Creating an environmentally sustainable luxury island destination

Plastic waste is one of the biggest pollutants of beaches and oceans as well as a major threat to marine life. As such, Anantara is proud to have applied a zero-plastic initiative. All single use plastics have been removed from our island and replaced with biodegradable containers, cutlery, cups, straws, and stirrers. We also use refillable dispenser bottles for shampoo and conditioner in our villas. To eliminate plastic water bottles, we produce our own still and sparkling distilled water on site. Guests receive their drinking water in reusable glass bottles, while we also provide our staff with reusable bottles for their drinking water. 

In addition to preserving the existing natural beauty of our island, we also complement it where possible by creating Green Spaces of beautifully tended gardens. 

• The Nala Orchid Garden is home to approximately 1,200 orchids of 25 different varieties. Guests can enjoy a guided tour of the garden with the resident Orchid Guru. 
• The Organic Garden is our on-site vegetable and herb garden. The produce is used as ingredients in drinks and food served at the resort’s food and beverage outlets.

Water management remains an important factor in maintaining the environmental sustainability of Anantara Kihavah Maldives today. 

We have built a plant on the island that converts sea water into fresh potable water through a process of desalination and reverse osmosis.  We have also constructed a 150 lpm sewage treatment plant which converts over 300,000 litres of wastewater per day into effluent that can be safely used to irrigate the island’s flora. Guests can also play their part in our water management efforts as they have the option to reuse their towels to help reduce unnecessary water usage.

Guest can sign up to join the reef cleaning efforts at Elements Dive and Watersports Centre every two weeks. 

Guests are also invited to participate in the Coral Adoption Programme, a long-term project that gives them the opportunity to plant coral in the resort’s reef nursery and, with the help of our friendly Dive Centre team, transplant it onto a rope in the lagoon. Even after our guests leave the resort, they can still follow the growth of their adopted coral through regular photo updates.

Guests can also learn all about the fascinating world of marine life and its preservation through fun and informative Marine Biology Talks presented by our resident marine biologist before experiencing once-in-a-lifetime encounters with a variety of marine creatures in their natural habitat.

Through this initiative, our guests are invited to donate one dollar for each night of their stay or contribute through purchase of Bon Aqua water, which we then match, with all proceeds going towards the protection of marine and coastal environments, environmental education and community welfare. 

Even our beautiful gardens produce waste, but our recycling initiative ensures it is put to good use. Pruned branches and shrubbery cuttings are shredded to produce mulch for the orchid garden and other plants on the resort.
We also convert food waste from all kitchens into usable garden mulch using a composter machine, which can convert 1000 kg of food waste per day.
For anything that can’t be reused on the island, we cooperate with local waste management organisations.

All air-conditioning units in the resort are invertor type, which are more energy efficient than conventional units. Every guest villa also features an EcoGen boiler, which uses waste heat from the AC unit to heat the hot water for the villa.

Meanwhile, the laundry uses an exhaust gas reclaim (EGR) boiler, which uses waste heat from the generators to produce steam for the laundry equipment and to heat water for use in the staff area. Motion sensor lighting is also used in the back-of-house hallways of the staff accommodation to reduce excessive use of unnecessary electricity.

Finally, the resort has installed a solar energy system, which reduces the requirement for general power by 26%, and a 600 kWp Solar PV system is being implemented as an energy source, which helps reduce 15,000 – 18,000 -litre of diesel consumption.

We at Anantara Kihavah Maldives are fully committed to creating an environmentally sustainable luxury island destination, but saving our environment is a responsibility that all of us must share. We invite our guests to educate themselves on issues such as organic gardening, reef protection and marine biology through our tours and presentations. We also encourage our guests to play a more active role in environmental conservation through our regular island cleaning, reef cleaning and coral planting activities.

Contact your Villa Host for more details about how you can get involved in saving our beautiful island for the generations to come.