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Community
The hotel invests in the local community through several ways. The guests are encouraged to participate in several excursions that directly promote the local economy. The visits can help protect the environment, traditions and cultures-the things that make travellers visit special. These can further improve the well-being of local families, spreading the benefit from visitors to those who need it most. Most importantly it can help ensure that Watamu is a great place to visit for generations to come.
We have a special relationship with the community and have a history of supporting local conservation projects. We have a dedicated community and conservation office which helps guests identify which projects to engage in. The office is funded by profits made from the hotel, especially the Excursions office, which is why Excursions, Community and Conservation fall under one department.
Below is an outline of the eco tourism projects and excursions promoted by the hotel. Giving out Pens and other Gifts. Most schools lack such essential items and any donations have been received well.
Sponsoring Children: The hotel runs well organized bursaries where guests can get involved by giving regular donations.
Working for the Children of Watamu: This is Registered Charity was founded by our guests. We have been proud to support this charity since it started Over the past 8 years much progress has been made through hard work and dedication. 3 schools have been built that now educate around 700 children. A library has been opened that houses 15,000 books and a computer room with 25 machines. An orphanage with a capacity of 100 children has also been opened. Participated.
Kupenda for the Children: This is an organization Helping children with special needs in Gede Small Home and other units in Malindi District. Turtle are proud to have been given the opportunity to support Timboni Community Dispensary. Some guests have been funding the construction of a community clinic in the nearby village of Timboni. We are now fund raising for the construction of a maternity wing.
Mzizima Primary School: Mzizima Primary School near Mida, on the Mombasa Road has been supported by our guests who have built eight classrooms, an office and water reservoir. The school has been registered as a government school and can offer free education to the local children. However only a few teachers have been supplied, so any donations to contribute to the volunteering teachers’ allowances salaries would be gratefully accepted. Some of the teachers are currently totally unpaid.
Paperchase Trust: We are working in conjunction with Paperchase Trust to help with health and education issues. They support the Kirepwe Island Community in Mida Creek, Malindi District Health Department and Dongokundu Primary School. They also set up an Ambulance for Watamu and a Mobile Clinic.
Environment
The resort has been involved in several conservation practices. Others done individually while others are in partnership with other like minded organizations. Besides it is the policy of the club to comply with all environmental laws and to manage all phases of its business in a manner that minimizes the impact of its operations on the environment. In regard to this, the hotel employs responsible waste management as stated in the various regulations while others are voluntary actions.
Water/Energy: We practice prudent use of the limited natural resources, which include energy and water resources. We are guided by our well-defined Eco-Policy, which acts as a guideline to implementation of good practice within the hotel in regard to electricity, water, gas and use of other energy.
Efficient energy and water use is one of the areas that we have been very keen on within our premises. From time to time we review our energy and water management strategies due to the realization of their potential in environmental protection and reduction of operational costs. We ensure use of motion sensor bulbs, energy saving bulbs, timer switches on our water heaters and use of solar energy in some parts of our premises.
We continuously monitor our water and electricity usage on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. All the records are kept well and graphs for various consumption are used to study our consumption trends and also for comparison purposes. For three four consecutive years, our effort in encouraging efficient and sustainable use of energy has earned us the Energy Management Awards in the service sector managed by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers.
The most recent and on going project has been the Watamu Waste Management Project. The objective of the project is to create clean and safe beaches and villages for improved tourism. Several activities have been planned ranging from beach clean ups, plastic waste recycling and community education and awareness rising through seminars, workshops and information materials. The projects is now employing up to 40 local youths on part time and is expected to be self sustaining with the waste recycling business.
Watamu Turtle Watch: The bay is a nesting site for three species of turtle, all of which are endangered. To conserve these wonderful creatures, we are helping local conservation organisation Watamu Turtle Watch, who undertake education, research, community development and practical conservation to protect turtles. Our guests can sponsor a turtle or a nest at the Bay through the community office. Guest also has a unique opportunity to watch for nest hatchings and turtle releases.
Local Bird watching trips &Guided forest walks: These visits are very important in helping the local communities understand the intrinsic value of such resources. The money raised from such excursions are channelled back to the communities managing such sites. As a result the communities have made commitments to safeguard such sites for tourism purposes.
The Arabuko Sokoke Schools and Eco-Tourism Scheme (ASSETS) ASSETS is a program that channels benefits from ecotourism directly into education of poor bright children while at the same time conserving some of Africa’s most precious and rare habitat in Arabuko Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek. It is run by A Rocha Kenya and supported by us (Turtle Bay Beach Club). ASSETS beneficiaries not only received financial support for their education, but are also got involved in environmental education and practical nature conservation activities, such as tree planting and reporting illegal activities within the forest. We have raised funds for this project through our guests’ donations and also direct cash donations from us. The project has 242 students in school and 77 students have graduated.
Bio-Ken Snake Farm. Bio-Ken is a research center dealing with reptiles especially snakes. It houses the largest snake collection in East Africa and is open to the public. It offers free “remove a snake” service for the people of Watamu and the surrounding area. Any snakes removed from a property are returned to the wild or taken back to the farm for study. We support their work by giving conference facility for snake shows at our hotel where they get to publicize their conservation work to our guests and staff. On the other hand we also market the farm as an excursion activity where guests would visit the farm at a cost. All these funds help them in carrying out their activities.
Beach Clean Ups: One of our individual conservation initiatives is weekly beach clean-ups on every Saturday. We regularly collect beach debris. This program uniquely involves local communities, schools, hotels, conservation organizations and our guests. Waste such as flip flop and plastic collected from the beach are recycled or used to make items for sale.
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