The runner-up to the Green Key Best Practice Competition 2017, Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo, inspires with their determined initiative of reforestation.
In January 2017, Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo launched its project Mon Arbre à Moi – My Very Own Tree to reforest a hillside that had been burnt down by an act of arson. The hillside in question overlooks the town of Menton, which borders with the principality of Monaco. As an important number of the staff members live in Menton, the Green Committee at Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo decided to take action and get involved in an important cause for the area.
Mon Arbre à Moi is a significant symbolic initiative that was jointly crafted by the Metropole, the municipality of Menton and the Office National des Forêts (National Forests Office) involving partnerships between several actors. On event day, olive-tree seeds were given to the staff members´ children so that they, together, could plant the first new trees on the burned-out site. A local association, Les Ânes Maritimes, participated by lending their donkeys to help carry the jerry cans needed to water the trees.
The initiative is a long-term project uniting the participants annually on 21 March, celebrated as the International Day of Forests, to visit their trees, to water them and to see how they have grown. Once the trees start to produce olives, the project participants will be invited to harvest them. The olives will then be sent to a local olive oil producer, L´huile Saint Michel, and once produced the olive oil will be given to the guests at the Metropole. Guests will also have a chance to directly participate in the ongoing project by planting their own seeds and thereby help with the reforestation.
Mon Arbre à Moi proves that it is perfectly possible to be a luxury hotel while cultivating real ecological authenticity and take a stand for the environment. The initiative has helped nature rebuild itself and to recreate the hillside landscape of Menton, and as a long-term act for the planet, only recycled water is used to water the olive trees. The initiative has also been warmly welcomed by guests at the hotel and it has helped in raising awareness on the Metropole’s environmental pledge and green policy.
The reforestation initiative is a strong showcase of different stakeholders coming together and creating partnerships for a central environmental cause, and it is the reason Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo was awarded second place at the 2017 Green Key Best Practice Competition.
