Sustainability

Sustainable Resorts in the Maldives

The Maldives is truly one of the world’s maritime treasures that prospers in a beautiful yet fragile environment. At Crown & Champa Resorts, we are committed to raise awareness and educate both our associates and guests on ways to be more mindful of the natural environment. We are not only aware of global environmental issues, but we also acknowledge our impact and responsibility towards our planet  for the present and future generations. 

We believe that taking care of the environment is a collective responsibility, and now more than ever,  each of us must take action to help protect and conserve our shared home. Here are various sustainable efforts our Maldives resorts are implementing  while providing exceptional holiday experiences to our guests.

Energy Management

Harnessing the sun

Opened in December 2018, the ultra-luxury Kudadoo Private Island was not only designed and built from all-natural materials, but its operations run entirely on solar power. The resort’s central hub, known as The Retreat,  houses an exclusive spa and wellness centre and features a photovoltaic roof covered with almost a thousand solar panels, which generate 300kW of electricity.

The five-star Hurawalhi Island Resort, the adults-only Komandoo Island Resort, the vibrant Kuredu Island Resort and the affordable Innahura Maldives Resort have also installed solar panels to harness energy from the sun, which translates to a massive reduction in carbon emissions.

The secluded island paradise of Veligandu Maldives has implemented efficient lighting in villas and public areas, with about 97% of its light bulbs replaced with energy-saving LED lamps. In addition, it has a desalinisation plant that allows the resort to produce its own potable water, about 164,980 litres daily, for guest and staff consumption.

The family-friendly Kuredu Island Resort proudly displays colourful, electric-powered scooters and shuttle club cars available for its staff and guests’ use to minimise the impact on air pollution.

Waste Management 

Greener measures have been put in place at our resorts to decrease single-use plastics that can end up in the ocean and harm delicate marine life. All our resorts have replaced plastic water bottles with reusable glass ones and use special linen bags instead of non-biodegradable plastic. Additionally, plastic straws have successfully been removed from our restaurants and bars, providing guests with eco-friendly alternatives.

Our properties are taking numerous ways to prevent plastic waste, including lesser-known and not on-trend endeavours such as:

• our buffet restaurants offer dispensers instead of individually-portioned butter in plastic containers
•  carbonated drink glass bottles are now used in minibars, allowing us to decrease plastic usage
• toiletries provided in our villas and spas are from Healing Earth, a world-renowned industry leader for luxury amenities that are organic and biodegradable. 

Marine Life Conservation

Kagi Maldives Spa Island, the Maldives’ only resort for relaxed luxury and lifestyle retreats, has established a coral nursery program where currently 15 coral fragments are growing in a well-monitored environment, which will be transported and secured back onto the reef in the future.

The famed dive resort of Vilamendhoo Maldives in the South Ari Atoll offers eco-conscious diving and snorkelling excursions that provide guests with a once-in-a-lifetime experience while educating them on the importance of protecting the marine ecosystem, including every creature living in it.

Many of our properties are also working closely with the Manta Trust, a UK based, independent non-profit organisation whose mission is to advance the conservation of manta rays and their habitats, and the Olive Ridley Project, whose dedication is to protect sea turtles in the Indian Ocean through research, education, and rehabilitation.

Sustainable Supplies 

Meeru Island Resort & Spa, one of the Maldives’ most expansive resort islands, features ‘Meeru Garden’. The sustainable garden was developed to meet the needs of its day-to-day kitchen operations and provide guests and associates with fresh ingredients and organic produce. Guests can also join the ‘Nature and Vegetation Exploration’ tour, providing them with information on how the resort manages to grow fruit and vegetables on the island and preserve the natural surroundings.

Komandoo Island Resort, the leading adults-only resort in the Maldives, sources fish directly from the neighbouring islands’ fishermen. As such, the resort is able to support the livelihood of these local fishers and contribute to the local economy.

Local Community Engagement 

Our commitment goes beyond just environmental sustainability. We aim to create value for local communities by empowering them through job creation, education and community impact initiatives. Throughout the year, we participate in various social activities within our communities, including blood donation drives, island reef and lagoon clean-ups, fundraising, and local sports events. Occasionally, we bring in local artisans to our resorts, where they can have the opportunity to showcase their craft and promote local culture and heritage.

Choose Crown & Champa Resorts for your Holiday in the Maldives 

We are the leading hospitality group in the Republic of Maldives that takes pride in being a good corporate citizen by being part of the local community and culture. We are committed to preserving the environment through sustainable operations, guided by our core values: Respect, Empathy, Sincerity, Openness, Reliability, Trust and Sensitivity.

Discover our Collection of Sustainably-conscious Resorts in the Maldives

Luxury

Kudadoo Maldives Private Island: an ultra-luxury, fully-inclusive resort located in the magnificent surrounds of Lhaviyani Atoll. 

Hurawalhi Island Resort: a naturally-chic adults’ escape where luxury treads lightly, balancing barefoot bliss with enchanting adventures. 

Boutique Retreat 

Kagi Maldives Spa Island: a luxury boutique resort offering a mindful wellness retreat in an inspiring island setting. 

Family-friendly

Meeru Island Resort & Spa: a tranquil paradise of swaying palm trees and white sandy beaches, with a myriad of experiences and activities for families and couples alike.  

Kuredu Island Resort: a top-rated resort with a wide selection of accommodations, sports, dining and entertainment. 

Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa: a popular dive resort located in the South Ari Atoll, renowned for whale shark and manta ray hotspots. 

Veligandu Island Resort & Spa: Asia and the Maldives’ top romantic resort offering the ultimate secluded island retreat. 

Adults only (18+) 

Komandoo Island Resort: the Maldives’ leading adults-only resort ideal for couples, solo travellers, and groups of friends. 

