On this project Land and Marine Environmental Resource (LaMer) Group, a Maldivian environmental organisation, will be working with local NGOs, dive operators, resorts, commercial operators (with respect to fisheries and trade) and government institutions, as well as the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and Biosphere Expeditions, two UK charities/non-profits, who have been operating in the Maldives for 10 years to improve the knowledge base and management of marine resources, gathering data on the recovery from the 1998 bleaching event, 2004 Asian Tsunami, effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and - most recently - collaborating with the government over four years to provide legislated management measures for grouper fisheries. Reef Check, an internationally recognised reef survey methodology, is one protocol that partners rely on heavily during their work. The work in collaboration with the government continues by providing long-term and ongoing capacity-building in reef monitoring techniques. As with the first grant, with the help of a second Rufford grant we will train four more key locals in marine conservation techniques and in doing so also deliver data on the status of coral reefs, recovery from bleaching and El Niño events, and the development of MPA management plans.