Sustainability in Laamu

Mantas

The Manta Trust is a registered charity with the mission to conserve mobulid rays and their habitats through research, education and collaboration. Since 2014, the Manta Trust has been working with us to study the local manta ray population and educate guests and the local community about the importance and vulnerability of manta rays. 

Just a 15-minute boat ride from Six Senses Laamu and 20-meters below the surface is Hithadhoo Corner, a series of large coral blocks teeming with cleaner wrasse eager to clean Laamu’s resident manta rays. Innovative research techniques allow the team to learn more about mating behavior and pregnancy.

Sea turtles

Olive Ridley Project (ORP) exists to protect Maldivian sea turtles from threats. Since 2018, they are making this dream a reality through their work as part of the Maldives Underwater Initiative. ORP continues to safeguard Laamu’s turtles through a wide range of research projects including studying the local turtle populations, monitoring turtle nests and collecting data on ghost nets found in and around the atoll. 

ORP Annual Report 2019

Dolphins

Our marine biologists accompany sunset and dolphin cruises to share information about the two species we commonly see and to record valuable information about these sightings. In 2014, a Six Senses marine biologist developed the nation's first Dolphin Code of Conduct, which condemns dolphin harassment. Our teams also lead guided snorkel trips on the house reef as well as boat snorkel trips around the atoll, enlightening guests about the species they encounter. Why not join them?

Fisheries and marine protected areas

We work with the reef fishermen of Laamu Atoll to ensure all fish served on the resort’s menus are caught using sustainable fishing practices. Laamaseelu Masveriya means ‘exemplary fishermen’ in Dhivehi and is a code of conduct developed by Blue Marine Foundation for the fishermen and the resort. This ensures that the entire process, from fishing to purchasing, is done sustainably.

In 2018, the Laamu Atoll Council declared their intention to protect five marine areas, many of which were advised by Six Senses Laamu and Blue Marine Foundation. Tangible results include habitat restoration, recovery of fish-stocks, a sustainable local fishery and a thriving marine tourism industry. 

Seagrass

A survey suggests that over 50 percent of resorts in the Maldives actively remove their seagrass meadows. This highlighted the evident lack of awareness that seagrass meadows play a significant role as carbon sinks, food sources, nursery habitats, sediment stabilizers and nutrient filters, protecting and maintaining surrounding coral reefs. To address this knowledge gap, the Maldives Underwater Initiative, together with partners Blue Marine Foundation (Blue), launched a social media campaign to become the voice for the world’s only underwater flowering plant. 

Coral

In 2016 a catastrophic event occurred in tropical oceans worldwide, and over 75% of the corals in the Maldives were victims of a mass bleaching event. With the hope of aiding recovery, our team undertook a coral restoration project, which aimed to boost the coral population on our current reef, rather than create new reefs, as many restorations do. The two-step project involved the collection of coral fragments from selected species, installing them into a mid-water nursery to grow larger, followed by ‘planting’ them back onto the reef. The team successfully planted 221 corals back onto our house reef after they had grown, on average, 37 times larger than their original size. 

Plastic free Laamu Atoll

Waste management is one of the biggest challenges in the Maldives, so we aim to create as little as possible. Minimal waste is either recycled onsite or disposed of responsibly. Segregation bins can be found around the island for paper, plastic, metal, and glass. Some of the ways we reduce our waste include printing responsibly, encouraging our suppliers to reduce packaging when delivering supplies and ordering in bulk whenever possible, banning single-use plastics and recycling all organic waste for mulching and converting to organic garden soil.

We are one of only three hotels in the world that makes its own artisan chocolate. The homemade chocolate is used in the pastry kitchen, ice cream parlor, and chocolate studio to make thirteen different flavored bars for the mini bar and boutique. 

Eku Eky community education

Eku-Eky, or ‘together’ in the local language of Dhievehi, is an initiative to strengthen relationships with Laamu Atoll communities, work towards sustainable development and achieve environmental conservation. 

Through Eku Eky quarterly meetings, representatives from the atoll council and 11 island councils, women’s development committees, 13 schools, 5 police stations, and active local NGOs, come together to represent the voices of Laamu’s 13,000 residents. In recent years, we have seen a shift, with the ownership of this program moving away from the resort and into the hands of the community. The result is an open platform from which ideas can be shared and life can be improved for all residents of Laamu Atoll.

Citizen scientists

Empowering the local community to be involved in conservation efforts is critical in order for it to be a success. In 2019, BLUE launched a citizen science program called Laamaseelu Farudhun to do just that. It translates to ‘exemplary citizens’ in Dhivehi and aims to train local community groups to understand and take ownership of their island’s natural resources, including coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves. 

The first session on seagrass monitoring brought together government, NGOs, and higher education from most islands in Laamu. Following the instructions, participants felt so confident to carry out their own surveys that the first independent survey took place on Fonadhoo island shortly thereafter. 

Water for all

Fifty percent of water sales in all restaurant outlets goes into a project fund providing clean, reliable drinking water to local communities in need. This fund contributed to a reverse osmosis water plant to the regional hospital, thirty household water filters to a local island and larger water filters to all 23 schools and preschools in the atoll. In 2019, water filters were donated to all five of Laamu Atoll’s police stations and one Maldives National University - Gan Campus, providing plastic-free drinking water to 380 more people. This brings the total number of filters donated to date to 63, providing clean, plastic-free drinking water to approximately 4,384 people, and avoiding an estimated 1.6 million single-use plastic water bottles annually.