Put this on the list of things that every wealthy island owner should have. Designer Yelken Octuri has created a flying yacht for Omani princes Aziz, Dawood and Hashim. The flying yacht was designed to allow the princes to enjoy sailing along the Omani coastline. Four masts retract to become wings as the yacht turns into a plane.

The yacht plane is powered by four dual propeller Nissen & Brasseur powerhead engines. But when used as a yacht, the craft is essentially wind-powered, making it a super-efficient way to transition from sea to air transport and save energy while on the water.

In addition to being ideal for middle eastern royalty it would no doubt be great or island owners who could fly to their island then convert their plane into a pleasure craft to sail around the neighboring islands.

Read more: The Octuri Wind Powered Yacht Doubles as a Plane | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

On islands like Manhattan space comes at a premium and often large recreational centres like public swimming pools are the first things to be sacrificed. However if everything goes “swimmingly” Manhattan could soon become home to one of the worlds first floating swimming pools. Part swimming pool, part man made island, this floating pool concept could be providing summer respite to heat weary New Yorkers as soon as next summer pending final approvals. The best part of the project is it is completely sustainable taking dirty east river water and purifying it, making it safe for swimming.

The Pool team still needs funding to make it a reality. Specifically, they need to raise $25,000 to begin physical tests of the filtration materials and methods by July 15th. With even more funding they can test and develop even more, and they expect it’ll take $500,000 to build a full-scale mockup of one of the parts of the swimming pool. As with any Kickstarter donation, the team will reward you with various goodies based on the size of your gift. More donations mean the faster this concept has a chance of becoming a reality.

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Solar Powered Catamaran

This could all be possible if the Solar Powered Catamaran pictured here is built.  The boat which seats four is adorned with a sheet of solar cells that provide enough power to propel the boat through the water. In addition when done the boat can be folded up and stored into the average sized rooftop car container.

Although the catamaran has not been built yet it is another example of how technological development, particularly green technology is making island development easier and more accessible.

Source: Inhabitat

Anyone who is familiar with Lemurs knows they are probably one of the cutest creatures in the animal kingdom. However, sadly they are also one of the most endangered.

Billionaire Richard Branson says he wants to use one of his private Caribbean islands to help save an endangered species of African primate.

The British entrepreneur plans to introduce lemurs to the undeveloped Moskito Island in the British Virgin Islands. Branson said he hopes to create a thriving population to help make up for the loss of their native habitat on the island of Madagascar.

Branson said on Monday he hopes to bring the first group of about 30 from zoos in the coming weeks.

He calls it a radical idea and says he will try to address concerns of critics who fear the plan will hurt native lizard and bird populations.

Moskito is about 135 kilometres east of Puerto Rico

Now that the Royal Wedding is over, people are speculating where the newly weds are planning on going for their honey moon.

Some have reported that the couple will jet off to Mustique the ultra exclusive island community in the Grenadines. However more recent reports suggest that the couple will enjoy their honey moon in the  Seychelles, the beautiful island archipelago off the coast of Africa.

Seychelles has a number of high end resorts private island resorts to choose from and their seclusion from the outside world will provide a measure of privacy for Will and Kate.

Although I do not know where they are staying, I have two guesses that would make excellent choices.

My first guess is Fregate Island  the posh island resort that has just 16 villas that start at 2,700 Euros per night. My other guess is North Island, a 462 acre with just eleven luxury villas.  Prices for North Island start at 1,835 Euros per night.

Which ever island they choose, I am sure it will be a fantastic experience.

The habitat boasts 20,000 residential units as well as 3 hotels and 500 timeshare units. Also housed within its triangular walls is loads of commercial space, 8000 parking spaces as well as cultural spaces, public works and schools. The idea is that you could live your whole life in NOAH if you so chose.

In addition to using solar and wind power to support the structure, given its location on the water the building would also use water turbines to generate power.  No doubt it would be quite the floating structure…if it is ever built!

Source: Inhabitat

Mandarin Oriental has taken this approach to the next level on their new island resort in the Turks and Caicos. The 8 villas in the the on the island pay homage to the hyper sensitivity of the location’s unique natural setting. Situated on Dellis Cay, the villas are designed to integrate nature as a major component of their material palette. The architecture was kept as simple as possible, ensuring that residents are able to fully take in the changing sky and surrounding vegetation.

All villas are precisely oriented to make the most of their vaulted position above the treetops, and each individual project has been carefully planned to maximize performative and experiential qualities. Each villa channels prevailing winds to cool the interior spaces while framing sunrises, sunsets, and the path of the moon from one side of the structure to the other. Given the limited number of resources on the island, a mixture of passive and active green building strategies were implemented throughout the projects including large overhangs, cross-ventilation, the use of recycled materials, solar hot water heaters, insulating green roofs, and rooftop infinity pools that also serve as a rainwater collection tanks.

Source: Inhabitat

Serbian designers have recently proposed a series of giant underwater skyscrapers that would be tasked with cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that would collect and recycle the waste into a source of energy.

New for 2010 is Laucala an ultra-exclusive, luxurious private island resort in the waters of Vanua Levu in the North East of Fiji. Owned by Dietrick Mateschitz, the swiss owner of Red Bull, Laucala is the perfect island escape for those who are seeking total privacy. Dietrick bought the island in 2003 and has since restored and renovated it using eco-friendly architecture based on traditional Fijian building techniques and local materials. Laucala runs on an almost self-sufficient basis. The resort breeds its own livestock and poultry, grows its own fruit vegetables, makes its own honey, bottles pure volcanic mineral water and even hand makes all its own guest and spa products, using the natural resources from the island. The goal is for the resort to be 85% self-sustainable within two years.

To read more visit the islands website here: