A note from Andy Thesen, co-owner of Hermitage Bay in Antigua. This post illustrates how tourism businesses can minimise their impact on the environment.
“Hermitage Bay forms part of an area of hundreds of acres of untouched land. Someone, we know not who, came here a long time ago and named it. As the name suggests it is a place of tranquillity and peace. We embarked on this project with a real sense of the responsibility we had to retain the spirit of the place. This theme runs through everything we do, be it, land clearing by hand in a non-invasive manner, or using sustainably grown timber throughout, thereby minimising the use of construction materials with high embodied energy such as concrete or steel, or using solar energy for water heating. This also continues in the day-to-day, for example, we go out of our way to source locally grown organic fruit and vegetables.
What has been extraordinary for me about this site is how it demands a gentle hand, it demands that man made noises are minimised so that natural noises prevail; the waves on the beach, the breeze in the trees and the chatter of the birds. It is the perfect antidote to modern, hectic life - a true hermitage.
As this suggests we have gone out of our way to minimise the impact the hotel has on the environment. We cleared all the land with machetes and retained as much of the existing vegetation as possible and then planted flowers and shrubs to enhance it. I am interested by birds and was struck by the scarcity of birds in the brush on the hillside when I first visited in 2003. In the last year the number of birds in the vicinity has increased dramatically due to the flowers. We now have many humming birds including the Antillean Crested Hummingbird, bananaquits and flycatchers. We also have a large and healthy mangrove lagoon adjoining the property that has many water birds hidden in the dense foliage. The lagoon covers in excess of 50 acres and is an intriguing eco system of its own. Local fishermen wade in to seek out cockles which we use as ingredients in the kitchen. The lagoon is full of upside down jellyfish which have a symbiotic relationship with the mangrove. the cockle fishermen actually feel with their bare feet to find the cockles but wear two pairs of trousers to try and protect themselves from jelly fish slime that irritates the skin.
In terms of construction we have used wood almost entirely from sustainably managed forests in Guyana. We have used Purpleheart and Greenheart on the floors and decks, crab wood for the doors and windows and walaba shingle on the roofs. There is no steel used in the construction of the rooms and only a small amount of concrete is used for pads on which to attach timber posts. The embodied energy consumed for the construction of the entire hotel is therefore very low. There is also no glass. We used solar energy for water heating and plan to explore solar photovoltaics. We also benefit from a fairly constant breeze and I would like to explore small wind turbines on the back of our hill, out of sight.
We source most of our fruit and vegetables from local suppliers thereby minimising food miles and tend to serve seasonal products in the restaurant. A lot of the products we use are organic. We recycle all kitchen and restaurant waste to a local pig farmer who in turn supplies us with pork.
We have gone out of our way to employ people from the local village and have had a significant impact on the local micro-economy.
Our chef has a great relationship with the sea fishermen who call him when they are coming in with a catch and he meets them at the dock and has first choice of the fresh fish.
We have had turtles hatching out on the beach and staff, including me and my daughter, have attended turtle awareness workshops run by the local environmental Awareness Group. We have subdued lighting throughout the resort which is good for the turtles on the beach but is also great for looking at the night sky. The milky way is very clear at times and there are millions upon millions of stars!
We have fantastic walks and treks near to the hotel because there is very little development around our hotel. You can come across wild orchids on the hills and mango, grapefruit, dums and many more fruit trees.”
To find out more about Hermitage Bay please click here.
