s part of the Blue Certified article series on sustainable scuba diving and tourism, we aim to highlight leaders in the dive industry. Taveuni Dive Resort,
the first sustainable resort on Taveuni Island in Fiji, was designed using internationally recognized standards for sustainable design, construction, and operations reflecting the unique business practices necessary for a dive resort in a developing country.
“When we began to design our resort, we spent a lot of time trying to understand what values and features were important to us and our guests” says Fred Biebesheimer, the resort’s Sustainability Officer. “Taveuni and the Somosomo Strait are special, and our business thrives on sharing these special places with guests from around the world. Designing and operating our resort in a way consistent with sustainability principles makes sense to us. We also wanted our guests to feel the authenticity of the Taveuni experience.”
Taveuni Dive Resort planned for a solar power system and rooftop-rain harvesting, as well as smart design. Each guest bure is oriented to catch the afternoon breeze coming off the mountains towards to coastline. Fred explains, “Windows in the rear of each bure catch this breeze, and the cooler mountain air sinks below the warmer air in the bure. The warmer air rises into the upper area of each bure and exhausts
out the front of the bure through louvered windows.”
Taveuni Dive Resort also located the resort so that the local village was within walking distance. “It seems like a simple decision, but having our staff be able to walk to work is a big deal, and it ties into the social responsibility aspects of sustainable design,” says Fred. Local dive masters transport guests to the wonders of the Rainbow Reef.
Divers travel to Taveuni to see magnificent biodiversity and the best soft coral diving in the world. So protecting the cherished beauty of the area is critical. This is the key goal of Blue Certified. Blue Certified is an eco-certification focusing on 30 best practices around sustainable diving, tourism, and business. Through the program, dive operators learn and implement the 3 P’s of sustainable business that include profit (economic), planet (environmental), and people (socio-cultural). Developed by Ocean First Institute, in partnership with Sustainable Travel International, Blue Certified provides scuba dive operators with the tools to perform better for themselves, the environment, their community, and their customers.
“For our resort, implementing sustainability practices means looking at each job we do, and try and make it efficient as possible, minimizing our impact on local communities and the environment,” Fred adds.
Join us again next month to read about tips for sustainable diving and tourism as part of Blue Certified’s collaboration with SEVENSEAS Magazine.
With partnerships throughout the dive industry, Blue Certified guides dive shops towards operating at an optimal level in all day-to-day operations and in relation to their biggest stakeholder, the ocean. www.oceanfirstinstitute.org/what-we-do/blue-certified/
Deby Stabler is a responsible tourism consultant for Ocean First Institute. Imagine a vacation that improves the destination you are visiting at www.projectazulverde.com
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December 2016 - Sustainable Travel
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