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Whatever the future holds, one thing is certain: there is much to learn and much to do. At a time of immense change – when we are revising what it means to be a global community – Four Seasons Resorts Maldives is marking Earth Day 2020 by announcing a new partnership with the NOW Force for Good Alliance and EarthCheck: a commitment to creating a more conscious, collaborative and Earth-aware travel industry.

“The world has pressed pause and together we are on the cusp of an unprecedented moment of clarity, if we choose to frame it that way,” comments Regional Vice President and General Manager Armando Kraenzlin. “Here in the Maldives, we’ve long been aware of our responsibility to take mindful care of our planet and people. Launching our partnership with EarthCheck and the NOW Force for Good Alliance on the occasion of Earth Day 2020 – celebrated in our Earth Day video – underlines our determination to become even more accountable and transparent in all that we do and encourage the continual improvement that is so needed in the travel industry.”

The past two decades have seen Four Seasons Maldives marine conservation team Marine Savers – based at its two Resorts of Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru – forge some of the region’s most ground-breaking ocean initiatives, including coral propagation, turtle rehabilitation and manta ray research.

These initiatives sit alongside on-site water-bottling plants, Parley-linked plastic recycling programs, solar energy installations, local health and outreach projects, a TVET-accredited Hospitality Apprenticeship Program and support for the Maldives’ last remaining lacquerware craftspeople in an ongoing program that addresses all aspects of environmental, social and cultural sustainability.

And the ripple effects spread outwards from the Resorts’ pristine islands, through moments that change guests’ lives; from days spent researching manta rays to coral reef transplanting, Junior Marine Savers experiences to wildlife monitoring dives.

“Our partnership with NOW and EarthCheck is about how we continue to expand our sustainability efforts in a changed world,” continues Kraenzlin. “With space to reflect suddenly forced upon us, the time is now to choose a different kind of future. Through collaborations like these, there’s a chance for the travel industry to establish a new way of being where sustainability actions are the norm, not simply the ideal.”