This state-of-the-art center will further enhance the resort’s commitment to sustainability and support its ongoing efforts to understand, conserve, and regenerate the natural environment. The launch ceremony for AquaTerra, which took place on April 10, 2023, brought together sustainability, science, and rare experiences.
(MC MosnarCommunications.com Luxury Press Release) – Soneva, the luxurious resort in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll, has unveiled its newest conservation, education, and science facility: AquaTerra. The facility will act as a hub for the resort’s conservation efforts, educate guests on the local ecosystem, and host scientific research through partnerships with universities and visiting scientists.
AquaTerra is also the nerve center for the Soneva Foundation Coral Restoration Program, which aims to restore the coral reef systems around Soneva Fushi and create a coral hub for the Maldives. The project uses Mineral Accretion Technology (MAT) to channel low-voltage electricity through submerged coral tables to speed up their growth rate.
The facility also has a spawning and rearing laboratory to conduct assisted evolution and create heat-resistant super corals, a 3D-Printing laboratory to produce coral substrate, and will soon install a micro-fragmenting laboratory. This laboratory will have 28 outdoor tanks that can produce up to 100,000 corals per year, as well as live streaming cameras with fish recognition software at the coral nursery, to combine with live data from a SmartBuoy.
According to Sonu Shivdasani, co-founder and CEO of Soneva, “At Soneva, we will never stop striving to be more sustainable and continue to pioneer initiatives that protect our natural environment and precious resources.” Shivdasani believes that AquaTerra will not only offer guests a unique experience but will also strengthen Soneva’s own conservation efforts by enabling them to collaborate with scientists from around the world.
In addition to supporting the Coral Restoration Program, AquaTerra will also assist the efforts of Soneva’s Terrestrial Biology team. The team is working on eliminating mosquitoes at Soneva’s Maldivian island resorts using sustainable and environmentally-friendly mosquito management traps. The team is also collaborating with the University of McGill in Canada and the Canadian National Research Institute on a hyperspectral mapping project to tackle the hairy caterpillars on the islands’ Indian almond trees.
Soneva’s commitment to sustainability and conservation extends beyond AquaTerra. The resort’s guests can tour the facility to witness the center’s conservation efforts firsthand, including a behind-the-scenes tour of AquaTerra, guided snorkeling at the house reef, and a tour of Soneva Fushi’s gardens and Eco Centro Waste to Wealth Center. Guests can also adopt a coral table to support the Coral Restoration Program, priced from USD 1,000 per table. Each table is personalized with a carved name tag, and sponsors receive a certificate and an exclusive photo of their coral table.
The launch of AquaTerra marks a new chapter for Soneva in its journey toward sustainability and conservation. For more information about Soneva, visit their website at www.soneva.com.
