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Green Globe is the worldwide benchmarking, certification and performance improvement system assisting the travel and tourism industry to attain sustainability and respond to the major environmental problems facing the planet, including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management.
Areas covered in the Green Globe 21 certification process are corporate social responsibility, conservation, and environment and energy (reuse, reduce and recycle).
Of the 57 Green Globe-certified hotels in the Caribbean area, seven are in Aruba:
Other resorts have implemented their own internal environmental management systems. Atlantis Submarines recently became the first attraction in Aruba to be certified by Green Globe.
Aruba hosted the first “Green” CHA (Caribbean Hotel Association) Marketplace in 2007, an important annual trade event, with such environmental initiatives as recycling bins, emphasis on digital file storage rather than paper, use of carton cups and water refilling stations, and landscaping with local plants and herbs.
The island’s First National Congress for the Preservation of Aruban Wildlife (Wild Aruba) took place in August 2008, attended by biologists, teachers, zoo professionals and naturalists form the Dutch Caribbean, Venezuela and the United States.
Key recommendations were:
- Institution of an Environmental Management Authority to formulate an integrated policy towards nature conservation
- Establishment of a Marine Park and legislation to protect nature
- Researching species habitat and distribution of such animals as the sea turtle (turtuga), burrowing owl (shoco), rattlesnake (cascabel), donkey, nectar-feeding bat)
- National awareness campaigns banning irresponsible driving on land and sea areas, cleaning the air and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Mangroves, cacti, coral reefs, aloe vera plants, and trees such as divi-divi, kwihi and kibrahacha must be protected.
- Recycling of carton, paper, newspaper and aluminum cans is possible through Ecotech, a private full-service waste management company. Efforts are being made to recycle bottles and plastics in the future.
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