Feature – Ecotourism in Tasmania by Emma Hope

ECOTOURISM IN TASMANIA:

WORDS BY EMMA HOPE

Tasmania’s ecotourism operators say they are conservationists and environmentalists whose passion is to share the state’s pristine wilderness with the world.

While Ian Johnstone came from a construction background to found Maria Island Walks in 2003, he said that in his experience nature-based tourism operators in Tasmania were doing it because they loved Tasmania’s natural beauty and they wanted to share it. “We’re painted as being rapacious, busy, greedy developers by some of our critics, particularly around the EOIs, but I’d say that we’re not doing it for money. We’re doing it because we love Tasmania and we love the outdoors and we love employing people. We love the wilderness and we want to preserve and protect it and show it to others. “Tasmania has such a wonderful reputation as being a global destination for ecotourism and adventure tourism and I think that that will only grow. “We see ourselves as conservationists and environmentalists. “There are a lot of opportunities for the right people in tourism in Tasmania, if they’re wanting to do something sensitive and sustainable.” Ian’s company has two wilderness camps on Maria Island which are built above ground, with no penetration of the soil. Huts are joined by boardwalks, again built above ground. As well as saving water through composting toilets they also collect their own rain water to use on site. “We generate our own solar power and we consciously minimise waste and take all our rubbish and recyclables off the island. “We have a small footprint in the way we do things.” Ian said to him ecotourism was about more than the environment. “We’re big believers in respecting the local culture and history, wildlife and wilderness values. For example, from day one when we hop off the boat the guide will do a timeline

of the history of humans on Maria Island. It goes for about 30 meters and the last 10cm is when the white people arrived, so it puts that in perspective. We talk about the various eras from a human perspective – the indigenous, the explorers, then convict and the sealers and whalers and so forth. “A large part of our walks are the interpretation and education side.” Ian said the company supported various charities, conservation and environmental groups including Raptor Rescue. “We’ve also been involved in the revegetation of Maria Island.” He said accreditation such as their advanced eco-tourism and climate action leader recognition from Ecotourism

Australia were important as was mentoring other businesses. Having won 16 Tasmanian Tourism Awards and four Australian Tourism Awards Ian said it was as much about the process as the glory. “Every time we do the awards it makes us think about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and how we can do it better.” Pennicott Wilderness Journeys have been sharing Tasmania’s scenery, wildlife and produce since 1999 and now have eight different tours across Tasmania and Victoria. Australian Tourism Legend Rob Pennicott said that his company’s 12 national and 27 state tourism awards were testament to the business’ ecotourism values. “Everything we do and believe in is about sustainability.” The Pennicott Foundation was established about 10 years ago, with a portion of every tour booked going towards the charity. “Last year we gave to 376 organisations or projects of our own and they’re to do with sustainability or environment.” One of the Pennicott Foundation’s major projects is island restorations. The most recent being Big Green Island where rats, which were killing about 30,000 sea birds a year, were completely eradicated. Another was Tasman Island where all the cats – introduced by the former lighthouse keepers – were eradicated, stopping them killing 50,000 birds a year. The company offset its carbon emissions working with Greening Australia and planting far more trees than required. But Rob believes the future of sustainability is in maintaining the ocean. “Phytoplankton produces 52% of the world’s oxygen. Most people think it’s forests. But I believe that the future for putting oxygen back into the environment will come from the seas not the trees, particularly with global warming and fires increasing.”

Tasmania has such a wonderful reputation as being a global destination for ecotourism and adventure tourism and I think that will only grow.

Rob encourages all tourism businesses to do their part. “People shouldn’t be intimidated by environmental sustainability. If you do lots of little things it adds up to a big thing. Like thinking about your waste, recycling, beach clean ups – pick up plastic if you see it on the beach so it doesn’t end up in sea birds.” Sara Dolnicar, Research Professor of Tourism at The University of Queensland, has extensively studied ways to nudge tourists to be more environmentally friendly. According to Sara’s research international tourism contributes up to 12.5% of global warming, generates 5% of CO2 emissions and tourists produce 35 million tonnes of waste each year. Her research showed that

