nature – Amanda Rushforth

Luxury eco-resort focuses on going green under the sea

Posted on April 21, 2025

Four Seasons Mauritius at Anahita is ensuring a sustainable future with the region’s first seagrass meadow nursery. The first resort in the Indian Ocean to develop such a project, the nursery is located in a one-meter-deep (40 inch) saltwater body near the dining facilities, and is currently hosting more than 200 herbivore and omnivore fish.

Through photosynthesis, seagrasses remove carbon dioxide from the water and use the carbon to build their leaves and roots. Plant material that collects on the low-oxygen sediment on the ocean floor decomposes much slower than on land. Seagrass provides food and shelter for many organisms, and are a nursery ground for many prawn and fish species. All of this increases tourism (through activities like bird watching and scuba diving), the cleaning of coastal waters and sediment stabilisation.

This initiative is part of the Blue Carbon Ecosystems Project: Restoration of Blue Carbon Ecosystems, which is currently led by the Odysseo Foundation, a local trust developing marine conservation projects in Mauritius.

Rick-Ernest Bonnier, the Resort Ocean Environment Manager, explains: “The Seagrass Nursery is a pilot project that aims to restore the seagrass meadows in the marine area around the resort. Both transplants and seeds will be collected from the wild and used to create a seagrass nursery in the resort’s Barachois. Seeds will be germinated in an Odysseo lab and the developed seedlings will then be transplanted to the resort’s Barachois until maturity.”

“These ecosystems provide essential services for humanity as they are highly efficient carbon sinks, crucial in the fight against global warming; they serve as important fish nurseries, whose loss would threaten many species that are vital food sources for marine life and island nations, such as Mauritius.” Bernardo Nascimento, Odysseo Foundation Manager, Curator and Head of Education.

The Seagrass Nursery project is one of many ways that Four Seasons guests can engage with the local environment, alongside resort nature walks and their seahorse snorkel.

Kurulu Bay is a unique private sanctuary in Sri Lanka

Posted on November 11, 2024

Kurulu Bay is a private sanctuary built alongside Koggala Lake in the South of Sri Lanka

Kurulu Bay (Sinhalese for “bird island”) is a private sanctuary built alongside Koggala Lake, one of the island’s largest expanses of water, just slightly in-land, located in the South of Sri Lanka. The lush surroundings of this tropical retreat are filled with loud and lively creatures that hoot and call, and you would forgive yourself for thinking you’d arrived in Sri Lanka’s jungle rather than a water-front resort. Yet the expanse of the calm lake, and the incredible sunsets she offers, ensure Kurulu Bay is as serene and tranquil a destination as you had hoped for.

For my baby moon, switching off was of paramount importance for me. Removing the temptation of busy street markets and the surfing tourists we normally encounter in Sri Lanka, Kurulu Bay made it easy for us to really relax. With only 14 suites and cottages, it felt nicely quiet. Commissioned to Shanghai based, award-winning architects A00, each suite allows for a sense of intimacy with nature.

We enjoyed private yoga sessions set on the terrace of the private residence, with a backdrop of the lake, and even more private spa treatments, with only 1 room for each of us available. The peace and quiet never felt empty, never felt boring. With two swimming pools, and a kitchen that boasts the most delicious sea-to-table homegrown recipes, it’s easy to see why Kurulu Bay’s whole resort is mostly booked out for private health and wellness retreats, with guests visiting from across the world. A long-weekend here (without our children) was honestly the perfect way to reconnect with each other, nature and ourselves.