Let’s buck the trend, a local marine biologist suggested.

In 2018, as the Maldives, a nation of nearly 1,200 islands in the Arabian Sea, continued its transformation into a luxury tourist destination, the country’s handbook for resort developers called sea grass meadows in the country’s shallow lagoons “aesthetically unappealing,” suggesting that it was “very important from the tourist perspective that the growth of sea grasses is eliminated.” Resorts on the islands were known to smother their meadows with sprawling sheets of plastic laid across the ocean floor in order to offer visitors aquamarine waters with endless sandy bottoms. Never mind that sea grass meadows are vital ecosystems for marine life and nearby coral reefs, or that they capture carbon in significant amounts from the atmosphere.

ImageInstead of killing off sea grass, the 94-villa Six Senses Laamu resort in the Maldives, allows it to thrive. Credit...Ahmed Shuau

But at the 94-villa Six Senses Laamu resort, one Maldivian biologist wanted to “make a statement,” as Philippa Roe, the brand’s manager for regenerative impact,66cassino recalled.

Instead of killing off sea grass, the resort encouraged it to thrive, Ms. Roe said, and now has a lagoon with “different hues of green and dark blue, rather just a plain monotone crystal.” The sea grass has become a draw that gives the resort a leg up over others in the area, she said, as it attracts marine wildlife to the waters surrounding the resort’s over-water bungalows, where guests can see stingrays, sharks and turtles from the sun loungers on their decks.

ImageSea grasses attract marine wildlife like stingrays and sea turtles. Credit...Top: Andy Ball; Bottom: Mohamed Ahsan

The “perfect” tropical beach hardly needs to be described; it’s on the Instagram post, in the pages of a travel magazine: Fine white sand, coconut palm trees overhead, a gently sloping beach and unobstructed views out to sea. But in many cases — and especially at tourist destinations — that beach is entirely manufactured.

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So I was ready to put my mental fighting gloves on as I approached a building superintendent who was blasting the sidewalk ahead of me with a hose.

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