At the Maldives Manta Conservation Programme, our vision is a sustainable future for Maldivians and their natural resources, where manta rays and their relatives thrive in healthy diverse marine ecosystems.
The Maldives hosts the largest population of reef manta rays, and the third largest population of oceanic manta rays in the world!
Manta and devil rays in the Maldives face threats such as fishing gear entanglement, unsustainable tourism, and habitat degredation.
Our mission is to drive the policies and practices necessary to conserve the Maldives’ manta rays, their relatives and habitats through community, research and education.
Watch the short film below to find out about one our latest initiatives.
OUR IMPACT
Identified over 6,000 individual reef manta rays from >80,000 sightings, and over 1,000 oceanic manta rays in the Maldives.
Drove the designation of two Marine Protected Areas in the Maldives; Hanifaru Bay and Anga Faru (2009).
Drove the designation of Baa Atoll as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve (2011). Supplied data that supported the designation of Fuvahmulah and Addu as UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.
Spear-headed the addition of all ray species, including manta and devil rays, to the Maldivian National Protected Species List (2014).
