Environmental Responsibility of Hotels, Eco Lodges in the Maldives, an excellent Role model for all Hotels and Eco Lodges on our Globe !

Six Senses’ flagship resort is unique in many ways. In terms of biodiversity the large island is blessed with lush tropical vegetation and a biologically rich coral reef. At Soneva Fushi we are also involved in numerous environmental projects that differentiate us from other resorts. Environmental benchmarking is a key part of our strategy, with data on energy, water, paper and chemical consumption collected on a monthly basis. This allows us to monitor resource use and waste levels, our overall environmental impact and progress towards the targets has been set for environmental improvement.
Energy savings and Climate change related projects:

Water saving program:

Being surrounded by the Indian Ocean, water supplies at Soneva Fushi do not seem to be limited. However, powering a reverse-osmosis desalination plant to convert seawater into freshwater for the resort’s operations and both guest and host needs is energy intensive. The desalination process uses a large amount of diesel as an energy source and in this way contributes to the depletion of fossil fuels and to global warming. Water-saving measures are therefore required, and the following have been implemented at Soneva Fushi:

Guests are given the option to not have their bed linen and towels washed each day. All swimming pools use filtered seawater.
The newly renovated guest rooms as well as other areas are connected to a grey-water recycling system; the filtered water is used for the irrigation of the organic gardens.The island’s groundwater is used for staff sanitation.
Rainwater is collected and channelled into the reverse-osmosis plant to make the desalination process more efficient
Native plant species only are grown in the jungle areas that do not require additional irrigation

Waste Management:

Waste disposal, litter and debris on beaches and adequate recycling facilities are major concerns in the Maldives. The country currently lacks the facilities to separate, collect and recycle or reuse materials generated by households and businesses. Most resources and items that could be recycled or composted are at present treated as waste and transported from resorts and islands to landfill. As the country develops it seems inevitable that more consumer goods will become available, consumption will increase and so will the amount of material that will need to be recycled, reused or disposed.

We are working with local islands as well as national and international organisations to tackle waste issues, which are likely to become even more of a problem if sustainable waste management policies and practices are not adopted. At Soneva Fushi:

Ethical and sustainable purchasing

‘Sustainable purchasing’ is a concept that has become increasingly important during the last decade and is now regarded as one of the central features of corporate environmental and social responsibility. There are several aspects to such a policy, the main being that supplies and suppliers are not selected on a financial basis alone. In relation to the decision-making process this implies that the cheapest quote may not always be the most desirable, when environmental and social performance is included. The environmental impacts during the production, distribution and waste management are considered, in other words the ‘life-cycle’ of a particular product or process.

At Soneva Fushi the Purchasing Department has a policy to avoid certain products that have been placed on the ‘red list’. These include:

Food products such as caviar, fois gras, veal, shark and blue-fin tuna
Timber from virgin forest clearance
Items that have unnecessary packaging
Similarly, positive discrimination is given to items that are produced in a sustainable way. The items on the ‘green list’ include:

Fair Trade products
Certified timber products
Eco-friendly soaps and chemicals
Shade coffee, locally-grown and organic produce
Products that can be sourced locally and transported by dhoni (boat), thus reducing the environmental costs of distribution. Examples include seafood, fruit and vegetables

Sustainable food production and reducing food miles

The food system has also received considerable attention recently. The environmental impact of industrial agriculture is now well documented and includes loss of biodiversity, unsustainable water management as well as the consumption of large amounts of energy. The distance that food travels, often unnecessarily, is referred to as ‘food miles’. In order to address these issues we have introduced several policies, with the overall aim of reducing and wherever possible minimising the environmental impact of our food supplies. The three main tenets of our food policy are to source organic produce, local food and to compost food waste (as well as paper and card board).

Organic production: Organic systems avoid synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, which require large amounts of energy to produce (in the form of crude oil and natural gas). This also means that the environmental impacts of importing these types of energy inputs can be reduced. Pesticides kill not only pests but also beneficial insects and can be harmful to human health. These have been replaced with organic pest management techniques such as the introduction of natural predators, pheromone traps, companion planting, fleece and mesh covers and manual collection. Selecting indigenous plants, which have adapted to local conditions is also important, as well as establishing a rotation, using green manures and cultivating natural fertilisers such as comfrey. Branches and coconuts are passed through a chipper to provide mulch, which minimises evaporation thus reducing water consumption. Mulch also breaks down gradually to increase soil organic matter.

