Melia Bali Resort collaborates with conservation foundation to help restore coral reefs

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Melia Bali Resort collaborates with conservation foundation to help restore coral reefs

July 8, 2022

Education / Environment / Hospitality / Tourism /

Through a hands-on collaboration with local non-profit, Nusa Dua Reef Foundation, Meliá Bali, an oceanfront resort situated along some of Bali’s most idyllic coastline, aims to ensure visitors can enjoy the sea for years to come.

The resort is taking an active role in Bali’s coral reef recovery effort, and inviting guests to do the same. Through the joint project Meliá staff have undergone training on how to establish and protect coral, have learned how coral is grown, and have started to plant coral on a nearby reef, just ten minutes from the property.

Guests can show support for the initiative by purchasing coral through the resort, which will be used by Meliá Bali on their reef project. For each coral purchase, the guest will receive a certificate acknowledging their contribution. Upon special request the resort is able to arrange coral plantation activities for 10 or more participants, who would like to plant the coral themselves and learn about local marine life.

According to the Nusa Dua Reef Foundation in 2016 more than half of the coral reefs of Nusa Dua suffered from coral bleaching, where coral under stress turns completely white and becomes susceptible to a heightened risk of death. The foundation has been working to protect reefs around Bali since 2010 with the creation of artificial reefs and transplantation.

Meliá Bali started working together with Nusa Dua Reef Foundation to plant corals in March this year, and have so far planted three pieces of coral, ranging in size. The resort will support the reef’s expansion by adding two corals each month. So far the Nusa Dua Reef foundation has placed 62 artificial reef sculptures and 117 artificial reef structures at six locations underwater off Nusa Dua and Tanjung Benoa beaches.

Protecting the environment is an essential pillar of the growing global hotel group, Meliá Hotels International. The company was recently named the second most sustainable hotel company in the world in S&P Global’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), the world’ most comprehensive sustainability assessment, which ranks more than 10,000 companies across all industries. In 2019 and 2020, Meliá ranked first in the global hotel industry, and in 2021 maintained its leadership in Europe and Spain.