Chapter Nine: Maldives. The photographer's project continues Stefano guindani and General Bank to deepen the state of the art of the process of achieving the 17 objectives of theUN Agenda 2030. And it is precisely life under the sea in the waters of Maldives the center of the new tale of BG4SDGs – Time to Change.
On this occasion, the Guindani camera paused to investigate the situation relating to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 14 entitled "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development". With two goals: on the one hand to highlight the negative action of man on the environment and on the community, on the other to see how mankind itself has instead an extraordinary ability to recover through innovative and sustainable solutions.
To analyze the situation, the photographer went to explore some corners of the Maldives far from the major organized travel circuits, to discover cooperation projects aimed at preserving marine fauna and flora.
UN Agenda 2030: why the Maldives?
The choice of the Maldives at this moment is not by chance. In fact, this very year the archipelago celebrates the Golden Jubilee of tourism: it was 1972 when the Italians were the first tourists to set foot on this small state-paradise spread over 26 atolls and more than 1000 coral islands, closely followed by travelers from all over the world. Today, tourism accounts for over 35% of the Maldives' GDP and contributes significantly to the country's economic development. This development, however, is not without consequences. The over 1,3 million visitors a year bring with them habits and behaviors that significantly impact one of the most delicate marine ecosystems on the planet. This is why today it is essential to intervene before the damage caused by tourism is irreparable.
"From this significant journey, I hope to bear a strong testimony, an appeal to preserve life under the seas, which make up 70% of the entire planet," explained Guidani. “I have seen turtles mutilated by plastic thrown into the sea, whale sharks threatened by global warming, manta rays forced to change their migratory routes: creatures that have always been masters of their habitat, quickly endangered by our reckless behaviour. From this trip I bring back evocative images of a world to be protected, to be protected at all costs".
Maldives: a paradise threatened by climate change
However, tourism is not the only problem facing the Maldives. Another great challenge for the archipelago is represented by climate change. Rapidly melting glaciers – also witnessed in the project by BG4SDGs in Svalbard, Norway – is rapidly raising ocean levels. It is a real threat of extinction for the state with the lowest sea level in the world. Not surprisingly, President Ibrahim Solih said that he fears that the Maldives could disappear by the end of the current century. An apocalyptic scenario that the Maldivians are trying to avoid at all costs, including through international cooperation, with projects such as the Modular Artificial Reef Structure (MARS), an initiative that involves the creation of transplanted coral created with 3D printing that favors bionic coral growth. An intelligent and zero-impact way to create natural barriers against rising sea levels.
Banca Generali and the project for the UN 2030 Agenda
Presented on 15 September 2021 in Milan, BG4SDGs - Time to Change will now continue for another 8 months in order to explore all the 17 SDGs of the UN 2030 Agenda. In his research, Guindani will range beyond the Italian borders, looking for critical cases and situations of excellence also abroad: Brazil, Norway and Australia, but also United States, Turkey and South Africa. Alongside him is Alberto Salza, one of the most internationally respected anthropologists, who will edit the texts of the project and suggest some of the projects to be monitored.
All the photographs of the BG4SDGs project can be consulted on the Instagram channels of Banca Generali and of the artist himself, with a calendar that provides for the story of an SDG for each month, for a total duration of 17 months. At the end of 2022, the most representative shots will be the subject of a traveling photographic exhibition and a dedicated catalogue.
