Bawah Reserve, located in Indonesia’s remote and lesser travelled Anambas Islands, was created and developed with an earth-first philosophy, centered around the pristine nature that can be found on this group of six islands, 13 beaches, three lagoons and 100 hectares of forest. As guardians of this natural reserve, sustainability has been at the heart of Bawah Reserve from the very beginning; it took five years to build the phase one of the reserve. In order to preserve the pristine landscape as much as possible, no heavy machinery was used. The buildings were built by hand, using mostly sustainable and renewable materials such as fast-growing, sturdy bamboo. When it came to building the jetty, local divers were employed to safely remove and preserve the coral in the area.
Bawah is the first island in Indonesia to be powered by a renewable microgrid and is certified as a 5-star resort under the Singing Blue WWF programme. The property is part of the Anambas Foundation, created to channel funds back into the local community. As a protected marine reserve, Bawah continues to pioneer earth-friendly practices, and now the property has shared its latest revised sustainability mission.
Tim Hartnoll, the founder of Bawah Reserve says, “Bawah Reserve is committed to providing the best resort experience and services to our guests in a manner that has the least impact on the environment and promotes respect for local people and culture in the Anambas”.
Their pledge is simple:
- Water conservation: Groundwater conservation through cutting-edge, sustainable alternative.
- Recycling: Exemplary waste management at Bawah Reserve and beyond.
- Solar: Innovative, clean solutions for energy provisions to remote island communities.
- Food production: Sustainably growing their own top-quality organic produce.
- Community employment: Sourcing, training and promoting local talent for community upliftment.
- Forest conservation: Protecting their most valuable natural assets, both marine and land-based.
ANAMBAS FOUNDATION
Established in 2018, the Anambas Foundation is an Indonesian non-profit organization that aims to continuously improve ecosystems in the Anambas region, both marine and land-based, as well as sustainably and positively uplift local community welfare. The Anambas Foundation focuses on three main pillars: ABOVE – Forest Conservation, BELOW – Marine Conservation and BEYOND – Community Development. Under the BEYOND pillar, the Foundation has four core programs that aim to empower the local communities of Anambas: Integrated Waste Management (IWM), Women’s Empowerment, Digital English Club (DEC) and Organic Farming.
KEEPING IT LOCAL
Bawah Reserve is committed to elevating the welfare of the Anambas people. Local labour was used to build the Reserve and 23% of the employees today come from the Anambas Islands, whilst 98% of their overall employees come from Indonesia. Bawah pride themselves on sourcing locally as much as possible. The beautiful interiors showcase recycled materials from the islands with the resourceful and talented team carefully crafting lights from fishing nets and tables from fallen trees. When it comes to the gastronomic experiences, the property’s own permaculture vegetable and herb gardens supply around 40% of the restaurant’s produce. Additional fresh supplies, including fish, come from neighbouring islands in the Anambas Archipelago. This eco-conscious and committed choice to source locally supports the circular economy around Bawah.
WATER
Bawah Reserve is committed to conserving natural groundwater by utilising water from other sources – including capturing rainwater, and desalinating seawater through reverse osmosis. A sophisticated seawater treatment plant employs multi- stage filtration technology. Reverse-osmosis is a simple and straightforward water filtration process where dissolved inorganic solids (such as salts) are removed from a solution (such as seawater). This is achieved by pushing the water under pressure through a semipermeable membrane. Drinking water is created using a secondary filtration process from Nordaq FRESH – a patented filtration system. All water is served in glass bottles – no plastic bottles are used. Water for bathing is heated by solar energy. Waste water is stored, treated, and then used to flush toilets.
WASTE RECYCLING
The Reserve has an on-site waste management centre that sorts and recycles waste. Paper is mulched; food waste is composted; and glass is crushed and used in the water filtering process. Bawah Reserve also assists a neighbouring village with addressing its solid waste problem. In collaboration with the Anambas Foundation, the hotel is also helping to raise awareness and improve waste management infrastructure at a village level. Plastic waste is also collected from the surrounding villages to reduce and eventually stop any plastic waste from entering the ocean.
THE ELEGANTLY ECO-FRIENDLY POWER SOLUTION: SOLAR ENERGY
Bawah has taken the exciting step of installing Swimsol’s innovative and patented SolarSea system, uniquely designed to withstand the harsh conditions of waves, storms and saltwater. The state-of-the-art setup comprises 18 floating solar platforms, enough to provide the majority of the Reserve’s total energy needs. This innovative power solution has immediately reduced Bawah’s reliance on fuel, to the tune of 468 litres of diesel per day – enough to drive around the world 52 times – significantly cutting their CO2 emissions.
CONSERVATION
Due to the official marine conservation status of the Reserve, fishing, anchoring and collection of any marine life is forbidden. Turtles found in fishing nets or in dangerous situations are rescued and released back into the ocean. An ‘ECOmmittee’ meets monthly to create green initiatives: making eco bamboo bins; organising weekly beach clean-ups; and engaging in turtle conservation are just some of the many projects to come from this. To positively contribute to the local community, Bawah Reserve is continually committed to providing employment, economic opportunities, and sustainable eco-awareness education by identifying with the local culture, fostering strong local community relationships, and holding a deep respect for local traditions and customs.
SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION
At Bawah Reserve, sea turtle sightings are becoming a daily occurrence, and thanks to the efforts of the Anambas Foundation more and more turtles are being safely hatched and released through the turtle conservation programme. With two resident marine biologists working at the Reserve, the team have been able to give nature a helping hand. Each season, the staff members at Bawah collect from 60 to 100 eggs from the surrounding beaches and keep them safe for 12 weeks in specially constructed nests. Once hatched, Bawah invites guest to release the hatchlings back into the ocean. The sea turtle nesting season runs from March to September each year, and the hatching season starts around April.
