Breeze_Issue_001_ChildrenOfTheSea

MARINE BIOLOGY
Chiara Fumagalli leads the marine
biology team at Coco Collection
Green turtles can be spotted
while scuba diving throughout the
Maldives
disturbed. There are no lights on the beach so as not to
disorientate the turtles and fences are erected around
the nests, to protect them. Guests are invited to watch
the incredible occurrence when a nest is laid and when
they hatch – an unforgettable holiday memory – but
Chiara ensures that no flash photography is used and
that the guests stay a good distance away.
At Dhuni Kolhu, Chiara often crosses paths
with another breed of turtle; the olive ridley. Largely
oceanic throughout the majority of their lives,
unfortunately this breed comes on the radar
only when it’s in trouble. “For a variety of reasons,
including currents, our location and our dedicated
team, we keep finding a high number of stranded ghost
nets and injured olive ridley turtles,” says Chiara. Ghost
nets, Chiara explains, are abandoned, dumped or lost
fishing nets that drift throughout the ocean, often
clumping together and trapping sea life as they go.
Due to their oceanic habitats, olive ridleys are most at
risk of getting entangled. Although fishing with nets
is illegal in the Maldives, currents bring them to the
islands, all the way from Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan.
“If the turtles are badly injured, it’s often difficult
to find them somewhere to recuperate,” Chiara says.
“There’s only one turtle centre nearby and it’s always
full to capacity.” Local NGO, Olive Ridley Project, was
set up in 2012 to raise awareness of this issue and to
track where the nets are coming from.
With Dhuni Kolhu removing the highest number of
ghost nets in the Maldives, Chiara knew that the resort
could be part of the solution. “I kept thinking that there
had to be something else we could do to help the
turtles of the Maldives,” Chiara explains. With this in
mind, the idea to build a turtle rehabilitation centre in
partnership with the Olive Ridley Project was born.
As soon as the idea came to her, Chiara drew up a
proposal to present to the resort’s senior management.
Turtles of all species are so inherent to the resort’s
unique environmentally aware culture that they
accepted it immediately. Within a few weeks, an
agreement was signed with the NGO; Coco Palm Dhuni
Kolhu would raise funds to build a turtle rehabilitation
centre on site, whilst the Olive Ridley Project would
provide guidance, support and general know-how.
Currently, Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu is raising funds to
build the centre by adding an optional $10 surcharge
to guests’ bills. In addition, they are selling colourful
turtle soft toys, which have been crafted in Sri Lanka
from gorgeous hand-woven fabrics. With the majority
of guests choosing to donate in these ways, the centre
is well on track and building work will commence
before the year is out.
With such extensive conservation efforts
established in all Coco Collection resorts, and with the
exciting prospect of a rehabilitation centre becoming
a reality, Chiara’s belief that tourism holds the key
to conservation is being proved right. With such an
emphasis on nurturing sustainable, caring resorts, Coco
endangered creatures with voice. As such, they are a
part of the very core of these islands.
www.cococollection.com
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