Young activists in the Maldives are racing against time as experts project around 80% of their island nation could become uninhabitable within the next 50 years because of rising sea levels. They're not waiting for international summits or government action. They're paddling kayaks into protected wetlands, pulling plastic from coral reefs, and spray-painting "ECOCIDE" on reclaimed land that's destroying their future.
In Addu City, a group of young people recently confronted land reclamation work that was cutting through protected mangrove wetlands in a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The nonprofit Project ThimaaVeshi, which means "self and surroundings," represents a new generation of activists in the Indian Ocean island nation tackling problems that shape daily life, including coastal erosion, plastic pollution and development-damaged ecosystems.
When Development Destroys Protection
The Maldives has championed itself as a country fighting its vulnerability to climate change and sea level rise, but the government has said sacrifices must be made at times in favor of development. The activists say protective measures aren't happening fast enough. The country lies south of India and Sri Lanka.
"It was just us and a bunch of hopes and dreams," said Yameen Maumoon, a 21-year-old co-founder of Project ThimaaVeshi. Maumoon and Mishal Mushahid started their activism as student leaders working with the Addu City council. What began as a group of friends became a movement and a registered nonprofit after they graduated from high school. In the south, the activists have focused on overdevelopment and documented the impact on wetlands and reefs.
In the capital, Male, others are taking on plastic waste that's suffocating streets, hangout spots and swimming areas. The groups have teamed up with surfers and others for cleanups, picking fishing lines out of coral reefs and piling up discarded water bottles, while also educating young people on their right to a clean and healthy environment. They say climate change and environmental damage are no longer distant threats.
From Minecraft to Movement
In Male and neighboring Hulhumale, another youth group seeking formal registration, Ripple, started when friends noticed trash building up in the areas where they hung out. "One day when we were playing Minecraft, we were joking around, saying we should start making TikToks and we should start cleaning up," said Mariyam Maasha Waheed, a co-founder. What began as an informal cleanup grew after their TikTok videos gained traction. The group now organizes weekly cleanups and campaigns against plastic pollution, collaborating with others to recycle the plastic they collect.
Mohamed Ma'al Nazeel, co-founder of Ripple, emptied out his full bag of plastic waste collected during a joint plastic pollution cleanup in Male. Yania Hussain Ishan, co-founder of youth group Barnacles, sorted through the first batch of plastic waste collected in the joint cleanup in Male. Barnacles is the newest group seeking registration, and Ishan said she became interested in environmental issues while preparing a presentation for school on protecting nature. The group focuses on climate education and youth leadership.
Dismissed by Those in Power
The activists have also faced criticism over their age. The age of the activists has drawn comments, even from government officials, that youth equates to naivety and ignorance. All three groups have been told their work is pointless, and that something as simple as a beach cleanup won't fix the overall challenges. Young people have too many emotions and can't be trusted with decision-making, the country's minister of climate change, Ali Shareef, last year told a public forum.
Ishan said the constant talk on social media and elsewhere about a climate emergency has led to her generation's feeling of a lack of agency over it. Founders said they want environmental action to feel less intimidating and more communal.
The activists said they know they can't solve the Maldives's problems alone. But they believe waiting for the bigger problems to be solved isn't an option. They want to shape a generation that understands its rights and pass the responsibility to future ones. "We are deciding what kind of ancestors we will be," Ishan said. "We are defending our home, our heritage and the right of every Maldivian child yet to be born to stand on these shores, look out at the sea and feel the same wonder and security that defines who we are."
Why This Matters:
The struggle of Maldivian youth activists reveals a fundamental tension between development priorities and environmental survival in nations on the front lines of climate change. When experts project that 80% of a country could become uninhabitable within 50 years, the government's acknowledgment that "sacrifices must be made" for development raises urgent questions about whose futures are being sacrificed. The dismissal of young activists by government officials, including the climate change minister's claim that young people have "too many emotions" to be trusted with decision-making, reflects a broader pattern of excluding those who will bear the consequences of today's policy choices from shaping them. These young people aren't just cleaning beaches. They're asserting their right to participate in decisions about their own survival and demanding that democratic institutions prioritize long-term habitability over short-term development gains that destroy the very ecosystems protecting their islands.