Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22 as a global effort to show support for environmental protection; 

From our food purveyors to our local wildlife, Shangri-La hotels and resorts around the world are proud to help protect our earth’s beauty and natural resources throughout the year.

Rooted in Nature

It is our goal at Shangri-La to provide guests hospitality from the heart without compromising our planet’s resources.

Through Shangri-La’s recently launched culinary initiative, Rooted in Nature, we aim to respect the natural order of things and reduce the damage on the environment by supporting local agricultural and fishing communities; buying chemical- and pesticide-free local produce; sourcing from free-range livestock and poultry products where possible; acquiring sustainably-sourced seafood that are caught through ethical means; and serving organic and fair trade products indicated by national and local food safety standards.

By 2020, our goal is to serve 75 percent more sustainably-sourced food at every hotel versus 2013. Learn more about how our hotels are working to be Rooted in Nature here. 

Conservation of Natural Resources

At Shangri-La, we understand our crucial role to help conserve earth’s natural resources.

Through hotel and resort water conservation efforts, we have decreased our average potable water consumption by over 25 percent since 2010 and have reduced overall water intensity by 26 percent compared to 2010 levels. As a group, we have set up targets to reduce our water footprint intensity by 15 percent in 2015, compared to 2010 levels.

Individual hotels are doing their part to help achieve our group-wide water conservation goals by implementing water-saving programs.

Two Suppliers Help Taiwan Hotel Become Rooted in Nature: Located in Taiwan, Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Taipei’s restaurants use ingredients from local vendors and partners that provide the freshest and finest produce, livestock and seafood. The hotel proudly purchases about 95 percent of all of its vegetables, poultry and pork from local farms, and over 70 percent of its seafood from local fisheries. Out of the many dedicated purveyors that use sustainable fishing and farming methods, here is how two suppliers help Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Taipei toward its goal of being Rooted in Nature.

In early 2014, Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Tainan started water conservation strategies throughout hotel practices. Since the hotel invested NTD 90,000 (almost US $3,000) and implemented water-saving programs, the hotel reduced its water consumption by 10,093 tons of water and reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 1,665 metric tons â€" all in just one year.

In 2012, Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, Penang launched its own water bottling plant to help reduce its and Golden Sands Resort, Penang’s carbon footprint. The bottling plant filters, purifies and bottles drinking water on-site using treated water from the Penang Water Supply Corporation.

The reusable glass bottles replace almost 9,000 pounds of plastic bottles per year. Other resorts such as Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa, Cebu, Philippines and Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort & Spa, Maldives use similar in-house bottling plants to reduce the use and waste of plastic bottles.

From 2010 to 2014, Shangri-La has reduced its average energy consumption by 25 percent and our carbon intensity by 21 percent. We’ve set targets to reduce carbon footprint intensity by 20 percent by 2015. Just as with water conservation, our hotels are doing their part to help achieve our goal.

In 2011, Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok reduced its dependence on traditional energy sources by turning an idle rooftop into a bed of solar panels spanning over 900 square meters (about 9,687 square feet). By the end of 2011, the solar energy generated by the panels heated 25 million liters (over 6 million gallons) of water, sufficient for the 802 guestrooms of the Shangri-La Wing and the Krungthep Wing of the hotel.

These are just some of the ways Shangri-La hotels and resorts are helping conserve our natural resources.

Wildlife

Many of our beachfront locations have programs to help clean and protect nearby beaches and marine wildlife. Shangri-La's Mactan Resort & Spa, Cebu established the Shangri-La Marine Sanctuary in 2007 to help preserve and protect its marine wildlife.

The sanctuary spans six hectares from the resort's beachfront and teems with over 160 species of fish, clams and coral. The resort's management and staff participate in regular coastal clean-ups, dive clean-ups and coral recovery programs. Guests and members of the community can get involved through educational programs and activities to help preserve the marine wildlife.

Similarly at Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa, Yanuca Island, the Reef Care Project aims to propagate and revive the coral life of the Fijian Islands. The project includes a coral gardens project and Shangri-La’s Marine Education Centre, which is open to guests and students who want to learn more about marine conservation and help in conservation activities such as fish house building.

From wet to dry land, rare and sometimes endangered animals are the focus at many of our locations:

In December 2012, Shangri-La Hotel, Chengdu partnered with a local organization dedicated to saving pandas to launch Shangri-La’s Care for Panda project. The project now supports a 1.6-hectare bamboo plantation that provides food for endangered pandas.

Since 1996, Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort & Spa, Kota Kinabalu has cared for orphaned orangutans at its Nature Reserve in cooperation with Sabah’s Wildlife Department.  The Nature Reserve teaches Borneo orangutans the skills necessary to return to the wild, and are eventually released back in to the rainforest.

At Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Sultanate of Oman, the Turtle Care Project aims to protect the endangered hawksbill and green turtles, which are native to the beaches of Oman. A dedicated turtle ranger ensures the nests are sheltered from any threats and raises awareness among guests and local communities on the plight of turtles through educational activities such as talks and viewings.

Learn more about our efforts to help protect and conserve wildlife here.

At Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, it is in our nature to embrace a stranger as our own. We also see it as our duty and obligation to do what we can to help conserve and protect the environment we all share.