Welcome!

Welcome to the home page of El Nido Resorts‘ Environment Department! Here you’ll find news on the environment-related activities we’re doing, features on the flora and fauna that make El Nido and Taytay so awesome, tips on how to shift to a sustainable lifestyle, as well as information on how El Nido Resorts invests in environmental stewardship.

(Please take note that this site is still under construction. As such, the contents are subject to change at any given time. This site’s target official launch date is February 2012.)

MIR Food and Beverage Dept. wins Pa-Berdehan 2011

Miniloc Island Resort’s Food and Beverage Department grabbed the top prize in Pa-Berdehan: The El Nido Resorts Eco Challenge 2011 with their three-part project entitled “Green-Minded Waiters”. MIR F&B Supervisor Leonardo Viaña Jr. received the award and PhP 10,000 cash prize for the department from Ten Knots Development Corp. President Laurent Lamasuta and Asian Conservation Foundation Chairman Leigh Talmage-Perez.

MIR F&B bested entries from Lagen Island Resort (LIR) Engineering, Apulit Island Resort (AIR) F&B, and AIR Housekeeping. In keeping with the 2011 theme of “Green is Gold”, projects were judged on financial cost-benefit analysis (40%), creativity and originality (20%), reproducibility (20%), and environmental impact (20%). The “Green-Minded Waiters” project of MIR F&B consisted of three parts: using fresh buko pandan juice instead of bottled fruit juice concentrate for the welcome drinks, using organic herbs from the Ten Knots Philippines farm for the guests’ tea instead of buying tea bags, and sewing old umbrella covers together to turn them into a reusable bag and replacing the plastic bags used to protect their equipment during transport for outside functions.

MIR F&B Supervisor Leonardo Viaña Jr. (center) receives the award on behalf of the department from TKDC President Laurent Lamasuta (left) and ACF Chairman Leigh Talmage-Perez (right).

The other submitted projects were:

• LIR Engineering – recycling old candles used during private dinner set-ups into new candles
• AIR Housekeeping – using used rice sacks instead of plastic garbage bags for collecting trash from the guest rooms
• AIR F&B – recycling old candles used during private dinner set-ups into new candles for table centerpieces

All projects resulted in the increase or maintenance of the El Nido Resorts standard of service while decreasing environmental impact and operating costs.

Creature Feature: Moorish idol

The Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus) is a distinctive coral reef fish that’s found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the Indo-Pacific. It’s usually seen singly or in pairs and feeds on small encrusting animals like sponges and sea squirts. Moorish idol larvae float in the plankton for 100 days before settling on the reef – a record for reef fish. This is the reason for its wide distribution and distinctive coloring that doesn’t vary between regions.

The Moorish idol is one of the most popular home aquarium fish but it is very hard to keep. Most fish don’t survive the year

Related articles

• The Basic Life Cycle of Reef Fishes (brighthub.com)

Lovebirds Going Steady: Palawan’s Top 10

Valentine’s Day is considered by many as one of the most romantic days of the year as it celebrates love and relationships. Humans from varying cultures like to think of themselves as a faithful species but when it comes to loyalty and fidelity, several animals present better examples of how to maintain a relationship. Although monogamy and lifelong pair bonds are generally rare in the animal kingdom, here’s a list of the lovebirds—REAL birds—that pull it off:

10. There’s no place like home for Pacific swallows! These birds select nesting sites close to where they were born and raised. And not only are they loyal to their hometown, they’re also loyal to their partners!

Pacific swallows (Hirundo tahitica), by Lip Kee

Farmville El Nido: a glimpse into our organic farm and greenhouses

Ever wonder why the greens in your salad are always so fresh and crisp? That’s because the lettuce, herbs, and some of the fruits and vegetables served in the El Nido Resorts buffet come from our organic farm and greenhouses in El Nido town! Our commitment to sustainability includes serving organically grown food and buying locally whenever possible. By operating our organic farm and greenhouses in El Nido, we are able to serve the freshest organically grown salad greens, fruits, and vegetables to our guests, hire more staff from the local community, and cut down on our carbon emissions by not having to transport our produce from Manila. Everybody wins!

The lettuce seeds germinate in the pans before they're transferred to the greenhouse plots.

Creature feature: love vine

Love vine (Cassytha filiformis)

The love vine (Cassytha filiformis) is a greenish to yellow climbing and twining, practically leafless vine that’s a parasite of a variety of coastal flowering plants. It uses small adhesive structures called haustoria to invade the host’s tissues and suck out nutrients and water. It gets its genus name from the Aramaic word kesatha, or “a tangled wisp of hair”. C. filiformis is also known as “devil’s gut”.

