Gayoom, 64, said he discussed environmental issues with Sri Lankan leaders and stressed that global warming was not a problem confined to low-lying nations.

"Ecological degradation is of great concern to Sri Lanka and the Maldives," Gayoom told reporters at the end of his four-day official visit here.

"The consequences of this are not felt only in low-lying areas, but also in the US and other developed countries."

Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral island's scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator, is believed to be one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of global warming which is leading to rising sea levels.

He said there should be collective efforts to control green house gases that contribute to global warming.

"We are monitoring sea level rises in the Maldives and so far there is no established proof that there is a rise," Gayoom said. "But that does not mean that it is not happening.

"A majority of scientists agree that the sea levels are rising and it can be a very serious threat."

He said the Maldives had begun a nationwide campaign to plant trees in a bid to reduce the effects of global warming and the atoll nation has also banned coral mining.

Gayoom warned that the sea, which provides the livelihood for most of his 250,000 Sunni Muslim population, could become their "eternal grave" in a matter of decades.

The Maldives drew attention in 1987 when Gayoom told the United Nations general assembly that a two metre (6.6 feet) rise in the sea level would submerge his country and make them environmental refugees.

In a bid to prevent the nation going underwater, Gayoom in 1997 started building a brand new island by taking sand from the bottom of the sea.

The island, known as Hulhumale, will be ready to accommodate some 280 families by the end of this year, he said.

He said the island was also being built to ease congestion in the capital island Male which is just one mile (1.6 kilometres) long. Male is overcrowded with some 70,000 residents as well as another 20,000 to 30,000 who visit it at any given time.

Hulhumale will be three times bigger than the 1.77 square kilometresquare miles) capital Male. It is made in such a way that it will be 1.5 metres above sea level in a country where the average altitude is just one metre.

Gayoom himself was nearly swept into the Indian Ocean when tidal waves battered his capital island, Male, in April 1987.

"While I was inspecting the (storm) damage, a large wave reared up suddenly and buffeted the vehicle I was in," Gayoom wrote later. "It was a moment of fear, not for my own safety, but for the safety of the people of Maldives."

Gayoom is the longest serving head of state in Asia, holding the post of president since 1978. The country's per capita income has risen in the past 25 years from 200 US dollars to 2,100 US dollars.

SPACE.WIRE