CROSSROADS Maldives Becomes the Country's Largest OECM

In Emboodhoo Lagoon, a stretch of water that many guests know for its resorts and long lagoon views now has a second identity. It is, officially, a place set aside for the reef.

On 12 October 2026, the Maldives Ministry of Climate Change, Environment & Energy formally designated a 1.71 km² area within CROSSROADS Maldives, in South Malé Atoll, as an Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure, or OECM. According to Maldives Business Review, it is currently the largest recognised OECM in the country.

It is a quiet kind of milestone, and an encouraging one. It suggests that tourism and reef protection in the Maldives can share the same water.

What the designation covers

Visit Maldives reports that the conserved area forms an ecological corridor alongside the resorts at the destination, including SAii Lagoon Maldives, Hard Rock Hotel Maldives and SO/ Maldives.

It is not managed by any one party alone. The area is looked after with local communities, private partners and government agencies, a shared arrangement that feels true to how island life tends to work.

Day to day, the tools are practical. Maldives Business Review lists drone surveillance, underwater cameras and GPS monitoring, used to balance conservation with sustainable recreation. Guests can still swim, snorkel and enjoy the lagoon; the aim is simply that they do so in a place that is watched over with care.

Life beneath the lagoon

The surveys are what make this story linger. Visit Maldives and Maldives Business Review note that more than 37 coral genera and 177 reef fish species have been recorded in the area.

There are also 24 species on the IUCN Red List. Among them are the hawksbill turtle, the ornate eagle ray, the bowmouth guitarfish, the giant guitarfish and the scalloped hammerhead.

Above the reef, the area sits on an important migration route for spinner and bottlenose dolphins. For anyone who has watched a pod move past a jetty at dusk, that detail alone explains why the lagoon deserves protection.

The designation was presented by Environment Minister Ali Shareef at a ceremony at CROSSROADS, and the area is recognised under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and Maldivian environmental law, PSM News reports.

Why it matters to us

Pure Maldives Sun began with a simple feeling of pride in these islands and the water around them. News like this is a reminder that the reef is not a backdrop. It is the reason the Maldives looks and feels the way it does.

Conservation conversations often happen in unhurried moments: on a deck after a snorkel, or over breakfast while someone describes the turtle they saw. Our tees and embroidered pieces were made for exactly those moments, a small, wearable way to carry a love of reef life home.

The new OECM will not change the colour of the lagoon or the warmth of the sand. What it changes is the promise behind them. For a country built on the sea, that is news worth sharing, gently and often.