We held our first-ever quarterly global OutriggerCARES event on March 21/22, 2023. Hosts from around the world donned their OutriggerCARES T-shirts and tackled activities that support ocean conservation in the communities where we live, work and play. Enjoy other events organized to care for our place as well.
Honua Kai Resort & Spa (HKM)
BY BRETT BALLINGER — HKM has sponsored a section of the Lahaina Bypass Highway for more than one year now, and we recently held our quarterly cleaning event this past Saturday, March 4.
We invited hosts from our sister Hawaii Vacation Condos to participate with us and were very happy with the turnout.
We cleaned up and picked up 25 bags of trash, pulled 2 discarded couches out of the bush for pick-up and disposal, 1 automobile floor board and 6 automobile tires.
The gallery was not found!Hawaii Island ‘Ohana
BY KRIS NICKELSEN — The Hawai‘i Island ‘ohana met March 22 at Old Kona Airport State Recreational Area to kick off our OutriggerCARES Global Volunteer Event efforts. It was a time of comradery and teamwork by members of our condo and resort properties. Hosts from Royal Sea Cliff Kona by Outrigger, Fairway Villas Waikoloa by Outrigger and Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa traversed over 2.1 miles of coastline (distance tracking provided by Carol Hanna) keeping the area clean to be enjoyed by all.
Our time together was under sunny skies and soft ocean breezes and is a reminder of how fortunate we are to live in this beautiful place as well as the importance to care for it.
The gallery was not found!Outrigger Corporate
Our Outrigger Corporate team split up and pulled invasive bellyache plants at Diamond Head State Monument and removed invasive species and debris in the surrounding forest and stream at Makiki Valley State Recreation Center.
Forty-eight volunteers cleared .15 acres at Diamond Head and all agreed the work was no joke! But, it was so rewarding to hear the bush roots, snap, crackle and pop as they were pulled from the earth.
At Makiki, Almost 20 pair of hands made for light work. Hosts also learned the history of the place and were led in Aloha ʻāina.
Stepping away from the office and doing something good together was a great bonding experience. Mahalo to the leadership of Pila Hanson and the OutriggerCARES Volunteer Committee in coordinating the first-ever global OutriggerCARES volunteer event!
Diamond Head State Monument
The gallery was not found!Makiki Valley State Recreation Center
The gallery was not found!Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort (FOR)
FOR Plants 2,000 Mangroves to Commemorate International Day of Forests
BY ASHNEEL CHAND — March 21 was marked as the International Day of Forests and as part of our global OutriggerCARES event, FOR planted 2,000 seedlings. This is a continuation of our efforts when we first launched this initiative last year and we plan to continue this work annually. The day’s program was also part of Outrigger’s global environmental program designed to help support ocean conservation. This initiative was driven by Maryanne Shaw, our environmental officer and the Outrigger Fiji vuvale (family) as we continue to grow climate change awareness in the world. FOR also partnered with the Ministry of Forestry to assist in supplying the mangrove seedlings.
Mangrove forests were once generally dismissed as swampy wastelands. Planners, scientists and coastal dwellers have now come to value them as the remarkably diverse and important ecosystems they are. Mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs work as a single system that keeps coastal zones healthy. Mangroves provide an essential habitat for thousands of species. They also stabilize shorelines, prevent erosion and protect the land — and the people who live there — from waves and storms.
Planting mangroves also helps the economy. Mangroves provide ideal breeding grounds for much of the world’s fish, prawns, crabs and other shellfish. Many fish species find shelter among the mangrove roots as juveniles, head out to forage in the seagrass beds as they grow and move into the open ocean as adults. An estimated 75 percent of commercially caught fish spend some time in the mangroves or depend on food webs that can be traced back to these coastal forests.
Planting mangroves gives us a good lesson that if we care for nature, there are many advantages to us and future generations in the long term. Let’s work together to protect our ecosystems and make this world environmentally sustainable.
The gallery was not found!FOR Management Beach Clean Up
BY ASHNEEL CHAND — Thousands of marine animals worldwide have been affected by plastic pollution, including sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals. Therefore, Beach cleanups are vital to mitigate the problems caused by debris in our ocean and the danger that plastic pollution poses to marine life. The cleanup day was organized by our resort Environment Officer Maryanne Shaw together with the activities team on February 27. The management team collected 35kg of waste on the beach.
Guests enjoy our pristine and clear white sandy beaches and our marine life love it too!
Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa (OKR)
BY VICKY AKANA — To kick off OutriggerCARES, Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa (OKR) hosts gathered to clean the historical Keauhou Bay during their 30-minute lunch break.
Keauhou Bay is the birthplace of King Kamehameha III. There is a stone memorial indicating the site of his birth in 1814; he was the longest-reigning monarch in the kingdom of Hawai‘i until his death on December 15, 1854. The area recognizes its rich history with several historic sites and a restored heiau. Keauhou translates to “the new era, ” and OKR is very blessed to be located next to this very special cultural landmark!
Our Keauhou Bay lunchtime cleanup will be the last Friday of every month. We were amazed at how much opala (trash) we collected in just 30 minutes!
The gallery was not found!Outrigger Maldives Maafushivaru Resort (MAM)
BY NUWAN ILANGAKOON — With an aim to spread awareness, on Global Recycling Day, Outrigger Maldives Maafushivaru Resort presented a “Sustainability Awareness Program and local beach-cleaning activity” to ADh.Dhangethi School students as our part of supporting the communities in which we live, work and play.
We had a remarkable opportunity to do the community engagement activity with the students to clean their beautiful sandy beach around the island with the hands of our sustainability committee members and our hosts. Sustainability in schools are a constructive interaction of environmentally driven education and community engagement. To tell “what sustainability is!” only by words is not enough, we should use the knowledge in the practice as well. Besides, the students learn much more by doing practical actions rather than hearing about it.
We are grateful for the wonderful hospitality provided by ADh.Dhangethi school management and having great interactive sessions with their brilliant students.
#OutriggerCARES #TEAMOUTRIGGER
The gallery was not found!Outrigger Resorts Thailand
BY SUKANYA SOMPHAN (Khun Orm) — As part of the OutriggerCARES program initiative of supporting local communities and ocean conservation, Outrigger Resorts Thailand participated in our first quarterly global volunteer event from March 22-23.
The Outrigger Koh Samui and Surin Beach resorts both organized beach clean-ups at their resorts on March 22 with hosts and guests participating. Over 30 bags of rubbish were collected on this very hot day. This was followed by a blood donation activity at our Khao Lak resort, in collaboration with the local community of Bangmung, Khaolak, Phang-nga on March 23. Over 100 volunteers from all resorts joined the local community to help support our commitment to ocean conservation. A very rewarding day for all involved.