旅游垃圾让马尔代夫政府头疼不已

Three-quarters of a million tourists flock to the pristine¹, white beaches every year - but this booming industry has come at a price. When the influx² of foreigners left the government struggling to cope with a relentless³ stream of rubbish, their answer was to turn one of this islands into a dumping ground.

每年，全球有75万名游客来到纯净的马尔代夫海滩，但繁荣的旅游业也让当地付出了代价。大量外国游客持续遗留下的垃圾令当地政府疲于应对，不得不将一座岛屿变成垃圾场。

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Smoke rising from refuse on Thilafushi. Attention has been turned on the environmental damage; large amounts of asbestos, lead and other toxic metals have been dumped into the lagoon.
Clouds of pungent⁶（辛辣的，刺激性的） , toxic smoke rising from open fires, piles of filth⁷ made up of plastic bottles, crisp packets and consumer detritus⁸（碎屑） ... it'sa far cry from the white sands, crystal-clear waters and gently swaying palm trees that we associate with the Maldives, the quintessential paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean.

Of its 200 inhabited islands, which are spread across an area of 35,000 square miles, 99 are dedicated⁹ resorts.

Three-quarters of a million tourists visit every year – more than double the domestic population. Of these, over 100,000 travel from the UK.

The capital, Malé, is four times more densely¹⁰ populated than London. Given these facts, it's hardly surprising that the Maldives has a waste disposal problem.

What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever clap eyes.

Four miles west of Malé is the country's dumping ground, Thilafushi – or Rubbish Island as it has simply become known.

The country dumps upwards¹¹ of 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day, a figure attributed largely to the tourist industry on which the chain of atolls relies. Each visitor generates 3.5kg of waste per day.

Now, the government of the Maldives has belatedly banned the dumping of waste on the island, due largely to an increase in the number of waste boats 'fly-tipping' directly into the sea, fed up with waiting seven hours or more to offload their cargo¹². The freighters are now ferrying debris¹³ to India instead.