Last year, 20th Century Fox, which made The Beach, incurred the wrath of activists in Thailand who accused the company of causing irreparable ecological damage to Maya Beach on Phi Phi Island during filming.

Latest reports from the set of Cast Away on the Fijian island of Monuriki suggest that Cast Away Productions Inc - a partnership between Fox and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks company - has taken precautions to safeguard its exotic location.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) environmental agency said its investigations revealed Cast Away Productions Inc had "gone to considerable lengths to avoid the public relations disaster that plagued... The Beach".

In Cast Away, Hanks plays the boss at a Federal Express office in Moscow who ends up stranded on a desert island.

The film began production in early 1999 with scenes in Los Angeles and Moscow, but it had to take an eight-month break while Hanks lost more than 40 pounds to give his character a gaunt look when he returned to civilization.

Detailed planning

Monuriki is described by the WWF as having all the necessary attributes of an idealised Hollywood exotic set.

The WWF says it became concerned for the island's welfare after reports that around 100 film crew members and their equipment had arrived on the island.

However, it found that the movie's makers had hired a local consultant to carry out a detailed environmental impact assessment and that it was following the advice.