The love vine is found on “sandy dunes, margins of evergreen gully and riverine forests, deciduous plateau and coastal woodlands, montane grasslands and dambo margins”, and sandy beaches and lakes, parasitizing mainly on woody plants but also on grasses and herbs. In El Nido, it is most easily seen on Snake Island, parasitizing on the plants growing along the side of the hiking trail (if you’re going up the trail, look down and to the left).

The love vine is used in traditional medicine in China, Indochina, Madagascar and South Africa for a variety of illnesses, including cancer, human birthing issues, gonorrhea, kidney ailments, and African trypanosomiasis. A review of the pharmacological research into the love vine may be found here.

For more information:
Mythili S, Gajalakshmi S, Sathiavelu A, and Sridharan TB. 2011. Pharmacological activities of Cassytha filiformis: a review. Asian Journal of Plant Science and Research 1 (1): 77-83. http://pelagiaresearchlibrary.com/asian-journal-of-plant-science/vol1-iss1/AJPSR-2011-1-1-77-83.pdf

Nelson SC. 2008. Cassytha filiformis. Plant Disease PD-42. Cooperative Extension Service, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/PD-42.pdf

Video: World Responsible Tourism Day 2011

Staff members of Miniloc, Lagen, and Apulit Island Resorts volunteered their off-duty hours to clean up El Nido and Taytay’s beaches and coral reefs for World Responsible Tourism Day 2011. Our staff? They’re awesome.

Produced by:
El Nido Resorts
El Nido and Taytay, Palawan, Philippines

Music:
“Omaha” by Josh Woodward
Used under a Creative Commons-Attribution license

Underwater footage by:
Ram Yoro

Related articles

• El Nido Resorts cleans up for World Responsible Tourism Day 2011 (elnidoenvironment.wordpress.com)

The Earth needs love too! Six ways to a sustainable Valentine’s Day

Photo by Clever Cupcakes (via Flickr)

The day of hearts is upon us again and thousands of Filipinos (and their sweethearts) will be joining in the Valentine’s Day festivities. Chocolate, flowers, and cards will fly off the shelves in the frenzy of gift-giving, while tables at the trendiest restaurants will be booked way in advance. But in the haze caused by the heady romance in the air and the hustle and bustle of finding the perfect gift for your sweetie, we tend to forget to show some love for our mother too – Mother Earth. With only a little time and creativity, you can buy or create beautiful gifts that your significant other and the environment will thank you for.

1. Got something to say? Say it with a handmade card made of recycled materials.

Nothing says “I love you” and “I appreciate you” better than a card made with love, and the Earth will love you too if it’s made of recycled materials. If you’re not the crafty type, shops also sell cards made of recycled paper.

2. Sweeten the deal with locally made chocolate.

Give chocolate with a Filipino twist. Contrary to popular belief, we have homegrown high-end chocolate makers here in the Philippines. They specialize in making chocolates that are decidedly Filipino, such as milk chocolate with organic barako coffee, dark chocolate with chili, and dark chocolate with dried green mangoes and salt.

3. Flatter with organic flowers.

Did you know that 196 million roses were sold in the United States for Valentine’s Day 2011? It’s the #1 holiday for florists, catching 40% of holiday dollar volume. Unfortunately, most of those roses were imported from South America and grown on farms that use fertilizers and pesticides extensively. Filipinos have it easier as most Philippine florists already grow their flowers locally, usually in Baguio, Tagaytay, or Mindanao. To take it another step further, choose locally and organically grown flowers.

Photo by MissMessie (via Flickr)

4. Give stuffed animals with more heart.

Consider giving stuffed animals that do more than gather dust on the shelf. NGOs that focus on environmental issues often sell stuffed animals of their flagship species, with the proceeds going towards their conservation projects. Buy these plush toys instead of the usual ones from department stores.

5. Cooking is caring.

For a more personal and healthier touch, how about staying in and cooking an organic meal together? It’s more quality time together as a couple, you avoid the (worse than usual) traffic that’s sure to surface on this day, and it’s good for your body and the environment. Perhaps you might even have those locally made chocolates for dessert!

6. Spend a day outside. 

This can tie in with #5. Cook your organic food early, pack a basket, and picnic in a nature park or  protected area. Your park entrance fees go towards the protection and maintenance of the park and their environmental education initiatives. There are nature parks within Metro Manila so you have no excuses (yes, we still have green spaces!). For the ultimate romantic and Earth-loving getaway, consider a luxury green hotel within the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area. Activities like snorkeling, diving, windsurfing, kayaking, birdwatching, and hiking maximize your enjoyment of nature’s wonders while minimizing your environmental impact. Their partner airline also offers a carbon offset program, where a minimum donation buys six seedlings that will be planted and taken care of in your name in the Brgy. Villa Libertad watershed area.