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It was lauded for Genting Nature Adventures, introducing a biodiversity-based tourism model in Genting highlands.
Resorts World Awana was honoured at the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards 2025 – Malaysia with the ESG Initiative of the Year award for its forward-thinking initiative Genting Nature Adventures (GNA), which uses tourism to strengthen conservation, education, and long-term ecological responsibility.
The initiative serves as a platform for biodiversity learning and environmental stewardship, being guided by four key pillars such as conservation, preservation, sustainability, and education.
Through these pillars, GNA runs programmes that include guided learning experiences, ESG-oriented corporate green bonding, and nature education activities for visitors and professionals. Today, GNA engages more than 30,000 guests annually.
Knowledge as the main attraction
Every GNA activity is built on science-based content and delivered by resident scientists with expertise in environmental and biological sciences.
Rather than simply showing guests the rainforest, GNA helps them understand what they are seeing, why it matters, and how they can contribute to its protection.
To promote conservation, GNA protects native species and important habitats by gazetting Awana BioPark, Gohtong BioPark, Chin Swee BioPark, and Genting BioPark as Other Effective Conservation Measure (OECM) sites. Other efforts include in-situ and ex-situ protection of endangered wildlife and plants, as well as habitat restoration along trails such as Clearwater Way.
GNA also helps safeguard the 10,000-acre GenM rainforest to preserve its valuable gene pool and maintain it as a natural carbon sink and forest reserve. This approach ensures that free-ranging wildlife can continue to thrive and that species continuity is maintained for generations.
When it comes to sustainability efforts, GNA develops wildlife corridors and secondary habitats such as the former Awana Long House site to restore degraded slopes and cleared areas. Trail sidewalks are groomed as natural regeneration zones, supporting transplantation efforts in impacted areas like Awana Trail and Clearwater Way.
Furthermore, there are daily guided walks, expert-led nature activities, and interactive learning experiences to help visitors understand Genting’s natural heritage. GNA also plans to host the Conference of Experts and Collaborators (CoEC) 2025 to build a strong network of specialists and establish a scientific data bank and open a dedicated Biodiversity, Education, Research, Sustainability & Visitor Centre (BERSVC) at Awana Village to further enhance public engagement.
Proven impact
GNA’s nature-based programmes are already creating measurable results, including over 30,000 visitors who have joined GNA’s biodiversity education experiences.
To date, GNA has also planted 3,976 trees from 2024 to 2025 through Green Bonding programmes that involve 71 companies and 4,029 participants.
The initiative also promotes the SmartForest app, where guests can scan interactive info boards along the trails and have instant access to scientifically verified biodiversity data.
Aside from this, GNA collaborates with universities, wildlife agencies, and regulatory bodies to support research, biodiversity monitoring, and conservation strategies. Resident scientists contribute not only to nature programmes but also to operations, business strategy, and visitor engagement.
Additionally, GNA supports Genting Group’s ESG reporting by documenting local biodiversity for the Group’s Annual Sustainability Report. To date, the initiative has recorded 6 primate species, 254 bird species, 1,200+ insect species, 70 wildlife species, and 460 native plant species. In addition, GNA efforts and initiatives taken so far have aligned and support Malaysia’s National Policy for Biological Diversity 2022-2030 as well as the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework 2022-2030.
The TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards – Malaysia gives a platform to Malaysia’s vibrant travel sector and applauds those who stand out across the industry. This awards programme highlights excellence in hotels, airlines, airports, cruise lines, tour operators, travel agencies, booking platforms, and travel technology.
The TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards – Malaysia 2025 is presented by Travel Daily Media Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. For more information on the awards programme, you may contact Danica Avila at +(65) 3158 1386 or awards@traveldailymedia.com.
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Source: traveldailymedia