simply by reducing the plate size at a hotel’s breakfast buffet by 3cm there was 20% less food waste. Sara found that by offering guests drink vouchers instead of room cleans, hotels could save on water and cleaning products. She said if just 1% of the 1.2 billion international tourists each year didn’t have their rooms cleaned each day of their holiday it would save enough water to provide food preparation and drinking for 5 million people every year. Sara says that many of the energy saving and environmental measures people undertake at home fail in a holiday format. “When we’re at home we save energy and we save money, and when we’re at home our neighbours are watching us and judging us.” She says tourists need to be enticed to be more environmentally friendly, either by reward or other measures. “Don’t assume tourists will sacrifice pleasure or enjoyment for the environment, they will not.” Jenny Grundy, owner of Roaring 40s Kayaking, is an environmental manager and ecologist by degree and has worked for the Queensland Government in this area. She takes pride in practicing the principles learned in her degrees in her business, which she says is particularly important in Tasmania’s pristine wilderness. “For me, with my background in environmental management it’s common sense stuff. It’s leave

no trace, bring everything out. “Also for us, because we have up to seven days with people, without being in their face, you can educate them about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it in an environmental sense.” Hobart Hideaway Pods, at Kingston, promote themselves as boutique, eco-friendly accommodation. Owners Clare and Jimmy Corrigan have a young family and are concerned about climate change. “In the current climate everyone needs to think about being more sustainable,” said Clare. The average flushing toilet uses 60,000 litres of drinking water annually. At Hobart Hideaway Pods they use high-end compostable toilets with no water. “People aren’t aware how much water a toilet uses, especially when there are water restrictions and so on. Just by having three compostable toilets we’re saving 180,000 litres of water a year. “I have guests saying ‘I didn’t know about the compostable toilets at first’ but then they say they want to get them in their own homes and you’ve converted us. “It’s educational but it’s also aspirational, showing that it doesn’t have to impact the experience.” The pods were constructed using recycled and sustainablysourced materials. They also use passive solar building design where windows, walls, and floors are made to collect and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter months. Grey water from the pods is filtered biologically through a series of reed beds and absorption trenches meaning 159,500 litres of wastewater is prevented from being washed into rivers and waterways each year. Rob Pennicott says that ecotourism operators make Tasmania a better and more sustainable place. “It’s living and believing that us operating a tourism business will leave the world in a better place than if we weren’t.”

TIPS FOR BUSINESSES:

• Recycling. It’s an obvious one but simply by having a bin system so guests can separate rubbish from recyclables makes a big difference. • Consider installing solar panels and for new builds take into account passive solar building design.

There may be government subsidies too. • Look closely at your business’ energy consumption. Could double-glazing, solar power,

LED lighting etc make you more sustainable and in the long term cut costs? Encourage guests to use less power by turning off lights/power points when they’re not in use and attach friendly reminder stickers to your light switches/power points. Consider donating a proportion of ticket sales/ stays per night to an environmental or wilderness charity. Do you cater for guest who are eco-conscious? Ie have you got electric car cables/car chargers, provide or encourage the use of reusable bags/keep cups etc. Look into off setting your carbon emissions by planting trees or investing in other offsets. Encourage your guests to use public transport, walk or provide bikes. Consider growing your own produce. It’s also a great experience for tourists to see where their food comes from and if it’s Tasmania’s clean green soil they will likely be impressed!

BECOME AN ECOSTAR

EcoStar is free for accredited Tasmanian Tourism Operators wanting to demonstrate their commitment to the very highest standards of sustainable environment and cultural practices. It provides a practical framework for tourism operators working in and around conservation areas and high value natural and cultural destinations, to implement best practice and measures to minimise their impact on the natural environment they operate in. EcoStar accreditation is also a resource for all tourism operators wanting to demonstrate to their customers and community their commitment to the highest business sustainability practices.

EcoStar is an add-on module of the Quality Tourism Framework with its own accreditation criteria assessing operators business practices, policies and procedures relating to:

Sustainable Resource Use: Monitoring and minimising Electricity, Fuel, Water and Materials Natural Environment Protection: Measures and procedures to minimise footprint on natural habit and wildlife. Engagement in conservation initiatives.

Built Environment Performance: Building design and performance that conforms to the natural environment values in which it is situated

Environmentally Responsible Behaviour: Evidence of design, planning and business procedures to minimise impact of activities on natural environment Working with Local and Indigenous Communities: What steps has the business undertaken to engage, support and involve local communities and traditional land-owners?

Promotion of Environmental and Social Understanding: Training and education resources and practices for staff and customer on relevant environment and cultural practices.

For further details and to sign up head to https://tict.com.au/tourism-accreditation/sectormodules/ecostar/ or email christine.pritchard@tict.com.au Operators who complete the EcoStar criteria will be assessed as part of their normal tourism accreditation. They will have access to the EcoStar brandmark to display on their marketing collateral, and able to reference their EcoStar Accreditation in grant applications, awards submissions and licensing agreements.