BANYAN Tree Bintan and Angsana Bintan are charging forward into 2012 with several key initiatives to support the overarching corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts of Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts.
Formed in 2007, the Bintan Conservation Lab acts as a platform for Banyan Tree Bintan and Angsana Bintan to drive CSR initiatives among local communities, raising international awareness and increased preservation efforts of the natural environment in Bintan. Much of the work is achieved through joint collaborations with valued partners such as key scientists and researchers from various tertiary institutions and zoological parks.
In 2012, the Bintan Conservation Lab, located near the beach at Angsana Bintan, will continue to engage with students from local universities in Java to further the facility’s mission as a research base for the marine ecosystem, terrestrial ecosystem and organic agriculture. This year, the team will begin a new collaboration with Raja Ali Haji University, a new university in Bintan, to support and develop their students in the fields of marine and environmental research.
Laguna Bintan, the integrated resort comprising Banyan Tree Bintan, Angsana Bintan and Laguna Bintan Golf Club, will also continue to engage with the community using various channels. This year, Laguna Bintan will continue its partnership with Bintan Resorts Cakrawala (BRC), the owning company of Bintan Resorts, for their yearly event, “Hari Kasih Sayang”. Translated into “Affection Day” in English, over one hundred students from Bintan will make an excursion to the resorts with the objective of increasing their familiarity with the hospitality industry and planting the seed for potentially considering a career with this focus.
The visit is capped by a site inspection of the Bintan Conservation Lab where Henry Singer, the lab’s Environment Naturalist, leads a presentation on the various initiatives he oversees to protect the natural environment in Bintan.
Other projects include Banyan Tree Group’s Seedlings programme, begun in 2007 to enhance the long term prosperity of communities by building the capacities of young people. Laguna Bintan has mentored 14 students from disadvantaged backgrounds since the programme’s debut and in 2012, is planning to recruit four more students to the programme, offering opportunities to fulfill their potential through mentorship, scholarships and internships.
Banyan Tree Bintan and its sister resort Angsana Bintan are likewise committed to their natural environment through Banyan Tree’s Greening Communities initiative aimed at raising awareness about climate change. They have planted a combined total of 24,332 trees thus far, and in 2011 alone, planted 6,020 trees by end October 2011, exceeding their annual target of 4,000 trees.
On January 8 this year, Laguna Bintan planted 2,000 mangrove saplings which involved more than 120 associates from various departments. The participants include 50 students from Raja Ali Haji University, the head of the environmental agency in Tanjung Pinang (a major town in Bintan), hotel associates including management and guests from the two resorts.
Every year during the monsoon season from March to August, sea turtles lay eggs on Tanjung Said Beach, where Angsana Bintan is located. Doing its part to increase the population of the endangered sea turtle population, the Bintan Conservation Lab relocates the eggs to keep them safe from predators such as monitor lizards.