In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

In Phuket, the Green Leaf Foundation (GLF) and the Association for the Development of Environmental Quality, non-profit partners of The Asia Foundation, are working with hotels to reduce their environmental impact as they rebuild after the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami. By participating in the Green Leaf Environmental Audit Program, hotels and resorts are able to identify new ways to improve their environmental performance, achieve significant savings, market themselves as “green” businesses and conserve the region’s valuable natural resources. The Asia Foundation and GLF have expanded participation in the Green Leaf program to 20 hotels and resorts located in the worst- affected regions of Southern Thailand.

Through engaging hotel owners and managers from towns that were badly impacted by the tsunami, GLF and The Asia Foundation hope to improve the surrounding natural environment, as well as the health and safety of hotel workers and guests. As part of the joint project on “Greening the Hotel Industry in Post-tsunami Thailand,” GLF and The Asia Foundation are coordinating a series of workshops and providing technical assistance for 20 resorts to help them develop cost-effective strategies to reduce their environmental impact and earn their first Green Leaf certificate.

Brooke Shull is a Program Officer for The Asia Foundation’s Environment Program.