The most common response to the question of “which species on the planet would you like to get rid of” is “mosquitos”. The are a very problematic creature transmitting many (sometimes deadly) diseases while very few species depend on eating them. I’ve never experienced many “mossies” during my many stays, but the tropical environments are common breeding grounds for them, visitors sometimes get bothered by them and the country has had reports of dengue fever in the past.
A typical measure is fumigation which some resorts do in the late afternoon and early evening, but this process can be noisy and irritating as well as contain troublesome chemicals. As CNN reports in its article “A paradise island vacation with no mosquito bites – and no chemicals”, Soneva Fushi has introduced an innovative technology to keep the numbers down in the least intrusive and more environmentally friendly way:
- |Soneva first employed the Biogents system in 2019, using two different types of traps – more than 500 in total positioned around the island. The first type, called the BG-GAT, is a passive trap meant for tiger mosquitoes that have already bitten someone and are searching for a place to lay eggs, according to Oines. The second type, the BG-Mosquitaire CO2, is meant to attract mosquitoes searching for blood, which it does by using carbon dioxide created through yeast and sugar fermentation, plus lactic acid, which mimics human skin. Beyond just using the traps, the resort has educated staffers on mosquito ecology. Now, the Soneva team does inspections of the property to identify and reduce things like tarps, fallen coconut shells and anything else that could hold stagnant water, which is necessary for the bugs to breed… The resort said it recorded a dramatic decrease in the island’s mosquito population by upwards of 98% in the first year.
