Monthly Archives: August 2021

Are you searching for a hassle-free getaway from your hectic day-to-day lifestyle? Tea Tree Hollow, Australia’s most recent Nature Tourism certified operator, offers you and your loved ones the best.

Tea Tree Hollow, a four-bedroom, two-bathroom property with a fully equipped kitchen and laundry, provides comfortable sleeping for eight people not far from Sydney and Canberra. This 40-acre unspoilt property nestled in a valley, surrounded by bush and pastoral land, provides a  unique rural Australian experience for anyone searching for a tranquil and private weekend getaway or week-long holiday.

The accommodation features a handmade wood-fired pizza oven, BBQ and outdoor dining area, airconditioned open plan living area, fire pit with seating, herb garden adjacent to the house, covered veranda with cooling misting system, short trails and walks to explore nature without leaving the property, expansive grassy fields, purpose-built yoga deck, Japanese raked stone garden, outdoor claw foot bath with expansive views, unfenced dam about 180m from the house, privacy with no other houses in close proximity, board games and kids’ books in the living area – all of which offer an ideal vacation for couples, families or groups of friends in need of rest and rejuvenation.

By achieving Nature Tourism Certification, Tea Tree Hollow has demonstrated that they are leading the way as an operator in terms of sustainability and provision of authentic, high-quality nature-based tourism experiences. Antonia Stephenson and Andrew Stephenson, owners of Tea Tree Hollow, are passionate about providing an eco-friendly experience to visitors by preserving and improving the biodiversity of this 40 acres property. The purposely built compact house helps to leave a small physical and carbon footprint to preserve the pristine condition of the property which also ensures a healthy ecosystem in return. Their efforts in safeguarding a healthy ecosystem have become a success as hundreds of species of flora and fauna are flourishing within the property.

An off-grid solar power system with battery storage, a 58,000l rainwater tank to harvest rainwater from the roof, LED lighting, furniture built from up-cycled pallets where possible and a re-forestation programme within the property are just a few among many significant initiatives the owners of this property have taken to be sustainable in their business. 

We congratulate Tea Tree Hollow for achieving ECO certification at the Nature Tourism level and hope this will be an inspiration to continue their best practices.

Feel like need a nature break? Visit their website and Facebook page to book a stay with Tea Tree Hollow.

All photo credits: Tea Tree Hollow

Looking for a holiday escape on the magnificent 90 Mile Beach in the East Gippsland region with fun activities and relaxation for the whole family? Our newest certified member, Lakes Beachfront Holiday Park, may be your perfect place for your next family holiday.

We are excited to announce that this holiday park has recently achieved Nature Tourism Certification. Congratulations! 

Lakes Beachfront Holiday Park is a unique holiday park, located in Lakes Entrance in Victoria at Lake Tyers Beach – only 3 hours’ drive from Melbourne. The park is set in a beautiful, quiet bush landscape, with direct access to secluded beach frontage on magnificent 90 Mile Beach, offering a full range of holiday accommodation, caravan, and camp sites.

At Lakes Beachfront Holiday Park, you can choose to simply relax and read your favourite book or explore the delights and natural wonders of the East Gippsland region. Unwind by relaxing by the pool or by indulging in golf, fishing, surfing, waterskiing, beach volleyball, bocce, tennis or long walks on the beach. Relax and enjoy the atmosphere of an open fire.

A range of child-friendly options are all set up in a beautiful and peaceful environment with Koala Kid’s Club programs in the school holiday season and other activities including; a large solar heated pool with spa and toddler beach pool, jumping pillow, playground, giant chess game and plenty of room for bike riding.

The team at Lakes Beachfront Holiday Park is passionate about preserving the beautiful patch of East Gippsland and aims to foster responsible sustainable environmental management in everything they do. The villas and cottages are designed and built with environmental initiatives to maximise energy and water efficiency. This includes ceilings constructed to make use of natural lighting, LED lighting in all rooms, solar heating, instant gas hot water systems and bore water on gardens and pool.

Lakes Beachfront also strives to improve the physical and biological environment of the park. Indigenous plants like Banksias and Tuckeroos are planted around the gardens and camping sites for biodiversity conservation to provide shelter and feed for birds and other animals during extreme weather conditions.

Holidaying with Lakes Beachfront Holiday Park supports the sustainability of the region. The team sources from local suppliers and the park employs local people. Partnerships with local, climate-friendly businesses and strictly adhering to local waste and recycling programmes are just some of the park’s other sustainability initiatives. 

Congratulations again to Lakes Beachfront Holiday Park for joining the Ecotourism Australia family!  To learn more about Lakes Beachfront Holiday Park, please visit their Facebook page or website.

