Amilla Maldives, the award-winning private island resort, has garnered its fourth consecutive Silver certification from EarthCheck, cementing its position as a leader in sustainable hospitality. Additionally, the resort has been included in the prestigious Forbes Travel Guide’s VERIFIED Responsible Hospitality 2025 program, one of only five Maldivian resorts to achieve this recognition.
The Forbes Travel Guide’s VERIFIED Responsible Hospitality 2025 program, designed in collaboration with renowned hotelier and sustainability pioneer Hervé Houdré, provides a clearly defined set of best practices to protect the environment and support the wellbeing of employees, guests, and the local community. This comprehensive program covers areas such as food and water waste management, sustainable amenities, recycling, energy usage, health security, and integration with the local culture.
Operating with Nature at the Core
In 2024, Amilla Maldives further demonstrated its commitment to sustainability by introducing refillable, PCR-packaged, vegan-friendly luxury amenities from Swedish brand 16-69 and Dutch social enterprise Marie-Stella Maris. Additionally, the resort provided reusable silicone Rolla Bottles for guests to use during and beyond their stay.
Amilla Maldives also partnered with the local NGO Atoll Marine Centre (AMC) to support its coral restoration projects and gather vital data on turtles, mantas, and sharks. The resort actively invites guests to participate in coral planting excursions with the resort’s Marine Biologist and adopt a coral frame to receive monthly updates on its progress.
A Foray into Conservation and Optimizing Available Resources
Most recently, Amilla Maldives collaborated with the University of Auckland to contribute to the conservation of white-tailed tropicbirds. As part of this initiative, the resort team successfully GPS-tagged 13 birds and ringed 17 others, allowing researchers to monitor feeding patterns and track individual bird behavior and migratory patterns.
Amilla’s dedication to sustainability also extends to its culinary experiences. Through the Homegrown@Amilla and Homemade@Amilla initiatives, the resort cultivates fresh produce such as herbs, vegetables, and mushrooms in its organic gardens, and also handcrafts a variety of products, including yoghurts, jams, pickles, sauces, probiotic sodas, tonics, and plant-based milks. In 2024, the resort reported a 48.17% year-on-year reduction in overall food waste and a 37.5% decrease in food waste per person.
Furthermore, Amilla Maldives has made significant strides in reducing paper use, with the amount of paper used for printing reduced from 2,289 reams in 2023 to 1,505 reams in 2024, thanks to the deployment of digital solutions.
Community engagement is also a vital part of Amilla Maldives’ ethos, with the resort committed to conducting a minimum of one community activity each month. In 2024, these included a clean-up of Kihaadho Beach and reef, showcasing local artisanal businesses, inviting three local schools to sessions at the Amilla Football Academy, and donating 1,740 palm trees to the Maldivian islands of Kihadhoo and Maalhos.
