SINGAPORE—Park Hotel Group, a leading hospitality company in Asia Pacific, announced the launch of its Room For Trees program in partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects (Eden), a nonprofit organization that is committed to reforestation and ecological restoration by working with people in their local communities to restore their forests.
Through Room For Trees, Park Hotel Group will plant a tree for every booking made with its portfolio of hotels via their website. The partnership with Eden supports the mangrove reforestation project in Biak Island, Indonesia, which involves collaborating with local villagers of Biak to replant, restore and protect their wetland ecosystems.
“Our new Room for Trees initiative underlines our commitment to drive our triple bottom-line. Despite the current pandemic, creating value on our environment and the people in our communities remains a key priority for Park Hotel Group to build a sustainable and resilient business as we continue our global expansion plans beginning with Asia Pacific. We are thrilled that our partnership with Eden will contribute to the rehabilitation of the forests on our planet while supporting lives and livelihoods that depend on these vital ecosystems,” says Allen Law, CEO of Park Hotel Group.
“Eden Reforestation Projects is delighted to partner with Park Hotel Group to support them in their Room for Trees initiative to plant trees while providing a unique experience to their guests. We look forward to planting many trees on behalf of their guests!” says Eva Orahim of Eden Reforestation Projects.
Mangrove Forests in Indonesia
Over the last three decades, Indonesia has lost over 40 percent of its mangrove forests and that has adversely affected the wetland ecosystems which supports the biodiversity of the region as well as the communities within it. Biak Island, located on the northern coast of West Papua, is prone to environmental disasters. The mangrove reforestation on Biak is important to reduce the effects of floods, tsunamis, and soil erosion. It also provides a safe nursery for schooling fish and increases livelihoods of the local villagers that rely on their environment for survival.
Guided by its purpose to positively impact the planet and the people in the communities that Park Hotel Group and its hotels are in, the Group has also taken other conscious steps toward responsible operations. Last year, Park Hotel Group launched the Uplift Fund in Singapore which offers financial relief to individuals and families impacted by COVID-19. One of its flagship hotels, Grand Park City Hotel secured a green loan from United Overseas Bank (UOB), the largest green loan obtained for any hotel property in Singapore from a single financial institution at the time of announcement. In recognition for its adoption of sustainable practices, Grand Park City Hall also received the prestigious Platinum Green Mark in 2017, the highest distinction in the green building rating system in Singapore and was crowned the winner of the 2019 Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) Sustainable Hotel Awards—Climate Action category.
The Group’s Singapore and Hong Kong hotels are working with local organizations to recycle lightly-used soap bars for distribution to the less privileged. While most of its hotels have also stopped using plastic straws, its luxury Green Globe certified resort Grand Park Kodhipparu, Maldives has switched out plastic bottled water for glass bottles.
For information on Park Hotel Group, visit parkhotelgroup.com.
