We’re wild about bringing art and nature together

This summer, Jersey will be taken over by an island-wide tortoise sculpture trail. Durrell’s 'Tortoise Takeover’ will see giant and small tortoise sculptures placed around various public and community spaces around the island, designed by local and overseas artists, and school children too. The initiative aims to raise funds to build a new Tropical House at Jersey Zoo.

We’re delighted to be sponsoring one of the giant tortoises this year - over recent weeks, we’ve been working with locally based artist Erin Brown, who has created an amazing design, which we can’t wait to share with you!

But this isn’t the first time Suntera Global has supported an initiative that brings together art and the natural world. In fact, over the years, we’ve seen first-hand the impact that the Wild in Art trails and other similar initiatives have had on their local communities. 

We first worked with Wild in Art through the Wallabies Gone Wild trail on the Isle of Man in summer 2019. As the first trail on the Isle of Man, we were delighted to support the initiative as both the large ‘Joey’ wallaby sculpture and as Trailmaker Sponsor to facilitate the rollout of the trail. Our sponsored wallaby, Joey, was painted by local artist Jade Boylan and was inspired by the Isle of Man TT races.  He is now resident in our offices in Douglas, delighting staff and clients daily! 

In 2022, we followed that up by partnering with Hospice once again to take part in the Big Splash dolphin trail. We were both the app sponsor and the sponsor of the large ‘Galaxy Clockwork’ dolphin – a sculpture inspired by the artist Claudia Dodds’s love of space, incorporating elements of aerospace and steampunk fantasy.

In a similar vein, our own Fill a Fish initiative has seen large metal fish sculptures, intended for people to dispose of plastic bottles, placed at key coastal areas around the Isle of Man. Designed by local students and brought to life by local artists, the sculptures are playing a key role in helping to keep our beautiful coast rubbish-free. 

It’s another example of how we have worked to bring art and nature together for a positive cause. And we’re hoping to roll out the initiative to some of our other locations in due course too.

It is not lost on us just how fortunate we are as a business to operate in some of the most beautiful locations on earth – from Asia, to Europe, to the Crown Dependencies, to the Caribbean and the US. The environments we work in are unique and we have an obligation and a responsibility to look after them.

This is why we continue to support initiatives in all the jurisdictions where we operate that can bring together art and nature to benefit people’s physical and mental wellbeing, and help protect the natural environment. We encourage staff to not only enjoy the natural sites we operate in, but to protect them too for the future. It’s something that is built into our ethos of ‘empowering responsible ambition’.

We’re excited to see our latest initiative, the Tortoise Takeover, come to life in Jersey soon and hope that it will provide not just enjoyment for staff and the local community, but also essential funds that allow Durrell to continue to carry out its vital work. 

It’s another example of how bringing art and nature together can prove to be a powerful and positive mix.

For more information about our involvement in Tortoise Takeover, click here.