19/06/2024
Emma has had a brilliant first day in the Dominican Republic, here she is sharing what she has spend the day doing:
We began the day with a series of presentations from various members of the hotel sustainability team. We heard more about โs 2030 agenda, which covers the circular economy, costal health and responsible consumption of seafood (100% responsible by 2025). The are also targets of zero waste to landfill by 2025 and a net zero target date of 2030. It was great to hear that these targets are on track to be met.
There is a real focus on costal health here, and a unique part of this is the coral laboratory, which can be found on the beach at Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites. We took a tour of the coral lab and met Greg, one of the scientists and researchers who works there.
We learned so much! Unfortunately not everything we learned was positive. The Coral reefs of the Caribbean are currently being lost at an alarming rate, due to 2 main factors. The first being rising sea temperatures, and the second being a disease called stony coral tissue loss disease. This disease has led to localised extinction of some of the oldest living corals in the world. Greg and his team are working so hard to save what they can of the remaining corals, study and propagate them, in the hope that they can find a solution to the issues affecting them and eventually repopulate the reefs.
The coral lab is open to all residents staying at the resort, and I highly recommend a visit if you are staying here.
