When the world gives you lemons…make lemonade.
When the world gives you lemonade bottles…make eco-friendly walkway.
One of the more creative solutions to the earth-friendly plastic bottle disposal issue in the Maldives is Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo’s walkways. They have coated their discarded plastic bottles with a layer of natural looking cement and used the result cylinders to make an extensive set of walkway liners.
The Maldives, with their fragile topology and sensitive eco-system have become a sort of ground zero on par with the Amazon rainforest for ecological concerns.
“The Maldives – With 80% of the 1,200 islands no more than a metre above sea level, there are real fears the country could be submerged before the end of the century. The Maldives government held an underwater cabinet meeting in 2009 to raise awareness, and they were first to sign the Kyoto Treaty on climate change. A 3m wall around capital Male, took 14 years to construct.”
Today’s Earth Day is a time for education to help get mankind and bit less stupid in how it treats this delicate planet. Many Maldives resorts are supporting with a range of special events.
“Fishermans Day” in the Maldives today celebrates the true main industry and for centuries the mainstay of the Maldives’ existence
And Jumeirah – both Vittaveli and Dhevanafushi properties celebrate and support local Maldives fishermen with their own “Low Miles Menu”…
“Azara and Samsara, restaurants at Jumeirah Dhevanafushi and Jumeirah Vittaveli in the Maldives, have unveiled a new ‘Low Miles’ menu as part of an on-going commitment to reduce the hotels’ carbon-footprints. The new ‘Low Miles’ menu makes the most of local, fresh ingredients to preserve the idyllic surroundings as well as offer a delicious taste of traditional Maldivian cuisine. By utilising ingredients sourced nearby, the chefs are able to ensure minimal air and sea miles are required to bring the food to the resort, minimising the harmful greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere. The localised set menu offers a truly sustainable, and delicious, culinary experience, with dishes such as Reef Fish Pappillote with Vegetables, Coconut and Chili or Mild Yellow Fish Curry with Chapatti, Mango Chutney and Local Herb Salad. And, for dessert, guests can indulge in a Maldivian Fruit Cocktail served with Biscuit and a Local Custard Cream or Fried Local Banana Fritters served with Island made Coconut Ice Cream. Guests at Jumeirah Vittaveli can also enjoy the menu as destination dining, choosing a private stretch of white sandy beach for a romantic meal or a celebration among friends”
Most resorts make a point of sourcing what they can locally, especially the abundant fresh reef fish, but Jumeirah has made it a design point for two of its restaurants that dovetails nicely with its general native Maldives inspired architecture and decoration throughout the resort. While the Maldives’ remoteness does mean that some (especially luxury) items do need to be brought in from far away, their reef fish is probably the lowest mile food item of any resort in the world often sourced from just feet from the dining room.
Lori and Jason Kruse, Kurumba GM, with ground glass
With my emphasis on discovery it took some big stuff to lure back to Kurumba for the third time when there were so many unseen resorts to hit. But I must say that the detour was worth it with quite possibly the most inspiring “Best of the Maldives” discovery of the entire trip.
To date, most resort eco-initiatives have fallen into the following categories…
But as anyone who has ridden by Thilafushi will attest, the sheer volume of waste and rubbish is a massive challenge for the country. Most resorts are looking at packaging and waste reduction initiatives. But Kurumba is leading the way with a strikingly comprehensive recycling programme.
And investments they are. First, Kurumba has shelled out some serious capital to get some advanced machinery to process the waste. But more so than that, Kurumba is experimenting with these gadgets and tuning them and the processes around them to get the most out of them.
Kurumba is sharing its expertise with other resorts now and hopes to pioneer a drive to zero waste in the Maldives. If successful, Thilafushi could itself be relegated to the dustbin of history.
Plastic and Styrofoam recycling
Green waste mulching
Green waste accelerated composting
Shredded coconut husks
Happy Fathers Day!
Perfect gift for Dad is a good gadget. But instead of getting another electric cheese straightener that will just end up in the garage, how about a “Coralbot”? Or at least a donation in his name to research project developing them – “Coralbots: Restoring and Conserving Coral Reefs with Robots” (thanks Eileen)
The initial trials are in Belize, which according to my research is the second best place in the world for snorkelling (similar shallow lagoon coral atoll topology to Maldives, but less extensive than Maldives). But hopefully the findings will be of benefit to all places in the world with stunning yet stressed reefs like the Maldives.
Restore-trooper, these are the droids you are looking for!
They grow up so fast.
The Four Seasons have always had a website that allowed you to look up your Reefscaper coral frame and see how it was progressing, but now they have just relaunched a special website, Marine Savers, to provide not only frame update lookups, but also detailed information and updates on the ever broading range of their Maldives-leading conservation initiatives.
Above is our frame (KH0327) we planted in November 2010 at Four Seasons Kuda Huraa. Toddler-sized growths are looking pretty attractive compared to the collection of broken pieces that we affixed to the iron frame. Curiously, our frame (LG0729) planted during our visit to Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru that same week is doing notably less well, but still clear healthy growth from the fragments first affixed.
