Rotana Corporate Sustainability Report 2014

79 Turtle protection Saadiyat Beach Resort Since Rotana hotels started construction on Saadiyat Island, during the turtle nesting season, we collaborated with the contractors and the developers to ensure that we do not disturb the turtles nesting at the project site beach, thereby ensuring the protection and preservation of our natural environment and biodiversity. Protection of endangered fish species, UAE The Cove Rotana Resort is very concerned about the ecology particularly the status of the local fish stock in the UAE. Studies carried out by the UAE government show that many species of fish are being taken out at an unsustainable level. These fishes are hamour, fersh, zuraidi, shaari, qabit, yemah, kanaad and safi arabi. The hotel contributed in the protection of endangered fish species by choosing to buy sustainable fish only, to help lower the demand for the threatened species. The hotel followed and supported the campaign of the EWS-WWF, a national leading environmental NGO. EWS-WWF works at the federal level to conserve biodiversity and promote sustainable living through education and conservation initiatives. Ghaff Tree Planting, UAE The Ghaff tree is native to the UAE and has been recently declared as the UAE’s National Tree. In Bahrain, it is referred to as the ‘Tree of Life’ because of its multi-purpose properties to prevent desertification (desertification is not just an ecological issue but also one of shrinking food and water supplies) and to improve soil. It is also a great survivor against fierce temperatures, strong winds and high rates of water loss. With the contribution of Rotana hotels in Abu Dhabi, 1,000 trees were planted. Oryx Rotana, Qatar Save the mangroves The hotel participated in a cleaning activity held at the mangroves with collaboration of ‘I Love Qatar’ at Al-Khor beach. Everybody played their part to clean up as much as possible and to demonstrate what a caring community can do to help the environment. The hotel colleagues managed to make a difference by sharing more than 110 hours to this activity. The goal was to educate through awareness and hopefully encourage people to think twice before they throw something on the ground. Our targets for 2015 Energy • Reduce energy consumption by 5% baseline 2013 Water • Reduce water consumption by 8% m3 per guest night baseline 2013 Waste • Reduce general waste tonnes generated by 5% baseline 2014 • Increase waste recycling and segregation by Waste recycling increase by 5% baseline 2014 • Waste diversion rate 5 ≥10% • Oil recycled of total oil used to reach 50% Materials • Reduce A4 reams usage by guest by 5% • Reduce Ink cartridges usage reduction by 5% Green building design • Revise Rotana building design standard to integrate green biding design criteria Biodiversity • Evaluate the new projects site and assess its impact on the biodiversity