Sustainability
We are committed to improving the ecological and carbon footprint of our resort and spa operations by monitoring our performance against targets and goals. In 2022, we collected over 611 kg of trash from local beaches, provided access to clean drinking water to 2,504 local people, and gave away 300 reusable water bottles to students. Every little bit helps!
Six Senses Ninh Van Bay also introduced Ninh Van Greens, the first in-resort solar farm in Vietnam, which helps to provide electricity, organic produce, and hot water for the resort. The organic garden, Solar FreshCuts, is planted beneath the 800 solar panels. As of January 2023, Ninh Van Greens generated more than 227 kWh of electricity and supplied 20 percent of the resort’s energy supply.
Environmental Responsibility
We operate in line with the Sustainable Operational Guidelines set out by Six Senses and wherever possible go beyond Vietnamese and international environmental requirements.
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Langur monkeys
Included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and Vietnam’s Red Book, the black-shanked douc langur is only found in Southern Vietnam and Eastern Cambodia. The Hon Heo mountain area behind us is one of the prevalent habitats, where langurs visit the reservoir during the dry season. Naturally quite shy, it is a rare privilege to encounter them; however, we can arrange hikes into the hills where you may have unscripted encounters with these and other local wildlife.
Since 2020, we collaborate with the NGO Green Viet, where biologists have identified 109 individuals around our resort, which has now grown to 153 in 2022, 19 plant specifies on which langur feed, and also 20 popular behaviors - do ask our team for more details.
The resort employs a full-time resident biologist from GreenViet, Ms. Quynh, who works closely with our team to introduce exciting wildlife and conservation experiences for our guests including guided hiking trips to learn about forest life and how the resort is studying and protecting the langurs.
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Coral
We launched a coral propagation program in collaboration with the Institute of Oceanography in Nha Trang to protect and preserve the marine ecosystem surrounding our resort. The resort’s shores are fringed by natural coral reefs that are biologically diverse and a great asset for snorkelers.
The team carefully transplants coral fragments onto artificial reef structures and monitors the growth and types of marine life attracted. By increasing the reproduction of the most successful clones, scientists hope to develop more resilient coral offspring that can withstand higher ocean temperatures and global warming. In 2022, we had successfully transplanted 245 coral fragments into 23 coral frames in the sea, which helped to increase the total number of frames to 43.
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Biodiversity
Understanding the ecosystem of the bay will help us preserve its biodiversity. With the Biodiversity Research project, we have discovered a new plant which has been officially recognized and named after the resort in 2022: Six Senses Turmeric. From now on, guests at Six Senses Ninh Van Bay can see the newly discovered plant during its harvest season in August and September.
As part our mission to preserve the local biodiversity, we have built ‘exclusive villas’ for 500,000 stingless bees named the Bee Residences. The bees will help provide a high-quality pollination service for our organic gardens, increasing our leafy production. Excitingly, the resort’s first Biodiversity Book is yet to come, expected in August 2023. Guests will have an opportunity to learn more about the plant and animal species living in Ninh Van Bay, including 10 species of mammals, 20 species of birds, 20 species of reptiles, and 30 types of plants.
Social Responsibility
From drinking water projects to educational programs and employment, we maintain positive relationships with our greater community.
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Water for all
Our guests and hosts enjoy still and sparkling remineralized drinking water from an on-site reverse osmosis plant, which is bottled in reusable glass bottles. This saves around 11,110 plastic bottles per month from entering the resort and going to landfill. We also provide filtration drinking water systems in a number of local communities. In 2022, 2,502 students from five local primary schools were provided with clean water.
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Community Education
We believe education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty so we're aiming to increase access to education for the next generations of Vinh Luong village. Every year, we have been donating scholarships to the value of USD 60,000 to the village’s outstanding students to go to university, as well as run 24 English classes for two local primary schools, and organized sustainability talks with students in Nha Trang and Hanoi.