This distinction could be a ‘Least of the Maldives’…’Least Tolerant of Eco-Abuse’. From making the most of broken coral (nature breaks enough with storms and other normal underwater goings on, thank you) to and island that is looking to make the very least broken coral…at least at the hands of (or more typically, at the feet of) unthinking guests.
Vilamendhoo has instigated a $500 fine for touching a whale shark or standing on coral. It is not just faux bravado either as the resort has $1,500 collected so far from infringing guests. The funds collected are used for reef preservation investments.
If I ever do a ‘Maldives Monopoly’ game, then one Community Chest card would have to be ’Step on coral…pay $500’.
Bumf, swag and paraphernalia. That is the burden of conventional marketing. The most popular give-away (often sponsored) at trade-shows is a carrier bag to haul all of the brochures, pamphlets, flyers, fact sheets and other assorted promo material. After a tour, I have to watch my baggage weight with piles of paper I bring back. LUX* Maldives has remedied all that with their credit card USB press kit. After my island tour, PR Manager Dolores Semeraro handed me all the material I needed on the handy little device shown here.
As it happens, when I met with Raffaela Colleoni of Gangehi at WTM and they had the same gizmo. But they had a picture of the island on it. In fact, several of the business cards I collected featured aerial resort shots. I think this is a smart idea. The romantically diminutive dot nestled in swathes of turquoise IS the ‘product’.
Like the Maldives islands themselves, good things do come in small packages.
Banyan Tree Vabinfaru takes a completely different approach to using electronic media to help preserve the environment. Their Lotus Project is pioneering the use of ‘Mineral Accretion’ technology which use low voltage electric currents to stimulate coral growth (thanks John). Sort of an electromyostimulation for reef fitness…
“In November 2001, the Vabbinfaru Lotus was successfully launched. This unique reef restoration project was developed under the supervision of architect Prof. Wolf Hilbertz, coral scientist Dr. Tom Goreau and Abdul Azeez Abdul Hakeem, the marine environmental consultant to Banyan Tree Maldives. The metal structure is two meters high, 12 meters in diameter and shaped in the form of a giant lotus flower…A method invented by Prof. Hilbertz and Dr. Goreau called ‘Mineral Accretion’ now enables us to restore marine habitats by using completely safe low voltage electrical currents to grow solid limestone structures in the sea and making additional energy available for the corals. The energy accelerates the growth and reproduction of corals; it increases their ability to resist environmental stresses and makes them healthier and visibly brighter in color…The Vabbinfaru Lotus is not only a visually appealing object but also combines aesthetics with purpose. It acts as a coral nursery, a ‘Coral Ark’, that maintains a fascinating diversity of species. With its open flower shape the surface area is maximized, inviting the sun to promote the development and growth of the corals. Half a ton of welded construction reinforcing bar was used to build the frame, which was then carried by around 40 volunteers through the shallow lagoon and deposited on the slope of Vabbinfaru’s outer reef. The Lotus is now located at a depth of three to ten meters…It uses around 600 watts of power, which is only a little more than each of the lights on the jetty attracting fish at night.”
Power to the coral!
Happy International Children’s Day!
The children are our future and in Kuramathi’s latest eco-initiative, they are taking the lead in preserving it. Both in style and in protagonist. Kuramathi has produced a charming animated video on tips for preserving the environment in the Maldives. The style might seem a little…well…childish. But it works it still works on a number of levels. First, it’s not taking itself too seriously which keeps it entertaining and helps keep people from being turned off like some preachy or pedantic approach might do. Secondly, there is no speaking. This means that people from all countries and languages can benefit from it equally. It reminds me of the cartoon videos they now use for the safety briefings on the BA flights. A little cheeky, a lot useful.
“The 10 minute plot revolves around two characters, a father and his son holidaying on a tropical island. While they are lazing around, the father unknowingly and unintentionally harms the environment in each sequence, to which the modern day, ‘eco-aware’ child halts his action, supported by an eco-brochure and corrects him by fast forwarding to the distant future in a thought bubble. The child succeeds in informing his father the right way to protect and preserve the natural surroundings. A brief synopsis of each setting describes how important it is to respect the environment and how we can go about doing it. Each sequence gives off a subliminal message to its viewers. Employing proper snorkelling etiquette by observing the fragile coral garden from a safe distance, dispersing rubbish into litter bins, and respecting nature by not touching shells, corals and other animals are key notable messages portrayed in the movie. This original masterpiece was created by Thomas Krajcovic and Matej Petrek, two Austrian students, who was invited by the Kuramathi team to spend one week on the resort, in order to study the island, and its environment and dynamics, selecting the key messages to embed into the film’s storyboard. Under our senior marine biologists’ guidance, the plot was soon finalized and later taken over by the two students for the production of the film. Due credit is also given to the generous patronage by TUI – world famous European tour operator who supported this initiative by sponsoring the flights for the two students.”