Sandals Resorts International Celebrates World Oceans Day

~Visitors Can Participate in Programs to Preserve and Protect the Caribbean Sea

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Jun 07, 2021, 14:12 ET

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sandals Resorts International (SRI), the Caribbean's leading hospitality organization and parent company of luxury all-inclusive resort brands Sandals® Resorts and Beaches® Resorts, is making it easy for visitors to celebrate World Oceans Day today and all year long. Through its not-for-profit Sandals Foundation, guests of SRI resorts throughout the Caribbean can help hatch turtles, learn to rebuild dying reefs and curtail invasive marine species.

Sea turtle swimming in the Caribbean Sea

"As guests return to enjoy our beautiful Caribbean, World Oceans Day is a reminder that its beauty and health is our responsibility," says SRI Executive Chairman and The Sandals Foundation Founder and President, Adam Stewart. "Over the next ten years, we [The Sandals Foundation] have promised to develop and implement conservation efforts, engaging more than 100,000 people in educational efforts, planting 30,000 coral fragments and seeing thousands of turtle hatchlings to the sea."

According to Stewart, a sixth-generation Jamaican, preservation of the Caribbean is personal. "The Caribbean is our home and the sea, the center of our lives. Inviting visitors to join in our efforts to preserve and protect all that it offers is a privilege and an opportunity to share why we are so passionate about it and take it very seriously."

Participate in Caribbean Turtle Conservation
From May to December, endangered sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs along Caribbean beaches. With locally based partners such as the Oracabessa Foundation in Jamaica, visitors can take part in the Sandals Foundation and SRI's efforts to reduce the loss of turtle nests due to predators and unfavorable weather conditions and once hatched, help vulnerable baby turtles make their way to the sea.

Last year, SRI and the Sandals Foundation assisted in the release of 18,940 hatchlings. This year, Sandals plans to see anywhere from 16,000 to 23,000 hatchlings venture into the Caribbean Sea, and invites visitors to take part in Island Routes' Turtle Watching Experience, where visitors of Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts in Ocho Rios work with local turtle conservation authorities and help monitor thousands of fresh hatchlings as they journey into the sea.

Rebuilding Reefs
Across the world's oceans and seas, coral reefs, which essential to maintaining biodiversity and standing as a protective coastal barrier, are dying. In the Caribbean, The Sandals Foundation has partnered with CARIBSAVE and Coral Restoration

Foundation International to help build Caribbean coral nurseries and support one of the most valuable preservation methods: coral outplanting.

Guests of any Sandals Resort in St. Lucia can join an introductory course in coral outplanting and learn the science of nurseries during their stay. Once familiarized with the basic skills and knowledge required to successfully propagate corals in underwater nurseries, PADI certified guests can take their new learnings into the sea on a specialized dive to put their new skills to work saving Caribbean coral reefs.

Additionally, coral fragment planting by Sandals team members and guests in St. Lucia has already contributed to the three new nurseries in the Caribbean, each of which will grow up to 2,000 corals per year to be replanted into dying reefs.

Curtail Invasive Lionfish Population
The lionfish population, while strikingly beautiful, is invasive and highly destructive to the biodiversity of Caribbean waters. With no natural predators and the ability to consume marine life twice its size, lionfish destroy coral reefs and prey on more than 70 species of fish. The Sandals Foundation Marine Wardens and Watersports Team, an authorized and highly educated task force, consistently removes invasive species from marine sanctuaries for conservation purposes.

Divers vacationing at Sandals Resorts or Beaches Resorts, can join a special lionfish hunting dive and earn a PADI certification in lionfish removal through an Invasive Species Tracker specialty certification course. Additionally, Sandals Resorts International sponsors lionfish tournaments to reduce populations and increase awareness of consumption. In fact, guests taking part in a lionfish hunt can have their catch transformed by SRI chefs into a specially prepared lionfish dish.

Stewart says that while World Oceans Day happens only once a year, SRI and the Sandals Foundation support ocean sustainability through strategic on land and on sea programming all year long. In fact, through its ongoing partnership with the nonprofit Oceanic Global Foundation, SRI was the first all-inclusive resort company to eliminate single-use plastic straws and stirrers in 2018 and has continued to work with Oceanic Global to eliminate all single use plastics throughout the organization. "Working to preserve and improve the quality, beauty and bounty of our oceans is an imperative that has direct implications for the livelihood of Caribbean people and of course, the visitors who grace our shores. We really all are in this together," said Stewart.

As part of its standard operating procedure, SRI sources goods and services from companies that share their values concerning ethics and environmental and social responsibility. This includes contracting with fishers who are committed to sustainable catch methods and partnering with companies committed to the health of marine ecosystems. On land, the company employs extensive freshwater, waste management and energy conservation programs; has eliminated hazardous substances, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and is focused on community development and educational programs.

For more information about the work of Sandals Resorts International (SRI) and the Sandals Foundation this World Oceans Day, visit: www.sandals.com and www.sandalsfoundation.com

Sandals Resorts International
Sandals Resorts International (SRI) is the parent company of some of travel's most visible brands including Sandals® Resorts, Beaches® Resorts, Grand Pineapple Beach Resort, Fowl Cay Resort and Your Jamaican Villas. Founded in 1981 by the late Gordon "Butch" Stewart, SRI is based in Montego Bay, Jamaica and is responsible for resort development, service standards, skills training and day-to-day operations. For more information, visit Sandals Resorts International.

About The Sandals Foundation
The Sandals Foundation is the non-profit arm of Sandals Resorts International (SRI), the Caribbean's leading family-owned resort company. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization was created to continue and to expand upon the charitable work that Sandals Resorts International has undertaken since its founding in 1981 to play a meaningful role in the lives of the communities where SRI operates throughout the Caribbean. The Sandals Foundation funds projects in three core areas: education, community and the environment. One hundred percent of the monies contributed by the general public to the Sandals Foundation go directly to programs benefiting the Caribbean community. To learn more about the Sandals Foundation, visit online at http://www.sandalsfoundation.org

About Oceanic Global
Oceanic Global Foundation engages new audiences in ocean conservation. The non-profit taps into universal passions to raise awareness for issues impacting our oceans and to provide individual and industry solutions that drive positive change. Oceanic Global takes a uniquely creative approach to conservation, creating immersive experiences that engage local communities, amplify the efforts of synergistic groups, generate measurable impact and ignite global action. In 2018 pioneered a toolkit for industry-specific sustainability solutions entitled The Oceanic Standard. Since its launch, the toolkit has been implemented by over 150 leading organizations and institutions worldwide. For more information, please visit www.oceanic.global.

Contact:
Cathy Decker
The Decker/Royal Agency
[email protected]
www.deckerroyal.com

SOURCE Sandals Resorts International