Being an eco-tourist is never easy. All too often, a traveller’s eco-credentials are measured by how little a negative impact they have on an environment and its local people. Eco-travelling tends to start and end with an informed, eco-conscious choice of where to stay – rarely can someone make a direct, meaningful and tangible contribution.
One luxurious hotel in Maldives (is there any other kind there?) should be celebrated for giving its guests just such an opportunity.
In partnership with a resident marine biologist Alexia Pihier, The Beach House at Iruveli Maldives has established a coral restoration programme.
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Focusing on not only Iruveli’s lagoon, but surrounding islands too, the initiative aims to regenerate reefs that were killed off by high water temperatures brought about by El Niño climate patterns. The programme is expected to benefit the other wildlife in the lagoon, including adult reef fish, rays, turtles and reef sharks.
In order to regenerate the reefs, the programme attaches pieces of living coral to specially designed metal frames, which are then clustered on the ocean floor just off the archipelago’s white-sand beaches.
Guests participating in the not-for-profit “Adopt a Coral Reef” programme pay US$150 (£93) per frame (US$40 – £25 – for kids). Things kick off with a talk on the importance of coral to the marine eco-system before participants assist in making a frame, attaching coral fragments and building the clusters in the water. Guests get their name attached to their frame(s) and can request to be emailed with photographic updates showing the progress of the regeneration.
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