Affordable 

Innahura Maldives Resort: an affordable resort with a fun, laid-back atmosphere perfect for those who are always up for fun and new adventures. 

The quintessential Maldives environment of pristine beaches, crystal clear lagoons, lush vegetation and a thriving coral reef ecosystem, coupled with luxury resorts, are the ingredients of a perfect holiday for many travellers. With environmental issues at the forefront of global concern, more and more people are citing eco-friendliness as a consideration when choosing a resort.

At Crown and Champa Resorts we place high importance on protecting the natural environment for future generations and constantly strive to reduce the impact our resorts have on the environment. As a testament to our sustainable approach, all our resorts have achieved the Travelife Gold Award. Travelife is dedicated to making holidays more sustainable and looks not only at the green choices resorts make but also the work they do with the local community.

The jewel in our sustainability crown is Kudadoo Maldives Private Island by Hurawalhi. Opened in December 2018, it was not only designed and built from sustainable materials, its operations are fully solar-powered. In a country where the sun shines almost every day, it makes environmental sense to harness its power and Hurawalhi Island Resort, Kuredu Island Resort & Spa, Innahura Maldives Resort and Meeru Island Resort & Spa are doing exactly that to meet some of their electricity requirements.

Our desalination and water bottling plants provide each of our resorts with all the water they need, served in re-useable glass bottles, it saves an immense amount of single-use plastic water bottles from entering the environment.

Each department in our resorts plays its part in sustainability: the laundry and housekeeping departments use eco-friendly detergents and re-useable linen bags for laundry collection, with drying taking place naturally. Food and beverage teams source ingredients locally where possible, to support the local community and reduce pollution-related to transporting goods further than necessary – our guests benefit directly from having fresh local produce on the menu. We have teams of gardeners planting trees on our islands and putting their green fingers to use in the greenhouses to grow fruit, vegetables and salad items on site. In the bars, guests will find only environmentally friendly straws when enjoying their drinks.

The marine environment is one of the Maldives’ greatest treasure and regular reef and lagoon clean-ups are organised to help look after the underwater world. Marine Biology Centres located at some of our resorts offer not only education to the rest of our team and guests, they also run sessions for local school children, oversee coral reef regeneration programs and research the populations of manta rays and sea turtles. Worldwide, mantas are listed as a vulnerable species and turtles are endangered, but here in the Maldives, we are very fortunate to have healthy populations of these fascinating marine creatures.

There are many more sustainable practices running through our resorts in the Maldives and they can be found in detail in our Sustainability Report.

If you love the Maldives and love the environment choose a Crown and Champa Resort for your next tropical escape.

Every year on June 5, the world comes together to celebrate World Environment Day. This year, the theme for this special day is #BeatAirPollution, bolstered by a campaign that seeks to ensure everyone has access to clean air. United Nations Environment estimates that 9 out of 10 people across the world breathe polluted air. There are five main human causes of air pollution, namely, household indoor burning of fuels, industries, agriculture, transport and waste.

As Crown & Champa Resorts, our efforts in taking care of the environment are guided by our Sustainability Report. We are studiously committed to carrying out our operations in ways that ensure minimal harm to the environment. In relation to combatting air pollution, we encourage our guests and staff to avoid food wastage. Organic waste such as food and plants emit methane, which contributes to ground-level ozone that causes respiratory diseases. Most importantly, we continue to implement cleaner, alternative sources of energy, such as solar, to reduce our reliance on fuels.

Our other environmentally friendly initiatives include water bottling plants that reduce plastic consumption, greenhouses, desalination systems, food and water recycling facilities and frequent island, reef and lagoon cleaning projects. In most of our properties, we have implemented eco-friendly straws and bottles to reduce the use of single-use plastics. Read more about our sustainability measures here.

Taking care of the environment is a collective effort that is crucial to the survival of the human population. We urge you to also play your part in ensuring that the world is a better place. Simple measures such as cycling to work, serving smaller portions of food and separating your waste, can go a long way in reducing air pollution. Together, we can work towards beating all kinds of pollution across the world.

On May 23, 2019, the world observes World Turtle Day. This is an annual observance that is marked to celebrate and create awareness on the need for the protection of turtles from their disappearing habitats across the world. In the Maldives, the tropical waters are home to many of the seven species of sea turtles. Guests travel from far and wide to explore the sea in search of these wonderful creatures.

Across our properties, there are opportunities to spot sea turtles. Green Sea Turtles can be frequently observed in Kuredu Island Resort & Spa, where there is seagrass aplenty. In neighbouring Komandoo Island Resort & Spa’s house reef, you are likely to eye Green Sea Turtles as well as Hawksbill Sea Turtles. Turtle Reef, a dive site just off Innahura Maldives Resort, is the location where 48 Hawksbill Sea Turtles were spotted in a single dive! In the south, Loggerhead Sea Turtles and Leatherback Turtles have been spotted in the South Ari Atoll waters where Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa is located. Most of our resorts have excursions that allow you to hopefully spot these gentle creatures.

Though turtles have existed more than 100 million years, outliving dinosaurs, they are rapidly disappearing. Sea turtles, in particular face several threats from plastic pollution to the destruction of feeding and nesting sites. Plastic bags can be mistaken for food and when ingested, potentially lead to death by blocking the sea turtle’s intestines.

As part of our Sustainability Plan, we are committed to having a minimal operational impact on the environment within which our resorts operate. This means taking care of the natural environment to ensure that sea turtles and other marine life do not lose their homes. Secondly, we also create awareness throughout our resorts on avoiding plastic pollution and respecting marine life.

Read our sustainability plan here and more about sea turtles here.

Happy World Turtle Day!