THE PLACE YOU’RE PROTECTING
With your choice of Clean Waves Archetype 1 sunglasses in our ‘Dusk’ colorway, you’re helping to protect the island of Olhugiri in the Maldives. Despite its name – it means “submerged heap of rocks” in Dhivehi, the language spoken across the Maldives – Olhugiri is a very special place.
Thanks to its tracts of mature Grand Devil’s-Claw trees swaying up to 20 meters into the sky, Olhugiri is one of only two islands in the country where great frigatebirds come to roost daily. As part of the UNESCO-protected Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve, Olhugiri’s reefs are home to threatened and endangered species such as green and hawksbill turtles, Napoleon wrasses, tawny nurse sharks, and some of the largest gatherings of manta rays found anywhere in the world.
Island: Olhugiri, Maldives
Distance from Malé: 113 km
Atoll: Baa
Island use: Uninhabited island
Area: 20.33.8 ha
Length x width: 566 x 455 m
Population: 0
A REMOTE WORLD
Olhugiri is part of the Baa Atoll – a sparkling ring of islands in the central part of the Maldives. Carried on the waves, plastic pollution from the open ocean washes up on the atoll's white sand beaches. Blown by the wind, this toxic debris accumulates along the tideline and inland – threatening these fragile island ecosystems and the people who depend on them.
PLASTIC IN THE MALDIVES
A string of coral atolls dotted across more than 35,000 square miles of open ocean, the Maldives is one of most unique places on Earth. More than a thousand individual islands stretch north to south across a vast area of the Indian Ocean, forming a double row of 26 atolls.
Above the waves, sparkling white beaches give way to tiny green jungles. Below the surface, thousands of species of fish, coral and other marine creatures thrive in the sunlit shallows. Each island is like a miniature world, and each one needs protecting.
The Maldives accumulate drifting plastic pollution from the Indian subcontinent, Africa, Asia and the wider world – and also from the small nation’s booming tourist industry. More than 1.3 million people visited last year – more than triple of the country’s population.
Intercepting marine plastic and reducing waste at source will be key steps in protecting this fragile ecosystem. The Maldives are remote, but there is no ‘away’
PARADISE PROTECTED
Your support directly funds the protection of this unique place in two ways. Working with Parley and our partners in the Maldives, you are making it possible to intercept plastic waste on Olhugiri and upcycle it. You're also supporting education and infrastructure projects to reduce plastic at source – an essential part of our mission in the atoll and beyond.
CLEANUP VIDEO HERE (MISSING)
WELCOME TO THE MOVEMENT
Your sunglasses are just the beginning of the Clean Waves journey. Over the next year, we’ll take to you to Olhugiri through films, updates and live link-ups, and introduce you to the people working to protect these beautiful islands from plastic pollution.
You'll also gain access to a network of like-minded people from around the world, and be there every step of the way as Clean Waves grows. We have some exciting collaborations in the works, and can't wait to tell you more. It's great to have you onboard.
We’ll keep you up to date on the progress we’re making on Olhugiri and other islands thanks to your support. Please check back in from time to time – we’ll also be sending you a newsletter every two months. Thank you for being part of the journey so far…