These are just a couple of highlights of our comprehensive work on improving coastal health, view the rest in our 2022 Year in Review.
In 2020, we made a commitment to leading responsible tourism in the protection of the ocean. Through our pioneering movement Wave of Change, we at Iberostar are dedicated to the ocean and will tackle its biggest challenges through the strength of tourism and ability of the private sector to accelerate solutions. These actions will lead to a more resilient business and to regenerative destinations for all to enjoy for generations to come.
Our Coastal Health Roadmap, released in the summer of 2022, responds to the Wave of Change commitment: that all ecosystems will be improving in ecological health alongside profitable tourism in the places we operate by 2030. The roadmap establishes clear goals in critical areas of the tourism sector, destinations and the health of the ocean. It sets clear goals, establishes key progress indicators by which we will track success and provides guiding actions. The roadmap will guide our work but also will provide clear guidelines that may help others seeking to build regenerative destinations and resilient businesses.
Mangrove planting
We relaunched our mangrove conservation and restoration program in February 2021, celebrating World Wetlands Day. As part of this celebration, 2,260 red and button mangroves were restored in natural wetlands in front of the Iberostar Dominicana Resort within the Bávaro Complex in the Dominican Republic. The Ministry of the Environment donated these mangroves.
In July of the same year, we signed a projects collaboration agreement (developpp.de) with GIZ to scale and expand the mangrove restoration initiatives to all Iberostar properties and surrounding communities, among other things. As a result of this collaboration, a mangrove nursery was constructed in the Bávaro complex, and by October, Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus had established a mixed mangrove/ornamental nursery. The Bayahibe launching event occurred the same month, with clients and staff planting a symbolic 64 red mangroves within the resort.
A third mangrove nursery was constructed at the Costa Dorada complex in Puerto Plata in April 2022. In celebration of the 52nd Earth Day and 32nd year of Earth Day events, the property hosted a launching event with talks by the Vice-Ministry of Marine Affairs of the Ministry of the Environment and a symbolic mangrove volunteers planting event. By the end of the month, the complex had restored 1,408 red mangroves to a one-ha natural wetland within its property.
An additional 500 red mangroves were donated to the Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus complex, of which 227 have been planted. The Ministry of the Environment also donated 3,776 red mangroves and propagules for the nursery and restoration efforts in Puerto Plata, of which 3,606 are planted. In total, 14,815 mangroves have been donated to Iberostar by the ministry since 2021 and propagated within the three established nurseries (~69% in Bávaro, 28.5% in Puerto Plata, and ~2.5% in Bayahibe). Additionally, Iberostar has planted 12,614 mangroves since the agreement with GIZ was signed.
Hotel Observatory
Together with IMEDEA, we presented a research center belonging to the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) and the Spanish National Research Council: the Hotel-Observatory Project. The initiative will analyze the effects of climate change on the dynamics of the beach Playa de Muro in the north of Mallorca for the first time.
The project combines the most updated technologies for monitoring different parameters, such as sea level, wind and wave direction, wave energy, beach profile, bathymetry and sediment grain size analysis. High-scale resolution modeling tools will analyze and predict which will be the beach’s evolution based on different climate change scenarios.
Planaterra
At the beginning of 2022, the Iberostar Foundation signed a collaboration agreement with Planeterra to generate a model that promotes responsible community tourism at scale and for the all-inclusive hotel sector. This agreement seeks to create opportunities for local communities while protecting the ecosystems of our destinations and enriching our guests’ experiences.
By the end of 2022, we will have two community tourism experiences — one outside the hotel and another integrated within the hotel —with a roadmap to scale the model globally throughout the business.
The project will benefit the neediest rural communities through tourism, specifically the all-inclusive hotel sector. Most of the communities on the route to emblematic tourist attractions benefit very little from the tourists’ expenses and, in practice, are excluded from the markets and the benefits of these income streams.
We invite you to learn more about our accomplishments on improving coastal health in 2022 by accessing our Year in Review.
