The award-winning Soneva Nature Trip – an annual field trip aimed at educating and creating environmental awareness amongst local Maldivian school children - was recently held for the eleventh time as part of an ongoing collaboration between Soneva Fushi by Six Senses and Eco Care Maldives, a non-governmental non-profit organisation created to care for the local Maldivian environment.
Nearly two hundred students from nine primary schools across the Baa Atoll - the home province of Soneva Fushi which is located about ninety-six miles to the north of the capital Malé - were educated by national and international experts who provided lectures on environmental issues to students.
Each year, the project provides children with an opportunity to learn how to protect and preserve the environment, helping to ensure sustainable development for years to come. The students were given a first-hand opportunity to experience the beauty and peculiarity of mangrove swamps and the natural surrounds of the Maldives, and to enjoy the wild fragrance of the natural fauna and flora grown without human interference.
The theme for the 2009 Soneva Nature Trip was Save the Shark, an important issue concerning the decreasing shark population in the country. Several tasks aimed to increase the awareness of this critical issue through educating participants on good practices and discouraging the sale of shark products. Soneva Fushi and Eco Care Maldives hope the project supports the ongoing lobbying process for a nationwide shark ban in the Maldives. With active collaboration and lobbying by Soneva Fushi and Eco Care, a ban on killing turtles in the Maldives came into effect several years ago
As part of Six Senses’ group-wide Social Environmental Responsibility Fund (SERF), Soneva Fushi recognises the importance of promoting environmental awareness in local communities. Since its inception, Soneva Fushi and Soneva Gili have actively contributed to social and environmental initiatives in surrounding communities and elsewhere in the Maldives and abroad.
