Anyone who has been to Komandoo Maldives will know what an astoundingly beautiful island it is, with lush vegetation, pristine beaches and a coral reef abundant with marine life. As the global community comes together in June to mark two very important days for the environment, we reflect and appreciate all that we have while at the same time remain ever mindful of the need to protect, preserve and restore nature in any way we can. World Environment Day is celebrated on 5th June and World Oceans Day on 8th June and in 2021 they shine a spotlight on ecosystem restoration and the importance of healthy oceans for life and livelihoods.

In the Maldives where 99% of the territory is ocean, environmental concerns and the ocean go hand in hand, one cannot be separated from the other. Ecosystem preservation and restoration is an ongoing part of life here, the island on which our resort is built has 85% of it remaining as nature – well above the amount required by law. We have a specialised team of landscapers and gardeners who have, since the opening of the resort, improved the density of the vegetation by 30%. Our tree planting project has seen more than 2,000 trees of various local types planted around the island, often with help from our guests – everyone gets involved. Underwater the dive and snorkel team are constantly monitoring the reefs and always brief our guests on sustainable practices while in the water. Our dedicated snorkel channels allow entry to the reef without and harm to the delicate corals. Clean-ups on land and in the ocean take place regularly to keep these magnificent ecosystems healthy.

The underwater world is what draws many people to the Maldives and that alone provides a livelihood to a huge number of individuals and communities – from the guys operating the compressors to the dhoni captains, from the dive instructors to waiters in the restaurants serving the guests who visit for diving and snorkelling; the tourism industry as a whole owes its livelihood to the ocean. The livelihoods of local fishermen depend on the abundance of fish in the Maldivian waters. At Komandoo we support the local community by purchasing the ﬁsh locally from the ﬁshermen themselves. This cuts out the middlemen, and the ﬁshermen are given the market price for their product. All our ﬁsh comes from ﬁshing boats from our neighboring islands, and are ﬁshed using pole and line, which is one of the most sustainable ﬁshing methods, we hope you enjoy the delicious dishes created from it by our culinary team.

Komandoo’s Green Club is constantly striving to ﬁnd greener, better, more responsible and sustainable solutions and methods to implement in our daily operations and we look forward to sharing new projects with you, in the meantime, you can read more about Komandoo’s sustainablity efforts here.