 Since the 1950s, thousands of South Asian leaders have seized the opportunity to further their knowledge at Australian universities through prestigious Australia Awards scholarships. Their new knowledge and skills are improving countless lives in their home countries. I think Maldives is a country where we have a very beautiful environment and it's really a very fragile environment. So if we don't care for our environment, we will not be safe here and our economic pillars like the tourism or the fisheries both depend on the quality of the environment. As a result of the people using the same resource at the same time, there are conflicts and the resource depletion also. We have started seeing a decrease in the number and the abundance of our manta rays and whale sharks and this decrease is negatively impacting the economy and the livelihood of the people. Bar atoll in the Maldives is home to 11,000 people. Below the waterline, it is also home to a wealth of marine life including whale sharks and manta rays. Surrounding Tiny Hunnifer Island is a globally significant manta ray breeding ground attracting tourists and vital income for the entire atoll. To manage this valuable resource sustainably, the government has declared Bar atoll as the Maldives first biosphere reserve. The atoll's honeypot, Hunnifer Island, has also been declared the country's first protected marine park. Visitor numbers are now limited and those who enter pay a fee. As head of the Environmental Protection Agency, it's Naeem's job to help make the Maldives first biosphere and marine park work. He says his Australia Awards scholarship, which allowed him to do a Masters at the University of Queensland in Environmental Management, positioned him to lead the EPA as it faces the many challenges this entails. We have so many challenges. One is the lack of trained people in protecting and managing these areas. Plus we are now training staff, local staff in the bar atoll. There is also a new achievement. We are attending a scene right now. Okay. We are catching sea cucumbers. I told them this is a protected area and I asked them to leave immediately. Among those being trained is Ranger Ahamed Faresh. He grew up in the area and with national unemployment hovering around 28%, he is pleased to have landed a good local job. This is the Ranger team. This team is specially for monitoring Hanifaro area. Actually first of all I didn't have any idea about what is the Ranger because it is totally new to this Maldives and this is the first place in Maldives which is protected and monitored. But later I get to know each and every concept of these rules and regulations. So it is really fascinating to me to do this work. Key to making the biosphere and protected area work is ensuring that local people also gain direct benefits. The income generated through the park entrance fee is being channeled to the newly created Bar Atoll Conservation Fund and local groups will be able to apply for grants to do preservation, livelihoods or awareness activities. I feel the park is a very good idea. Because it is protected there will be more species in that area and more tourists will come. Samat is a single mother of two. She was disabled in an accident and now fishing is her main source of income. She is hopeful that the new fund will spark more livelihood opportunities for people on the island. My dream is to see that the system works as a fully functional biosphere reserve and the local people who are living there start getting direct benefit from the biosphere reserve. That's my dream and I'm hoping that many other biosphere reserves or marine parks will be established in Maldives elsewhere and the benefits from those reserves or the parks will be actually given to the locals. Many Australia Awards alumni like Naeem are using the knowledge and connections they gained in Australia to make a difference back home. With rangers and other trained staff now on the ground in Bar Atoll the conservation fund up and running and everyone rallying behind the effort Naeem's dream is well on the way to becoming a reality.