Papatura is proud of our environmental stand. The Island Retreat is a base for tourism throughout Santa Isabel and encourages all villages to look at village stays as a future sustainable income instead of logging and commercial fishing.
On the island we recycle all products possible, this means we pay to ship them as well as our rubbish back to Honiara where they can be disposed of effectively.
When starting out we spoke with industry leaders about the toilet systems and decided the enviro loos were the best way to go as everything is broken down and turned into compost which is spread throughout the rainforest just like leaf litter.
Turtle Release Program
Just like other emerging Pacific Island nations with growing populations, the Solomon Islands are quickly depleting their natural resources to provide basic necessities including schools and clinics. Sedimentation from logging, over-fishing and destructive fishing practices is impacting the marine environment.
As at September 2016, guests have released over 300 turtles brought from the local villages that would normally eat them. We are educating them about the importance of protecting these vulnerable sea creatures. Further, we are tagging and collecting data to give to TNC who passes this info onto the headquarters in Samoa.
After a quick photo we release over 90% of the river fish caught in the three local rivers using fish friendly release net. All other catches feed guests or are sent to the villages for consumption.
Can Crushing
Pete from Papatura had a major concern with the empty aluminium cans from his Resort and every village he entered had a ugly stockpile laying around.
Pete said “It was unsightly and normally surrounded by flies and can cause ongoing health issues…our freight to the Island is carried successfully by IBC, so I approached their GM, Kathy Nori, and asked if they could they carry the bags of crushed cans back to Honiara free of charge”. Thankfully, she agreed, providing there was a good reason.
Charity was the first thing that came to mind and the idea snowballed from there… After speaking to Mrs Judy Kirchner from BJS, she wanted the crushed cans but getting the bags was difficult. Mr Andy Hewson, GM of Solbrew, and his staff were staying at Papatura, I told him about our dilemma and straight away Andy offered some of the many yeast bags used by Solbrew. So after Papatura purchased 10 or so can crushers from Bunnings and a large hardware chain in Australia, one was given to the Baolo Primary School and the students were asked to gather the cans throughout the village and start crushing.
This was their first cheque for $1,280.00. We have two can crushers operating now at Buala and one has gone to Kia. If any other schools would like to keep their village clean, call Pete at Papatura or email info@papatura.com and they will gladly get a crusher to you. The cans must be crushed for BJS to receive them.
BAOLO CLINIC UPGRADE Oct 2020
Thanks to Island Enterprise and Friends of NRH we have been able to delivery supply the following to Baolo Clinic
4Pairs 3Blade louver frames
2Pair 6blade louver frames
6ctn 300x300 ceramic tiles
Ezy fit 100mm hinges
Grey Grout only 2 Bags
Papatura was very happy to be able to coordinate, pay freight from Honiara and to the Village and supply all PVC fittings for sinks, toilet and shower.