[All photo credits: Lakes Beachfront Holiday Park] 

Master Reef Guides are scattered along the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in Queensland, residing as far north as the Ribbons Reefs, all the way down south to Lady Elliot Island. Currently, there are 13 in the Southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), 40 in Far North Queensland, 22 in Central Queensland and 8 roaming at this time.

ECO certified Great Barrier Reef tourism operators can apply to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to become High Standard Tourism Operators. High Standard Tourism Operators receive a number of benefits, including the ability to nominate Master Reef Guides. But what is a Master Reef Guide?

[Photo credit: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority]

Master Reef Guides are striving to be the world’s leading coral reef guides sharing the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Each Master Reef Guide cohort undergoes rigorous training to achieve their prestigious title. The program is developed and delivered by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), a Protected Area Manager member, the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators and Tourism and Events Queensland, and ECO certified tourism operators with the philosophy that storytelling and reef interpretation are integral to fostering appreciation for the iconic Great Barrier Reef in travellers.

This year, nineteen Master Reef Guides were added to the Master Reef Guide family from nineteen ECO certified operators.

“We thought we were coming to learn more about coral polyps and zooxanthellae, and we have come away from this knowing about so much more, about the history of this place…” said Madison Drabble from Advanced Ecotourism certified Lady Musgrave Experience.

[Photo credit: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority]

The group spent one week on Heron Island near the Tropic of Capricorn, building on their scientific knowledge of the reef and learning storytelling techniques which will be the key to educating travellers coming to see the Great Barrier Reef each year. Alistair Chegwidden from Advanced Ecotourism certified Down Under Cruise & Dive praised the importance of storytelling after his experience, stating “This is the next step to make sure that we have someone on that boat to make sure that those guests are getting the right information and having fun.”

The Master Reef Guide program was led by world leading mentors and educators imparting knowledge from their life’s work onto future Great Barrier Reef ambassadors. The program was facilitated by Fiona Merida, Assistant Director Strategic Engagement and Fred Nucifora, Director Strategic Engagement. Expert trainers included James Cook University Distinguished Professor Sean Ulm who shared research on the coastal occupation of Australia and its cultural significance. , World renowned Cinematographer and shark researcher, Richard Fitzpatrick, Director of Biopixel, passed on his wealth of knowledge on reef biology and , cinematography and demonstrated the power of piecing this together to tell an incredible story. The field school program also featured researchers such as Dr. Jimmy White with a PhD in Marine Biology, the first to track Dwarf Minke Whales with satellite transmitters, and Dr. Jessica Stella whose PhD delved into the effects of climate change on tiny invertebrates that live in branching corals in the Great Barrier Reef. Paul Groves, Project Manager from the GBRMPA presented on The Importance of Reef Monitoring along with Peta Ross, Assistant Director, Indigenous Compliance, who gave the Master Reef Guides an unforgettable session on Cultural Awareness and the importance of Sea Country to Traditional Owners.

[Photo credit: Ocean Rafting. L-R: Ocean Rafting Skipper/Eco Host/Master Reef Guide, Toby Lodewijks, Ocean Rafting Skipper/Environmental Manager/Master Reef Guide, James Unsworth and Ocean Rafting Eco Host/Master Reef Guide, Taylor Chen.]

“The quality of guest speakers that we have had has been second to none,” stated Toby Lodewijks from Advanced Ecotourism certified, Climate Action Innovator, Green Travel Leader and Hall of Fame member Ocean Rafting. Toby’s experience in the fifth cohort of Master Reef Guides means that he joins two of his colleagues, James Unsworth and Taylor Chen, in holding this prestigious title. Certified with Ecotourism Australia for over twenty years, Ocean Rafting now has the largest team of accredited Master Reef Guides in the Whitsundays Region. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet some amazing people from all walks of life, whether that’s science based, adventure based, cultural based…” said Toby of his momentous achievement.

The program’s aim to produce experts who educate and inspire travellers is a vital part of marine conservation and comes in time with conversations on the world stage about the importance of protecting the Great Barrier Reef. The Master Reef Guide program is part of an array of concerted efforts to share the unique beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. .

Ecotourism Australia congratulates the 5th cohort of Master Reef Guides! 

The Australian Good Design Awards winning team Huskee has become the newest addition to Ecotourism Australia’s list of Business Members!

Huskee is a design company that focuses on developing products from the waste material of coffee production. Their vision is to design beautiful and practical products that enable the transition to a waste-free world. Huskee is also a certified B Corporation, which is a business that meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.

