The idea of conscious and sustainable travel in Maldives starts before your trip begins. It starts on an inspired, committed & individual level, at home, long before the suitcases are packed. Being a responsible tourist in Maldives & seeking a Maldives eco-friendly vacation is just as much about the things you do before you travel, as it is about the actions you take during your tropical vacation. In 2024, it’s critical that tourists pair Maldives bucket list experiences and five-star resorts, with environmentally friendly initiatives, respectful marine interactions and support for local island communities.
Responsible tourism in Maldives
Why do we need to adopt principles of responsible tourism in Maldives? Being the lowest lying nation in the world, at just 2.5m above sea level at the highest point & the average height just over one metre, Maldives faces catastrophic & irreversible consequences of climate change and global warming such as islands being lost to the ocean, even if greenhouse gas emissions are managed to be reduced annually. Naturally tourism means an increase in emissions, wastage, pollution & coral damage, yet economically speaking, tourism is the largest sector in Maldives & contributes the most to the country’s growing economy. It’s vital that the Maldivian government begins to commit to & regulate sustainable travel in Maldives, across the 167 resorts & 775+ guesthouses for a long term & sustainable tourism future. After all, the natural beauty of the Maldives is what entices the 1.7 million tourist arrivals annually. If as many of those arriving tourists adopt responsible tourism practices for a Maldives eco-friendly vacation as possible, the environment & local communities will be far better off.
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How is the Maldivian Government Combating Climate Change in The Maldives?
In 2009, the President of Maldives at the time, President Nasheed held an underwater cabinet meeting, where he signed a commitment to cutting carbon emissions, prior to the UN climate change conference.
In 2015, a daily tourist Green Tax of USD$6 was introduced, initially for tourists staying at resorts, hotels and on cruise ships. The following year in 2016, the concept of Tourism Green Tax was extended to tourists staying on local islands, imposed at a lower rate of USD$3 per person per night. Green Tax is utilised to finance environmental protection and sustainable development projects in the Maldives such as water and sanitation, coastal protection and waste management.
In June 2021, the Maldivian Government announced a ‘Single Use Plastic Phase-out Plan’ that works to towards the phase out of production, importation and consumption of 8 types of single use plastics into the Maldives and promote the use of sustainable alternatives, in the effort to protect human health and the vulnerable marine environment of the country.
In Jan 2022, it was announced that Gan International Airport would become Maldives’ first fully solar-powered green airport. The project’s successful completion will result in 2.1 million litres of diesel saved and a CO2 emission reduction of 5500 tonnes annually.
But it does leave the question is the Maldivian government genuinely doing enough to combat climate change in 2024?
Olive Goidhoo – local island hotel – glass water bottles & reusable drinking straws
TIPS FOR ECO-CONSCIOUS SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL IN MALDIVES:
Taking sustainable travel in Maldives into your own hands, here’s our best tips & insider run down on resorts & hotels to put on your Maldives eco-friendly travel list:
1. Research the hotels & resorts throughly before you book
Does the property have an environmental policy? (it should be on their website or you can email a resort and request this). Has the property been sustainably certified eg by Green Globe, a global leader of sustainability certification. We are proud to name some of our leading certified parter properties: Fushifaru Maldives, Grand Park Kodhipparu, Cinnamon Dhonveli, Cinnamon Ellaidhoo & Milaidhoo. Ayada Maldives is proudly the first ever recipient of the Green Star Diamond Award of the American Academy of Hospitality & Scientists for their commitment to combining first class luxury with sustainability and environmental awareness. It’s also worth considering do these luxury 5 star properties genuinely care about the environment, are they situated on man-made islands and are they for instance just surface level box ticking to strategically market themselves?
Take brand new 5 start property Kuda Vilingili for instance, to name & shame, who are also named as a Green Globe hotel gold partner. The resort only opened in late 2021, but for the three years prior, the developers entirely destroyed what was once considered the most beautiful picnic island in North Male Atoll. 3 years of sand dredging, diesel pollution, coral damage & deforestation of every single palm tree and plant on the island, comes with a heavy cost to the environment, not to mention the world class surf break ‘Chickens’ where resort developers incompetently constructed the resort’s metal sewerage pipes through, which soon became unattached with one large swell and damaged corals and posed siginificant harm to surfers. The arrival jetty is built over the habitat of baby reef sharks and a large break walls constructed without environmental impact plans, whilst ignoring the knowledge & input of local surfers, causing irreversible and unsafe impacts on Chickens surf spot, where surfers from around the globe have travelled to over the past 15 years. Yet Kuda Villingili’s coral propagation & marketing ploys of donations to the local island community of Thulusdhoo make the resort seem like they are doing all the ‘right’ things from a surface level certification perspective… hello Green Globe certification ✔️ and this is just one example, there are a number of other resorts that do this in Maldives sadly.
