Antonio González, president of the Palma Aquarium.

Antonio González Clemente, General Manager of the Palma Aquarium and President of the Palma Aquarium Foundation

'WE ARE JOINING FORCES WITH MELIÁ HOTELS INTERNATIONAL IN OUR EFFORT TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT'.

As President of the Palma Aquarium Foundation, I am pleased to announce that we are joining forces with Meliá Hotels International in our effort to protect the environment.

The Palma Aquarium Foundation is a non-profit organisation that provides services and materials, along with a team of experts, in order to carry out environmental projects, campaigns and outreach, all with the goal of bettering the future of our planet. We are a young and small organisation with big ambitions. Founded in 2016, we have made great strides in our short career, including a collaboration with Meliá Hotels International – a large and well-established hotel chain with extensive professional experience.

Last month, these two leading institutions signed a collaborative agreement. This agreement will permit the Foundation to undertake actions and activities that will protect species and habitats whilst expanding society’s involvement in our efforts to respect nature. Alongside this, it allows us to embrace the fundamental values our two cuttingedge entities hold. United by these complementary values, the organisations can work together to address current environmental issues as a means to ensure the long-term balance and health of our environment’s natural resources. The collaboration consists of working together on several projects, with one of the most important being the conservation of sea turtles in the Mediterranean.

The Meliá Hotels International has a strong and tangible connection with sea turtles, seeing that some of its hotels’ locations are next door to nesting beaches. For example, Meliá Hotels International does a magnificent job protecting sea turtles on several beaches in Mexico, where it has multiple hotels.

This collaboration agreement aims to expand upon Meliá’s methods and further contribute to the conservation of sea turtles in other countries, especially in Spain’s Balearic Islands. Precisely for this reason, Meliá Hotels International has financed several projects in this region. Among them, the hotel chain funded the visit of a leading biologist from one of the most abundant nesting beaches in Cape Verde. During their visit to the Balearic Islands, they were able to share their knowledge to help the beaches on these islands.

Another objective of the agreement is to conduct training for employees, guests, and suppliers at all Meliá Hotels in different countries around the world. For example, thanks to this initiative, the staff of the Palma Aquarium Foundation will train all Meliá Hotels International entertainment managers so that they can offer ‘Kids Clubs’ environmental education activities – teaching children in a fun, entertaining and interactive way.

At the same time, the employee training regarding the environment where they live and work is also a very significant aspect of the agreement, and different actions will be carried out through days of environmental-dissemination activities. With this training, staff members are made aware of the impact they have on the sea and the threats they pose. In particular, these sessions will go into greater depth on environmental issues in the Mediterranean.

Together we will work on promoting excellence in fostering sustainability and the practice of recycling, as well as waste selectivity and reduction.