HuskeeCup

HuskeeCup is a designed closed-loop product that serves home, café and corporate markets as an alternative to single-use items and reduces waste from the coffee farm through to the café. The idea of HuskeeCup is for users to rethink what a cup can be. Products are made from the discarded coffee husk, which is the waste material created from the coffee bean during the milling stage of coffee production.

HuskeeCups are built to handle the rigours of a café, with strong durability whilst remaining elegant and attractive.

HuskeeSwap

With the HuskeeSwap initiative, Huskee supplies cafes with their sustainable HuskeeCups, available in a café-ready range of sizes, saucers, and lids.  HuskeeSwap is a swap program that enables cafés to transition away from single-use disposable cups by infinite swapping with a reusable takeaway coffee cup from Huskee. The swaps work by cafés and consumers using and exchanging a single cup, significantly altering consumer behaviour and café workflows to enable sustainable coffee consumption ecosystems. This program aims to normalise reuse with HuskeeCups and to drive more sustainable behaviours by recollecting and repurposing all HuskeeSwap cups at the end of their lifespan.

Further Steps – HuskeeLoop

HuskeeLoop is Huskee’s end-of-life program that aims for more sustainable efforts by repurposing damaged cups into amazing new Huskee products and creating an ultimate closed-loop ecosystem. For more about this initiative, visit this website. 

HuskeeCup is a great way for coffee lovers and businesses owners alike to reduce their ecological footprint and make use of the waste produced from the coffee industry.

For more information, visit the Huskee webpage or check them out on their Facebook & Instagram.

[All images courtesy of Huskee]

It is a great pleasure to welcome Wildlife Wonders onboard as an Advanced Ecotourism certified member of the Ecotourism Australia family.

Wildlife Wonders is 5km south of scenic Apollo Bay along the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, surrounded by the beautiful beaches of the Bass Strait and the glorious mountains of the Otway Ranges. It was established by the Conservation Ecology Centre (owners of Ecotourism Australia Green Travel Leader accommodation business, the Great Ocean Ecolodge) as an initiative to introduce flora and fauna to visitors which they have never seen or are very unlikely to see in the wild.

A 1.4km, 75-minute guided tour with an experienced conservationist guide enlightens guests with countless interesting facts and exciting stories. This ecotourism attraction engages people with nature and invests 100% of its operating surplus into conservation projects. Brian Massey – an Art Director of “The Hobbit” films and the landscape designer of New Zealand’s award-winning Hobbiton experience, has crafted and created the Wildlife Wonders experience with the support of a team led by Conservation Ecology Centre’s COO, Shayne Neal. As they have recognised, every Otway journey is magical, from walking through a rainforest, hunting waterfalls to searching for glow worms and admiring ancient forests to discover mysteries behind historic shipwrecks. Yet, there is always a special kind of magic behind the experience provided by Wildlife Wonders.

To educate younger generations on Australian wildlife and the importance of protecting it, Wildlife Wonders offer discounted guided tours for school groups with a whole range of free activities including storytime for pre-schoolers, protected paper animal folding sessions, kids’ talks on different species and more.
The Wildlife Wonders café and gift shop are open to the public and all profits contribute to the conservation of unique Australian plants and animals across the Otways. Many species that have been driven to extinction in other parts of Australia still survive within the habitats of Otways. However, without significant action, there is a high possibility for these species to vanish forever. Koalas, eastern grey kangaroos, swamp wallabies, Tasmanian pademelons, eastern bettongs, southern brown bandicoots, long-nosed potoroos, sugar gliders, feathertail gliders, Otway black snails, southern boobooks, laughing kookaburras, superb fairy-wrens, gang-gang cockatoos, eastern yellow robins, common blue-tongued lizards, southern brown tree frogs, southern right whales and humpback whales are some such species that Wildlife Wonders has paid special attention to.

“Wildlife Wonders provides an alternative funding model for conservation – helping us break free of short-term funding cycles – leading to more effective and efficient conservation efforts.” – Lizzie Corke, CEO

Wildlife Wonders is a social enterprise based on three key enablers: engagement, enterprise and ecology – and they adopt Ecotourism Australia’s definition of ecotourism in their operations. Through this social enterprise business model, every visitor to Wildlife Wonders becomes a part of their research and conservation efforts in protecting wildlife and nature. Their purpose in business is to support wildlife conservation and research across the region and beyond through community engagement.

We encourage Wildlife Wonders to continue their good practice in protecting and conservating Australian flora and fauna and raising awareness, especially among younger generations. We are proud to call you family!

Check the Wildlife Wonders website and Facebook page for more details on their conservation projects and tour details.

[All images courtesy of Wildlife Wonders.]