
This is not an impossible task.

[00:19:41.00]
And if we all begin to
collectively work on this,

[00:19:46.01]
we can.

[00:19:51.04]
[gentle flute music]

[00:19:55.04]