National Marine Ecosystem Diagnostic Analysis (MEDA)- Mauritius

Mauritius is one of the Western Indian Ocean states being impacted by global climate change. Mauritius has experienced a very slow fall in sea level (- 0.10 mm/yr) from 1986 to 2003. In Rodrigues, sea level has declined at a rate of - 0.32 mm/yr during the same period. However, during the last few years an accelerated sea level rise at a rate of between 1.2 and 3mm/yr has been observed. This is a matter of serious concern since it has led to the intensification of coastal erosion leading to destruction of coastal infrastructure and settlement. The continuing sea level rise is expected to worsen the problem of coastal erosion which is being accelerated due to ill-planned and ill-designed coastal development. Hard engineering approaches (e.g. construction of sea walls and groynes) for controlling coastal erosion have not been successful in Mauritius. The main critical ecosystems include mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs.