DISCOVERY BAY, St Ann — It’s not its name nor its location in the lush surroundings of the garden parish that makes the Green Grotto Caves “green”. The denotation refers to the attraction’s environmental practices, which have seen it receiving the highest level of certification worldwide.

Last Friday, the attraction was presented with its Earthcheck Platinum plaque for maintaining and improving its green standards over the last 10 years.

According to Desmond Malcolm, general manager of the Urban Development Corporation, the award is a historic achievement for the tourist attraction as “the Green Grotto Caves is the first tourist attraction in the history of Jamaica to receive platinum certification, representing 10 years of continuous certification with Earthcheck.”

Earthcheck, based in Australia, presented the prestigious award based on analysis done by representatives from at least 17 universities. The attraction originally received the certification in 2012, which was valid up to March 2013. Efforts are now underway to conduct a re-certification, Malcolm said.

The Green Grotto Caves is also the first attraction in the world to be Green Globe certified, Malcolm explained.

He said the UDC was “quite proud of this achievement, which adds value to Jamaica in the fast-growing global ecotourism industry”.

“It has been a lot of work. It goes to show that we are not just talking sustainability, but practising sustainability,” a very excited Fabia Lamm, general manager of the property, said.

“What you see here is just a representation of all the work that we have been doing,” she added.

Lamm said when the UDC took over the attraction in 2000, the staff at the facility worked to make Green Grotto different from other attractions.

But what does it mean to be “green” for Green Grotto? According to Lamm, it is not just about green trees and grass, but long-term practices of conservation and preservation in an effort to maintain the historic site for generations to come. Maintaining the environment also makes for good social responsibility, she said.

“Some of those efforts include documentation and proof that we are consistently conserving energy, consistently reducing water consumption and all those are weighed on statistical examination,” Lamm said.

“At 10 o’clock every day we have members of staff who go and ensure that they read the meters; we look at the readings and if there are any variations from the normal usage we should be able to explain what has caused it,” she explained.

“With our water consumption, based on the daily checks as well, we are able to identify leaks immediately,” she added.

Preserving the natural environment is also a part of the green practices done daily at Green Grotto.

“Based on the type of tour that we offer we are impacting a sensitive cave area with biodiversity that is only endemic to Jamaica,” Lamm said, adding that preservation of the natural environment is also important.

The caves at Green Grotto are a part of a few caves in Jamaica with the rock formation still growing. Visitors will see dripping rocks and first-hand examples of stalactites and stalagmites.

In order to promote continuous growth, practices such as marking on the rocks are not allowed.

The caves at Green Grotto also currently home to nine species of bats, six of which are endemic to Jamaica. Lamm said that even with 4,000 persons visiting the facility daily, the bat colony has not been reduced. In fact, according to her, the number of bats has increased.

“They (the bats) are comfortable with what we do,” she said.

“One of the things we ensure (is that) even the lighting in the cave is motion-censored so that if there are no activities in there then the place is dark, in keeping with what the bats are comfortable with,” she explained.

The general manager also sought to assure persons that the bats are not harmful as they are fruit and insect-eating creatures.

Being close to the Cockpit Country, the yellow snake is also an inhabitant of the property.

Guests also play an important role in preserving the environment at Green Grotto. According to Lamm, they are sensitised so that they will do the things asked of them.

“Once you know why you are being asked to do certain things, you will do it,” she said.

The attraction hopes to gain from its latest recognition.

“We expect it to boost the numbers because data has shown and research has shown that the green market is a rapidly growing market. People are definitely making the option to tour areas that are in keeping with environmental sustainability,” Lamm said.

She added that 42 per cent of visitors to the facility do so because they know it is environmentally certified.