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2. Select a hotel that implements a range of environmentally sustainable practices in Maldives
Strategically placed signs to re-use your bath towel & to take short showers are no longer enough & are considered minimal practices when it comes to sustainable travel in Maldives. Soneva Resorts are leading the way in terms of setting high standards of sustainability, with an impressive 90% of their generated onsite waste recycled or repurposed, including all glass which is re-created & sold in their insight gallery / boutique. Soneva’s Total Impact Assessment & Total Carbon Footprint & Mitagation Reports can easily be googled and are transparent for prospective and returning guests. Eco-tourism at the heart of policy making & tourism philosophies at Six Senses Laamu. Just by staying at the resort, guests contribute to the resort’s own sustainability fund, which finances marine conservation projects and initiatives for 13 local island communities. Guests are also invited to join on the Sustainability Tour to see the innovative Earth Lab – the resort’s hub for self-sufficiency and zero waste, learn from leading marine scientists at the ‘Maldives Underwater Initiative (MUI) about life underwater and how best to protect it.” The MUI partners with 3 NGOs: The Manta Trust, Blue Marine Foundation and The Olive Ridley Project (more on these organisations below). Six Senses Laamu has the largest Marine Biology team of any resort in Maldives and is the proud recipient of the Gold Award from the World Travel Market Responsible Tourism Awards – for Wildlife and Nature Conservation in 2019. Six Senses Laamu have donated over 93 water purification systems to local island communities & have protected 10 million+ square feet of seagrass for sea turtles.
Resorts like Vakkaru Maldives, Ayada Maldives & Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu offer reverse osmosis on-site drinking water plantations, which Dhigali Maldives have reduced over 10,000 plastic bottles per month, plus have onsite rainwater harvesting plants & grey water irrigation. The switch to solar energy as opposed to diesel generators is growing with more resorts such as Dusit Thani Maldives, Grand Park Kodhipparu, LUX* South Ari Atoll & guesthouses like Aveyla Manta Village investing in this clean renewable technology. Electric buggies, vehicles & bicycles for guests are quite standard across Maldives (resorts – Ayada Maldives, Dusit Thani, LUX* South Ari, Saii Lagoon) Dhigali Maldives uses 90% LED light bulbs which last longer & don’t need to be replace as regularly. Some resorts have incinerator facilities for waste management which, is still not ideal but is a more positive alternative to dumping waste in the ocean or on beaches (it happens in Maldives a lot more than you’d like to know) or burning rubbish piles as per traditional methods of waste management in Maldives. Coco Resorts have a target of zero plastic even in their corporate office, they replace in-villa amentities such as tooth bushes, cotton buds with natural materials and have an organic herb, vegetable & fruit garden. Growing self sufficient fresh produce & sourcing from local islands means not only is it more healthy for the guests, but there is no extravagant import process involved. The majority of items in Maldives are imported here via aircraft or ship, from countries like Dubai, Germany, Australia, Indian, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc & contribute to transportation pollution.
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On a local island level, The Barefoot Eco hotel, Luau Beach Inn & Thari Village Maldives are leading the way in sustainable travel in Maldives, with accommodation constructed from sustainable wooden materials, no plastics policy, drinking water served in glass bottles, plastic free environmentally friendly natural soap bars, and The Barefoot Eco even has recycling stations around the island for guests. Electric buggies and complimentary bicycles are just some initiates guesthouses like Reef Edge & Season Paradise are implementing in addition to their desalinated drinking water lines. Olive Goidhoo are another owned & operated guesthouse with a focus on sustainability – reusable metal drinking straws, plastic free water bottles in-house & and on excursions, refillable bathroom amenities & local staff and excursion guides employed from the island.
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3. Support Local Maldivian Businesses
Part of being a sustainable traveller to Maldives involves supporting local communities & consciously spending your holiday money. Many locals in Maldives have worked hard over the years in tourism jobs eg resorts, dive centres & surf camps, saving money & gaining experience, to eventually start their own tourism centred guesthouses & small businesses such as excursion centres & dive shops, surf shops, water sport centres & cafes etc. The creation of guesthouses also has a flow on effect of an ecosystem of jobs on local islands eg laundry, cleaning, transport, waste disposal etc, that employ local people form the local communities, which in turn, supports local Maldivian families. Supporting local artisans & purchasing from souvenir shops is a great way to support locals & take some memorable souvenirs home with you. Some of our favourites include: Randhaa Surf Shop at Thulusdhoo Island, Island Bazaar & Oevaali Art Shop in Malé.
