Mahé, Seychelles – : The H Resort Beau Vallon Beach, a tropical island resort in Seychelles, is offering hotel guests and local school children a new interactive learning experience with the new ‘Creepy Crawly’ lab, a field and laboratory-based discovery programme aimed at showcasing the island’s invertebrates.
In partnership with the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS), the programme is part of the H Resort’s Kids’ Club and introduces children to the importance of wetland ecosystems, the species that can be found there, as well as the dynamics and inter/intra-species relations that can take place within the habitat.
The activity runs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon at the hotel grounds by MCSS staff members. Children are free to explore the hotel grounds, take soil and water samples from the surrounding wetland and lagoon and discover the microscopic world of Creepy Crawlies using a range of microscopes at the Kids’ Club.
“Our partnership with MCSS is an important aspect of our sustainability and conservation programmes and it is very much aligned with our commitment to the development of the youth in the Seychelles,” says Johannes Steyn, General Manager, H Resort Beau Vallon Beach.
The Creepy Crawly lab educates children on several scientific methods and techniques, including sample collection (i.e. collecting insects and plants from the wetland), sample preparation as well as sample analysis (i.e. how to correctly use a microscope, magnifying glass and other lab equipment).
To date, the MCSS team has delivered the activity more than 10 times at the resort, including the Green Generation Holiday Club visit. MCSS partnered with the H Resort in March of this year and since then have introduced a number of conservation and educational programmes, including wetland tours around the resort’s wetland and grounds, guided snorkeling tours and a coral reef restoration programme.
“Our partnership with the H Resort is a very dynamic one. The H Resort has a very strong conservation and sustainability ethic, which they are keen to put in to practice and which we are happy to assist them with,” says Dr. David Rowat, Chairman of MCSS.
The H Resort Beau Vallon Beach hosts a series of environmental initiatives that enable guests to experience nature while enjoying valuable time together. Recognised as Seychelles’ Leading Green Resort in 2018 and 2019, the conservation and education programmes in place allow guests of the resort to experience luxurious hospitality while contributing to environmental protection and conservation.