Soneva Fushi in Partnership with Biogents Aims to Become First Mosquito-Free Island

Tuesday 25th of August 2020

Soneva Fushi in Partnership with Biogents Aims to Become First Mosquito-Free Island

Soneva Resorts is the guardian of the Maldivian nature and tradition that has long existed in time, combining luxury with a conscientious approach to sustainability and the environment, proactively changing the nature of hospitality and delivering intuitive service and meaningful experience to guests.

The huge number of mosquitoes breeding have always been a major issue in many resorts and while many resorts use chemical fogging to manage the mosquito population, Soneva recently revealed that for more than a year they have been working with Biogents, a research-driven company that develops innovative methods to control mosquitoes in an intelligent and environmentally safe manner.

Before the partnership with Biogents, the mosquito population was managed by a conventional pest control company with hot fogging and mist blowing. However, this resulted in the mosquitoes building up strong resistance to the chemicals, rendering it ineffective over time.

The use of these techniques also resulted in a reduced number of other native Maldivian insects usually found on the island, such as butterflies, dragon-flies, bumblebees, beetles and more. However, with the new mosquito management through Biogents, these natural pollinators are now back in abundance, allowing Soneva Fushi’s organic gardens to thrive with more flowers and fruits resulting in more organic produce for Soneva’s restaurants.

A total of more than 500 mosquito traps have been deployed across the island with two types of mosquito traps serving different needs. The BG-GAT, is a passive trap for egg-laying tiger mosquitoes and the BG-Mosquitaire CO2, attracts mosquitoes in search of blood. Carbon dioxide, produced through yeast and sugar fermentation helps attract the mosquitoes in combination with lactic acid that humans emanate from the skin.

From July 2019, a sharp decline of mosquitoes in the island was observed, and today the mosquito population has been reduced by around 95-98%. Soneva’s target is to eliminate all mosquitoes on Kunfunadhoo island by the end of 2020.

Currently, Soneva is deploying traps at Soneva Jani in the Noonu Atoll. There, in a time-frame of 48 hours, a single BG-Mosquitaire CO2 trap caught a record number of 2,972 mosquitoes.

Update - Feb 2021

Check out the video below for the progress on the project so far.