Land Use Planning – N. Kudafari

Kudafari Council, Noonu Atoll – 2022

Atollscape was contracted to provide planning consultancy for Kudafari Council’s land use review and development planning process, in accordance with amendments made to the Maldives’ Decentralisation Act (2010/7) brought about in 2020.

Introduction

Kudafari is an inhabited island located among the north eastern cluster of islands in the administrative atoll of Noonu (Miladhunmadulu South). It is 30.3 hectares in size and has a registered population of 815 – half of the population residing elsewhere.

The community of Kudafari have for centuries based their livelihood on a strong connection with the natural, social, and economic environments of the island and surrounding communities within Noonu and the region. Farming and harvesting native vegetation species for food, thatch, rope, and timber, as well as fishing and trading have been the main livelihood activities of the community until tourism was introduced to central Maldives in the 1970s. Boduberu – beating of the big drums to esoteric chants of folk poetry – believed to be a contribution from the island’s first inhabitants; African slaves who were granted permission to settle in the island after moving out from the sultan’s palace in Male’ in the 1400s – played a major role in keeping the spirit of the islands alive, the island’s health, economy and sailboats running.
 
Kudafari Island’s land use review process

The following series of public consultations were held to identify existing traditions in land use allocation and to gather information on future planning needs of the community. 

• Discussions with key community groups: farmers and fisher people, business owners, youth and sports groups, and women’s groups
• Interviews with elderly members of the community to understand historical perspectives and age old cultural traditions of importance to the Kudafari community and identity
• Land Use Planning Workshop held over 3 days with key community groups and public servants
• Public survey done among the registered population of Kudafari to gather in depth information required for land use planning
• Land topography and tree surveys
• Consultations with key government institutions and planners

Discussions with community members revealed

• an immense need for new land use allocations for residential, community, and commercial purposes
• choosing development planning strategies that adopt less destructive, more equitable and sustainable atoll scaled approaches to secure housing and livelihood reserves for future generations
• community focus on nurturing developmental programmes to foster added value to natural resource bases, economy, and cultural heritage of the island and the surrounding atoll environment.

Developmental Vision

The overall developmental vision derived from stakeholders discussions is as follows.

• To develop and empower existing  local skills and inherent knowledge bases, resources, and Kudafari’s long held identity of resilience to improve the overall health of the island community.
• To invest in resources that foster inter-atoll community linkages through easier access to effective transportation, health services, housing, commerce, education and communication while sustaining and revitalising the island’s natural resources.
• To invest in nature based solutions to achieve a zero-carbon economy by the year 2024 to enable a vibrant, cost effective economy and diverse forms of livelihood.

Main development components

Community discussions and the Land Use planning workshops identified 5 main areas of development and sub categories as specified below.

• Health and Housing
• Education
• Transport, communications, and economy
• Economy
• Environment and municipal services

View more details on N. Kudafari’s Land Use Plan Report.