As Earth Day approaches on April 22, below find examples of some of Australia’s most iconic locations using tourism as a tool for a more sustainable future. These include;
- Passions of Paradise, Queensland –
For over 30 years, Passions of Paradise have been revealing the underwater wonders of the Great Barrier Reef to visitors. Now, they’ve seen an evolution: guests now want to play an active part in reef conservation.
On a 30-meter sailing catamaran – one of the biggest in Australia – guests have the opportunity to:
- Take guided snorkeling and diving adventures on the Outer Reef.
- Conduct ‘citizen science’ by replanting broken pieces of living coral in special frames in coral ‘nurseries’ on the seafloor, that house up to 4,000 nascent corals.
- Once established, they can be harvested and relocated to their dive sites.
- Australian Wildlife Journeys (various) –
Australian Wildlife Journeys is a not-for-profit alliance comprising more than a dozen mostly family-run wildlife tour operators around Australia that set the benchmark for quality wildlife guiding in their respective regions.
The impact and success of Australian Wildlife Journeys lies in each operator:
- sharing their expertise, values, data and determination to raise the bar for wildlife tourism in Australia.
- providing an interpretive experience of ‘wildlife in the wild’ – either marine or terrestrial – with a fundamental aim of creating a better future for Australia’s wildlife.
- Sydney Opera House Sydney/Warrane, New South Wales –
- Sydney Opera House (SOH) Jørn Utzon designed this famed structure with inspiration from nature. Now celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, he embedded sustainability principles into its structure, such as an innovative seawater cooling system, and planned for a 250-year lifespan of the building. Before him, the Gadigal people gathered on, and managed the land sustainably for thousands of years.
This iconic landmark continues that tradition of conservation through:
- Enacting its first Environmental Sustainability Plan in 2010, focused on electricity, its largest source of carbon emissions.
- A Power Purchase Agreement now matches 85 percent of SOH’s energy needs with wind and solar projects in NSW.
- As part of the Opera House’s Decade of Renewal, this cultural institution is aiming for a 6 Star Green Star rating within the next 12 months, cementing its position as a global leader in sustainable building design
- Small Batch Wine Tours, South Australia – Small Batch Wine Tours is exactly what it says on the bottle: small group and private tours concentrating on boutique producers in South Australia’s wine regions, particularly those who leave a small impact on the environment.
Owner and operator, Matthew Kurko wanted to create a mindful tourism business, so he began:
- reducing its environmental impact through purchasing low emissions vehicles (with the aim of transitioning to EVs as soon as practical)
- sourcing renewable energy
- reducing waste and recycling
- calculating and off-setting the business’s remaining emissions
In 2021, Small Batch Wine Tours launched the world’s first ‘Sustainability Wine Tour,’ which has seen growing interest, particularly from international markets.