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Our Indulge Maldives community donated USD$4,000 to local Maldivian communities in 2020 during COVID-19 when international borders to Maldives were closed, to help support struggling families impacted by loss of Tourism.
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4. Donate to organisations & non-for profits
There are some wonderful non-for profits conservation organisations in Maldives that you can support in your sustainable travel efforts. Maldivian Whale Shark Research Centre is a great organisation based at Dhigurah Island, that was established in 2006 & has identified over 8,000 whale sharks & provided the data to establish South Ari Marine Park. On our Indulge Maldives retreats & for our guests staying at Dhigurah Island, we encourage guests to visit or do an online 40 minute presentation and to make a donation to support the organisation’s efforts & conservation initiatives in Maldives. If you sight a whale shark on your Maldives vacation, take a picture of the unique dot pattern & MWSRC team will identify it for you from their database of growing whale sharks. Maldivian Manta Ray Project another let stakeholder in the conservation space in Maldives. MMRP are a project of the UK’s Manta Trust, based at Four Seasons Landa Giraavaru since 2005. With a focus on research, education, and appreciation, MMRP has identified over 4,500 reef mantas in the past 15 years, with 1,800 of those sighted in UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, HANIFARU Bay aka the best place in the Maldives & the world to swim with manta rays, just a stones throw from Dusit Thani Maldives. Save The Beach Maldives conduct walking tours on the green island of Villingili, a neighbouring island of the mainland Malé, where there are no cars or motorbikes. Maldives Coral Institute was formed by previous former President Nasheed that aims to help corals survive in changing climates & prevent irreversible loss.
5. Stay at resorts & hotels that have a strong focus on ocean conservation & restoration:
We’re talking coral propagation & restoration projects eg Saii Lagoon Marine Discovery Centre, Fushifaru Maldives & LUX* South Ari Atoll to name a few. Educational seminars with Marine Biologists are key to conservation efforts in Maldives. Sustainability is at the core values of Six Senses Laamu. Just by staying at the resort, guests contribute to the resort’s own sustainability fund, which finances marine conservation projects and initiatives for 13 local island communities. Guests are encouraged to learn from the leading marine scientists at the ‘Maldives Underwater Initiative’ (MUI) about life underwater and how best to protect it. The MUI partners with 3 NGOs: The Manta Trust, Blue Marine Foundation and The Olive Ridley Project. Six Senses Laamu has the largest Marine Biology team of any resort in Maldives , including their Junior Marine Biology program. Six Senses are the proud recipient of the Gold Award from the World Travel Market Responsible Tourism Awards – for Wildlife and Nature Conservation in 2019. Coco Resorts are proudly home to a sea turtle rehabilitation centre in Baa Atoll.
On a local island level, passionate excursion guides educate their guests on best practices for entering the ocean respectfully eg White Sand Dhigurah Hotel on local island of Dhigurah have their own dive centre Oceanholic Divers, operated by a team of 4 Maldivian brothers & their friends who share their knowledge & experience but also brief their guests on best prices for respectfully swimming with marine animals eg never touch them, keep a safe 1.5m distance, swim to the side, never stand on corals etc.
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6. Pack Environmentally Friendly Products
Always use reef safe sunscreen to prevent damage to corals, environmentally friendly shampoo, conditioners & body wash, facial cleansers free from microbeads that end up being ingested by marine creatures.
7. Leave the Packaging at home
Maldives barely has recycling facilities and most waste is burnt, releasing toxins & pollution into the atmosphere. See Thilafushi Island, also known as ‘Trash Island’ – an entire island dedicated to burning the nation’s waste. If you can remove the package and recycle it in your own country, it not only keeps your suitcase lighter for your travels, but also reduces your vacation environmental footprint & helps you to travel sustainably in Maldives. It’s hard to be complete waste free, but small conscious steps of many tourists add up for the better annually.
8. Think before you eat
Ordering from a la crate menus saves on food waste & packaging waste. If you bring snacks with you, remove the outer layer of packaging before travelling. All tuna in Maldives is sustainably fished using traditional fishing methods of hand-line & pole, fishing nets are restricted & fishing zones implemented around islands. All meats, including some seafood like oysters, Atlantic salmon & are flown in or shipped to Maldives, having larger environmental impacts. We encourage our guests to consume these items in moderation.
The small conscious steps we each take today towards sustainable travel in Maldives, will help reduce our climate footprints & diminish our negative contributions to the planet. Help us prolong, reduce and reverse the impacts of climate change in the Maldives by being an eco-conscious traveller. Adopt responsible tourism principles on your next vacation to Maldives.
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