Amilla Maldives marked World Turtle Day on 23 May 2024 by announcing a new partnership with local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Atoll Marine Centre (AMC). Located in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Baa Atoll, Amilla’s collaboration with AMC will offer guests the opportunity to learn about and participate in marine conservation efforts to research and protect turtles and their habitats.
Locally-run NGO Atoll Marine Centre was founded in 2012 to address the growing number of turtle hatchlings requiring rehabilitation after being kept as pets. Over time, AMC branched out into coral restoration; community awareness; school programmes; rescuing and rehabilitating adult turtles found stranded or caught in fishing nets; as well as creating environmental festivals. Based in Lhaviyani, the neighbouring Atoll from Amilla Maldives, this is Atoll Marine Centre’s first partnership outside of their ‘home grounds’.
As a member of The Conscious Travel Foundation as well as an EarthCheck silver-certified island resort, Amilla Maldives embodies a commitment to finding harmony between luxury and sustainability, and proactively engages guests on the importance of sustainability initiatives. To celebrate World Turtle Day, guests were invited to start the morning with a turtle-inspired breakfast at Fresh, before witnessing turtles in their mesmerising natural habitats during a Turtle Discovery Excursion. Later in the day, guests could also learn more about marine biology through ‘Turtle Tales’, while observing sea turtles from the resort’s Arrival Lounge.
In addition, Amilla guests were given the opportunity to support AMC’s turtle conservation efforts by ‘adopting’ a turtle patient. The programme of activities to mark the World Turtle Day sought to elevate the sustainability experience and raise awareness of the importance of turtles in the ecosystem.
Amilla’s recent sustainability initiatives include a solar panel installation last year which generated 600,000kwh in nine months, reducing diesel consumption by over 170k litres; introducing refillable, PCR-packaged, vegan-friendly luxury amenities from Swedish cult brand 19-69 and Dutch social enterprise Marie-Stella-Maris; and, to reduce the number of single-use plastic water bottles brought to the island, the provision of refillable silicone Rolla Bottles for all guests to use from arrival – and take home as a memento of their time at Amilla. As part of the Jellyfish10 initiative, Rolla Bottle commits 10 percent of all profits to funding ocean plastic pollution clean-up solutions.
Since December, Amilla has also participated in NGO Blue Marine Foundation’s ‘Maldives Resilient Reefs’ (MRR) initiative to implement sustainable fishing practices. The resort pays an additional 20MVR/kilo for fish caught according to MRR guidelines – resulting in an extra USD1,883 for the local fishing community in December 2023 alone.
