ECOLOGY

A sustainable resort

CONSEQUENCES OF TOURISM

According to the World Tourism Organisation, 2016 comprised 1.2 billion tourists at a global level. This number could reach 1.8 billion by 2030.

Tourism is an ever expanding business that often has very damaging impacts on local environments and cultures (waste production, air pollution, water usage, sprawling urbanization, acculturation phenomenon…).

Bali is a striking example of uncontrolled development. The island was still unspoilt a few years ago and has been a victim of its own success. Sudden mass tourism led to chaotic urbanization and an important part of the island is now scattered with litter.

There is an urge to find ways allowing people to keep exploring the world without damaging its beauty.

FINDING SOLUTIONS

We decided to fight this destructive pattern and build a resort that should become a reference for sustainable tourism.

The spirit of the project is to foster balance and harmony with the natural and cultural environment. We want to show it is possible to offer premium services without falling into the pitfalls of mass consumption.

We chose the island of Sumba because if mass tourism hasn’t reached its shores yet, many signs lead us to believe in its future success.

Our approach is in line with a bigger scale plan called Sumba Iconic Island laid out by local authorities. This plan is meant to make it the first zero carbon emission island in Indonesia by 2025.

POWER AND ELECTRICITY

Our global approach is to reduce our energy needs.

Being very far from the grid, we chose to install solar panels. Our thinking has been on battery supply. Indeed, they are necessary but conventional batteries remain polluting in their manufacture and recycling. We are interested in new generation of batteries : flywheels in concrete invented by Energiestro, a French company that is currently starting their commercialization.

WATER

Water is a key issue on Sumba: the dry season brings many irrigation challenges every year. We intend to develop ways to harvest rain waters and treat grey waters through a phyto-purification process.

By developing these techniques, we hope to find solutions that can be upscaled to the entire island. The absence of an adequate sewer-system on Sumba causes pollution and waste issues. We hope to interest the local population and other resorts in these easy and cheap ways to use the rain and plants that are already present on Sumba.

PERMACULTURE

In order to offer quality meals to our guests and to ensure partial food self-sufficiency of our restaurant, we plan to grow our own organic produce.

Simple techniques such as cultivation mounds, soil-covering or the use of compost will enable us to secure the quality of the crops. This will also give us an opportunity to share and learn from the local peoples, whose livelihood mainly relies on agriculture.

We also plan to collaborate with seed-suppliers in order to select resistant species fitting Sumba’s environment. Hybrid seeds will be banned since these can’t be reproduced and force farmers to regularly source new seeds.

WASTE AND CARBON EMISSIONS

Despite our best efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our activity, transportation will inevitably remain a significant source of pollution. In order to compensate these carbon emissions, we will allocate part of our income to reforestation and corals preservation programs.

On another front, we will try to free ourselves from packaging and as far as possible, to reuse and recycle the waste our activity is going to produce. The use of plastics in general will be limited, plastic bottles will be banned and replaced with reusable glass bottles.A partnership with the local road company will allow us to recycle our plastics in the roads construction on Sumba.

If we want to promote this island, we first and foremost want to protect its beauty and biodiversity.

Biogas

To reduce our electricty needs, we decided to use biogas technology to provide the energy for cooking.

We will install a tank recovering food, agricultural and toilets waste. By fermentation of this waste, we produce usable gas.

A local company is already installing these biodigesters on the island.

Bamboo construction & expertise

In order to build a hotel to match our ambitions, we chose to work with the renowned IBUKU Balinese architectural firm to design the resort. We trust ASALI BALI for the construction phase. Those exceptionals partners makes us benefit from their extraordinary experience in bamboo.

Their achievements, combining luxury and ecology, seem straight out of the most beautiful fairy tales, and will give our project a unique cachet.


CONSEQUENCES OF TOURISM

2016 counted 1.2 billion tourists in the world, and 1.8 billion are expected in 2030. Mass tourism can have devastating impacts on the environment and Indonesia has already suffered from uncontrolled development (for instance in Bali).

There is an urge to find ways allowing people to keep exploring the world without damaging its beauty.


FINDING SOLUTIONS

We want to show it is possible to offer premium services without falling into the pitfalls of mass consumption. Our approach is in line with a bigger scale plan called Sumba Iconic Island laid out by local authorities which aims to make it the first zero carbon emission island in Indonesia by 2025.

  • Power and Electricity: Minimize our need for energy. Installation of solar panels with a new battery generation: flywheels in concrete marketed by Energiestro. Installation of biodigesters to produce gas from the fermentation of green waste and toilets.
  • Water: the dry season brings many irrigation challenges every year. We intend to develop ways to harvest rain waters and treat grey waters through a phyto-purification process
  • Permaculture: to offer quality meals to our guests and ensure partial food self-sufficiency of our restaurant, we plan to grow our own organic produce. Simple techniques such as cultivation mounds, soil-covering or the use of compost will enable us to secure the quality of the crops
  • Waste and Carbon emissions: to compensate carbon emissions caused by transport, we will allocate part of our income to reforestation and corals preservation programs. On another front, we will try to free ourselves from packaging and as far as possible, to reuse and recycle the waste our activity is going to produce


All the solutions that will be tested and implemented in the resort will then be shared with the local population thanks to the NGO Sumba Bisa.


BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION & EXPERTISE

In order to build a hotel to match our ambitions, we chose to work with the renowned IBUKU Balinese architectural firm. We trust ASALI BALI for the construction phase. Those exceptionals partners makes us benefit from their extraordinary experience in bamboo.

Their achievements, combining luxury and ecology, seem straight out of the most beautiful fairy tales, and will give our project a unique cachet.