Dhadimagi Kilhi (literally "Dhadimagu Lake") is one of the two fresh water lakes in

Fuvahmulah Fuvahmulah (Dhivehi: ފުވައްމުލައް) is an island (atoll) in the Maldives. It is under Maldives’ administrative divisions of Gnaviyani Atoll or Nyaviyani Atoll. The inhabitants speak a distinctive form of the Dhivehi language, known as ...

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

Description

Located in

Dhadimagu Dhadimagu is an administrative division of Fuvahmulah, Maldives. It is the largest division of the island, located on the north-west of the island. Throughout history, many scholars and famous public figures came into being from this district housi ...

ward of the island, with an area of 6.37

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

and an average depth of 4

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

, it is the second-largest lake by volume in the

, and larger in area than its counterpart

Bandaara Kilhi Bandaara Kulhi (literally "State Lake") is one of the two fresh water lakes in Fuvahmulah, Maldives. The lake covers about and averages 12 feet deep, which makes it the largest lake by volume in the Maldives accommodating the largest freshwate ...

, which is the largest lake by volume in the country. Bounded by dense vegetation of different kinds ranging from

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

s to reeds used for weaving mats,

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

fields and plant varieties such as ''

Syzygium cumini ''Syzygium cumini'', commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is ...

'' (

jambul ''Syzygium cumini'', commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is ...

pond-apple ''Annona glabra'' is a tropical fruit tree in the family Annonaceae, in the same genus as the soursop and cherimoya. Common names include pond apple, alligator apple (so called because American alligators often eat the fruit), swamp apple, cork ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

, screwpine,

tropical almond ''Terminalia catappa'' is a large tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, native to Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Madagascar and Seychelles. Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, sea almon ...

, cheese fruit,

ambarella ''Spondias dulcis'' ( syn. ''Spondias cytherea''), known commonly as () in Sri Lanka or June plum, is a tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit. In the English speaking Caribbean it is typically known as golden apple and el ...

and

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

fields as well, there is the continuation of a large marsh land area towards the south of the island associated with the lake.

Ecology

In the past, fish were farmed and harvested in the lake. Dhadimagi Kilhi is frequented by anglers who game for tilapia fish and visitors who enjoy boat riding and feeding the fish which inhabit the lake. Among the birds which inhabit the place apart from the common moorhen which is a bird exclusively found in Fuvahmulah only in the Maldivian archipelago, Maldivian white-breasted waterhen (''Amaurornis phoenicurus maldivus'') which is an endemic species of the Maldives too can be sighted by the lakeside. Among seasonal visitors are flamingos, herons and white terns. Dhadimagi Kilhi is the most popular for swimming among all fresh water lakes in the Maldives. The lake has been used by the locals to teach young children how to swim, since the lake is calm and there are no waves, unlike the sea which surrounds the island. The rich mineral water and mud in the lake has been used for medicinal purposes. Even though the locals do not use water from the lake for drinking, laboratory tests have shown that the water in Dhadimagi Kilhi is not unsafe for drinking.

Environmental protection

Dhadimagi Kilhi was declared as a protected area of Fuvahmulah by the government of Maldives on 12 June 2012 and the Atoll Council of Fuvahmulah also passed a decree to establish the place as a protected area on 19 January 2012.

References

{{reflist Lakes of Asia Bodies of water of the Maldives Protected areas of Asia