CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION FOR CORAL REEFS

A five day workshop (1-5 Dec 2008) on coral reef Crime Scene Investigation (Coral Reef CSI) was conducted a t Sun Island Resort and Spa in Ari Atoll. The workshop was organized by the Marine Research Centre in collabortation with ICRAN. This unique five-day field-based training workshop is designed for coral reef and MPA resource managers, environmental assessment specialists, marine field investigators, students and litigators on conducting coral reef enforcement and na tural resource investigations on a wide variety of anthropogenic events.

The workshop included lectures and demonstrations related to the relatively new field of coral reef forensic investigations, along with hands-on field injury and crime scene investigations guided by international professionals in wildlife enforcement, coral reef ecology, and marine natural resource investigation.

A key feature of the workshop was a number of marine-based “crime/injury scenes” that the participants will investigate using the equipment and techniques learned during the workshop.  The scenarios will be as realistic as possible and will involve actual field investigations and analysis by teams of workshop participants.

Participants from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives took part in the workshop. Participants from Maldives include staff from Maldives National Defence Force, Ministry of Housing, Transport and Environment, Environment Research Centre, and the Marine Research Centre.

It is hoped that knowledge gained from the workshop will be useful in litigation cases claiming compensation for damages to coral reefs. In the Maldives it is not uncommon for vessels running aground on coral reefs and damaging large areas of prstine reef.

For more informaion please contact Senior Reef Ecologist, Hussein Zahir.

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