Bouteco exists to spotlight stories of true sustainability. One of our favourite parts of working with change-making hotels as communications consultants and strategists, is creating A to Z glossaries of their eco activism. Here are some highlights of the wonderful work of Soneva, a superstar of our Bouteco Loves collection of the world’s leading sustainable luxury escapes. Our first client for whom we created a dazzling dictionary and eco encyclopaedia was Salt in Mauritius way back in 2017.

And please note, dear world of cutters and pasters, these lovingly-crafted words are all copyright Bouteco and Soneva. We think deeply about all things eco and invest lots of time in expressing it in as interesting a way as we can.

A is for…

AIR QUALITY The sand is pristine and the sea clear as gin, yet the air quality in remote tropical destinations can be somewhat murky. One of the biggest factors is open burning, a practice from Soneva which means they have managed to eradicate from three neighbouring Maldivian islands through their Eco Centro waste disposal centres. See also OPEN BURNING, NAPPIES and WASTE.

B is for…

BIODIVERSITY This single word describes the mind-boggling complexity of life on Earth and the wealth of species each with their own role—and the ways in which it’s being compromised. In the natural world, every ecosystem is perfectly balanced and works in harmony to contribute to our planet's health but human activities like pollution, exploitation and the introduction of invasive species are throwing it off-kilter. At Soneva, they work hard to preserve and cultivate biodiversity through a range of schemes including our Soneva Forest Reforestation Project, which saw them plant 500,000 trees in Northern Thailand. See also HORNBILLS and ZERO MOSQUITO PROJECT.

C is for…

CIRCULAR ECONOMY A closed-loop economy that limits waste and is based on an ethical supply chain. Rather than buying goods, using them and then disposing of them, products and materials are kept in use and natural systems regenerated. Each Soneva resort has its own Eco Centro Waste-To-Wealth facility, recycling 90% of solid waste through an innovative management strategy. One example is giving glass bottles a new lease of life by transforming them into works of art in their Glass Studio. See also OPEN BURNING and WASTE.

E is for…

ECO CENTRO A vital part of our Soneva Namoona strategy to change the way waste is handled in the Maldives, Soneva opened a radical management facility on Maalhos in 2020, with Dharavandhoo and Kihaadhoo hot on its heels. The centres revolve around our Waste-To-Wealth initiative—essentially demonstrating that old adage about one man’s trash being another’s treasure. Styrofoam is alchemised into bricks for Soneva villas, food matter becomes compost for the herb gardens, cans are compacted and sent overseas for recycling and glass bottles are either refilled with Soneva Water or melted down and reimagined as art by our in house glassblower. They currently recycle 90% of our solid waste and want this figure to be 100% by 2030.

H is for…

HORNBILLS ­Once endangered, they’ve worked hard to boost the population of these Oriental pied hornbills in Thailand. As part of the Soneva Foundation, they’re on a mission to reintroduce them to Koh Kood, Soneva Kiri’s home island. These regal birds play an important role in forest ecosystems, using their eponymous beak to disperse seeds and pollinate plants. They’re working with experts to bring breeding pairs to Koh Kood, where they’ll spend the first few months in an enclosure as they adapt to their new location. The next step is releasing them into the wild to fall in love with their new home — and each other.

N is for…

NAMOONA BAA Namoona means ‘something exemplary’, an ideal, in the Dhivehi language of the Maldives, and they’re working with the government to roll out their Soneva Namoona initiative — including their Eco Centro Waste-To-Wealth management centres — across all 13 inhabited islands in the Baa Atoll. After that, our sites are set on the whole nation. And after that? Who knows…


NAPPIES Did you know the average baby gets through 4,000 nappies before they’re potty trained? And it’s estimated that each one takes around 500 years to decompose in landfill. However, due to the lack of land in the Maldives, they’re mostly burned, spewing toxic gases like dioxins, furans and mercury into the atmosphere. Nice. As part of our Namoona Baa initiative, Soneva worked with the council on Kihaadhoo and Maalhos to educate local mothers about the problem, as well as supplying them with washable fabric nappies at cost price. After a 14-day reusable nappy trial on Kihaadhoo, 26 families with babies decided to make the swap. That’s preventing around 4,680 nappies from ending up on bonfires every month.

O is for…

OPEN BURNING Half a billion tonnes (24%) of all municipal solid waste generated on Earth is not collected at all and a further 27% is mismanaged following collection. In practice, this often means being piled up and burnt, releasing toxic fumes that are as dangerous for people as they are the planet. They’ve responded by opening Eco Centro centres on three islands in the Baa Atoll which separate waste fragments, crush them and send them overseas for recycling. They’ve been so effective, all three islands have banned open burning. Now that’s what we call a result.

W is for…

WASTE In a nation with few municipal waste facilities and huge pressure on limited land, the sea has traditionally been used as a dumping ground. Soneva’s solution? Soneva Namoona, which provides funding, expertise and coordination for a waste management system that cleans up local islands and demonstrates that single-use plastics can be phased out of the Maldives. They’ve long since banned single-use plastic throughout their resorts and are proud to recycle 90% of their solid waste in their Eco Centre centres. Here, tonnes of steel and aluminium cans and cardboard are compacted, with some being sent overseas for recycling and others being reimagined as part of their Waste-To-Wealth initiative.

Z is for…

ZERO MOSQUITO PROJECT We’re all for telling those pesky mosquitoes to buzz off but we don’t support the use of chemical insecticides because they’re untargeted, meaning they wreak havoc on any living thing in their path. Instead, Soneva Fushi’s Integrated Pest Control manager, Akib Jahir, uses eco-friendly Biogents mosquito traps that are just as effective without resorting to harmful chemicals. To date, the mosquito population on Soneva Fushi has dropped by 98%.