Reducing food miles: Our policy is to source as much food as possible from local islands then look to suppliers in other Atolls. Organic food production has also been developed at the resort, which reduces food miles to a minimum. There is an organic fruit garden, a vegetable garden, a mushroom hut and a medicinal and culinary herb garden which supply guest and host restaurants.

Composting: the two main benefits of composting are that the amount of putrescible waste is reduced and fertilisation is provided for the fruit and vegetable gardens. In the case of the latter this means that less organic fertiliser is imported. We are currently improving the compost system to make the process quicker and to incorporate as much biodegradable material, such as paper, card and sawdust, as possible. Several compost bin designs and input mixtures are being tested to identify the optimum conditions. A method in which the compost does not need to be ‘turned’ is the goal, achieved primarily through sufficient air circulation and a balance between wet and dry material.

Conservation of the natural surroundings
We at Soneva Fushi believe in living in harmony with nature and not manipulating it. The island flora and fauna may still hold surprises in terms of species discoveries, while the beautiful, biologically diverse reef communities are enormously complex. They have survived for millions of years without human assistance and they are poorly understood, therefore we suspect that non-interference is the best approach. In keeping with this policy, we have adopted the following practices:

The resort has been designed and built with great care to minimise the impact on the island and the reef. Buildings are designed to blend with the natural facade of the island. During construction buildings were located and designed to minimise the damage to trees. When necessary trees were transplanted in a similar habitat on the island. Established trees are not felled, branches are cut in a controlled way, and only fallen flowers are used for decoration. Cut branches and fallen trees are processed further in our carpentry.

We have taken aboard a resident permaculturist to enhance the green footprint of the resort by such things as improving organic waste recycling and the organic garden productivity.

Considerable stretches of the island’s shorelines have been left undeveloped and unlit, so that turtles can continue to nest on the beaches and seabirds and other wildlife find a natural habitat in the dense vegetation. We have also not built any seawalls or groynes, so that the sand can freely move around the island in accordance to the seasons. The effectiveness of these efforts is ascertained by monthly measurements of the beach width at benchmarked locations.

A resident marine biologist is employed to inform guests and staff about the wonderful coral reef ecosystem they are privileged to experience and about responsible behaviour in the reef environment. This is accomplished by informal presentations and snorkelling trips. These activities further enhance the guest experience and lead to a greater appreciation of the unique coral reef life and its need of protection.

We endeavour to keep our reefs healthy by:
Informing all visitors about responsible snorkelling and diving practices
Installing mooring buoys for boats to avoid anchor damage
Improving our sewage treatment to minimise the nutrient input to the reef from that source
Not carrying out any night-fishing activities above the reefs for guest amusement, as this non-selective fishing method not only kills many non-target organisms, but damages corals
Not engaging in coral transplantation or propagation projects of dubious conservation value but instead invest our efforts in protecting what is already present
Not interfering with natural food webs and organism interactions, e.g. by removing natural predators or eroders
Discouraging both guests and hosts from feeding wildlife and fish
Encouraging guests to leave all debris, shells, coral pieces and sand on the beach or in the reef
Not selling any shells, coral or other animal products in our gift shops
To evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts we have contracted an independent reef scientist to quantitatively monitor the reef and advise management. These efforts have led to Soneva Fushi having one of the most beautiful housereefs in the Maldives.

Those of us that are recognizing your Companies Environmental activities are thanking you, in the hope that the entire community is behind the project. 
In the absence of applicable Global Standards,it would expedite Global understanding of the destinations Environmental Responsibility, by demonstrating such efforts to the Travel Industry and to potential Guests, that currently are inundated with misinformation, the needs of generational Travelers is changing. The era of the Hunting Lodge was replaced by a generation of nature tourists and is now in another Transformation, as today’s Eco Traveler demands to experience the true connection with nature by physical inclusion in the Bio process, through Voluntarism.

I also have not noticed any Wind (Bird prove)or Solar based Energy being utilized, in many Tourist area’s of the Globe, Eco lodges are maintaining vegetable production, as certain waist materials lend themselves to act as Mulch and also as fertilizer.

Eco Lodges in Central america often involve visitors in the overall process as the average person would like to understand.