Villimale Funavaa Campaign
Villimale Funavaa Campaign
Kaafu Atoll, Maldives
Public Campaign to Protect Villimale’ Greenery and Funavaa
Basic Facts: Funavaa
- Jan 2026 – Bank of Maldives announces the commencement of 5 housing projects by its subsidiary company BML Affordable Home Leasing Company Pvt Ltd in Hulhumale and Villimale
- March 2026 – GoM inaugurates “affordable housing” project to build 300 housing units with three 17-storey towers at the Viilimale Funavaa area which is the last old growth forest patch remaining in the entire Greater Male’ Region (GMR). Inauguration was held a week prior to the 4 April 2026 Local Council Elections. This decision was made by GoM with no public consultation with the people of Villimale or the GMR.
- March 2026 – peaceful protest against the project in Villimale met with hostile confrontation by People’s National Congress (PNC) “loyalists”
BASIC FACTS: green spaces
- 17 Oct 2024 – Ministry of Infrastructure announces (tweet) the completion of a feasibility study & MoU signing with the Government of China, to build a 100-bed tertiary hospital in Villimale. No public consultation or information about the location of the hospital. No public information about needs assessment for such a project in the GMR.
- Dec 2025 – State news outlet PSM reports survey design for 100-bed China funded hospital under way. Residents of Villimale get to know the planned hospital site was to displace the existing community garden and mature tree vegetation patch in its vicinity which is also linked to the Funavaa forest vegetation.
![Villimale Funavaa [SaveMaldives] aerial](https://savemaldives.net/main/wp-content/uploads/Villimale-Funavaa-SaveMaldives-aerial-1920.jpg "Villimale Funavaa [SaveMaldives] aerial")
– BML announces the commencement of 5 housing development projects, involving the construction of 3200 “affordable housing” units in Hulhumale Phases 1 & 3 and Villimale.
– The projects are reported to come under the purview of the Inclusive National Affordable Housing Scheme (INAH) of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), which is the banking regulator in the Maldives.
– The projects are to be financed by BML Affordable Home Leasing Company Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Bank of Maldives (BML), where the Government of Maldives is the major shareholder.
– The projects are reported to have been contracted to local contractors –
1) Amin Construction Pvt Ltd
2) FW Construction Pvt Ltd
3) Rasheed Carpentry Construction Pvt Ltd
and foreign contractors –
4) Beijing Urban Construction Group
5) China Machinery Engineering Corporation
President Mohamed Muizzu inaugurates ‘ground-breaking’ ceremony to build three 17 storey towers in Villimale Funavaa area
A community organised event was held near the Funavaa for families and children to come together to draw, paint, enjoy the Funavaa environment. It was also a moment to witness the ongoing activities of enclosure by construction contractors in the Funavaa area, indicating the uncertainty of protecting these legally protected trees of Villimale.
Save The Funavaa : a guest blog post by Villimale resident, Ahmed Ikram (Aikey) was published on our Save Maldives Campaign blog, where he expressed his thoughts on the commodification of nature and the dissonance this causes.
A community event near the Funavaa to bring together people to enjoy the greenery, shade and cool of the Funavaa forest.
Villimale based NGO Save The Beach issues a press statement raising concerns about the project to build on the Funavaa area (Facebook).
“Housing for whom? The towers rising over Villimalé’s last grove” – Funavaa issue coverage in the media (Maldives Independent).
Community gathering at the Funavaa and public engagement on the issue.
Constitutional case (Dhivehi) to protect the Funavaa submitted to the Maldives Supreme Court by 2 residents of Greater Male’ Region.
Case updates available at Miveshi site.
Community gathering supported by musicians at the Funavaa.
“Why real estate matters in the Maldives” – Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure, Abdulla Muththalib, writes an obtuse op-ed (Maldives Independent) in support of expanding “real estate” development not just to “serve wealthy investors” but to create “affordable housing” for the needy!
The ‘housing crisis’ is a narrative that has seen the destruction of nearly 60 islands’ reefs and biodiversity, to make “reclaimed” land for housing, which remains unused for decades.
Protest activity near BML by Funavaa advocates including flyer distribution to raise public awareness about BMLs complicity and impunity in the proposed destruction of Villimale Funavaa
– An online group discussion was arranged via X-Space.
– Media coverage of the Funavaa issue: “Corals and Dredging, Trees and Buildings – The Importance of Protecting Maldives’ Ecosystem” (The Edition) –
There are two major environmental issues that are plaguing the Maldives at this point in time: The threat of coral bleaching and the felling of Alexandrian Laurel (Funa) trees at the Funavaa area in K. Villingili (Villimale’). Here’s what’s being done about it.
The Brutalisation of the Green Island : article by Funavaa advocate Affan Ali Najeeb, published on Moosumi magazine
Our FunaFannu event, originally scheduled for 1 May was rescheduled to Saturday 2 May.
Community gathering near the Funavaa, supported by artists.
Op-ed by advocates for the protection of the Funavaa, Villingili and its integrity as a natural island (Maldives Independent).
“The housing ‘crisis’ is manufactured. The trees are not. Centralisation made the shortage. Felling funavaa won’t fix it.” — a response to Minister Muththalib’s obtuse op-ed from 26 April.
A public discussion was held at the Maldives Polytechnic with presentations, on:
– ‘Ecocide and Environmental Destruction’ – by Adam Abdulla,
– ‘Housing, Real Estate and the Politics of Urbanisation’ – by Hussein Ziyath, and
– ‘Class, Risk Tolerance, Tactical Unity and Community Direct Action’ – by Ahmed Mohamed (Forme).
The event was attended by members of the public, including supporters of the Save Funavaa Campaign.
Another FunaFannu community event was planned at the Funavaa for Friday 15 May, however, the event was cancelled due to bad weather.
Instead, a TikTok Live discussion was held from 9.00-10.30pm in collaboration with the youth group Ripple, which turned out to be an informative conversation for viewers to learn all about the Save Funavaa Campaign.
Community Clean-Up in Villingili marking World Biodiversity Day, in association with the cool folks at Ripple who led the event at the Funavaa today. Other collaborators of the event were Veshisaafu, Project Thimaaveshi, Save The Beach, Maldives Youth Biodiversity Network, Save Funavaa, and Save Maldives Campaign. The event was a joint activity that took place simultaneously in Addu and Villingili.
Visit @savefunavaa on Instagram for further details of the activity.
An open dialogue session was held at the Funavaa where participants discussed common concerns, ideas and strategies to respond to and actively address ongoing ecological degradation across the Maldives.
Watch the protest here on Instagram.
To mark World Environment Day, protest events were held in Male’ and Addu, everyone welcome!
