SERENA BAGS KENYA’S ECO WARRIOR AWARD 2012
The Serena Beach Hotel and Spa was last weekend crowned with EcoTourism Kenya’s Eco Warrior Award for 2012 in recognition of nearly 20 years of dedication towards turtle and butterfly conservation along Shanzu Beach in Mombasa, where the resort is located. At the same function EcoTourism Kenya also granted the Serena Beach a silver rating in regard of significant environmental awareness and for applying green technologies wherever possible.
The resort’s programme towards turtle conservation has been in place since 1993. The overall objective of the scheme has been to provide a safe haven for turtle eggs, and to transfer these eggs to safety while providing incentives to the local fishermen who help in protecting them. To date, the scheme has successfully rescued over 10,000 hatchlings. Local fishermen who participate in harvesting the turtle eggs are paid thus boosting their income and benefitting their families. We also offer turtle conservation lectures to guests, done by a resident naturalist on site.
The Butterfly Farm on the other hand has to date successfully bred 57 species of butterflies to save some of Kenya’s 870 species of butterflies, 35% of which are to be found in the Coastal forests. This project recently drew interest from a team of bloggers from Kenya Bloggers Association, who visited the projects and will be hosting various articles and success stories on their blogs which have international recognition and access worldwide.
In keeping with the continuous need to understand and protect the environment in which it operates, Serena Beach Hotel & Spa offers environmental training toboth staff and the communities around in a bid to create understanding of the importance of environmental responsibility. Besides this, an onsite naturalist – who is based at the resort – provides training to all staff members on environmental policies and practices.
To ensure sustainability of these projects, the resort not only engages in the turtle and butterfly conservation, but has equally employed direct funding into waters conservation, proper waste disposal and a monthly environmental clean- up. The resort is fitted with water meters and the amount of water being drawn from local water sources is measured daily to ensure that our water saving initiative is making a difference. The hotel also has a desalination plant and borehole. Proper waste disposal and management is ensured by sorting waste at the source and recycling of glass and plastics. The food remains are collected by a contracted local pig farmers from a nearby village who also benefit from the compost pit as a source of manure instead of using fertilizers.
No wonder then that EcoTourism Kenya has at last recognized these efforts by the Serena Beach Hotel and Spa with their highest honours. Congratulations to Serena on this occasion and keep up the good work.
