Ecotourism and making a contribution
Guest news story, courtesy of Jenny Lawrence at Gippsland High Country Tours.
As part of our commitment to Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism, Gippsland High Country Tours believes that our tour experiences should give something back to local communities and most importantly to the environments we visit.
One way we support local communities is buying locally and we are lucky to have a fresh food store in Bairnsdale which sources most of its meat, plus some fruits and vegetables from local producers. You will generally enjoy jams and preserves made by small cottage industries too.
Contributing to the environment is really important to us and we do this in a variety of ways. Most of this contribution is through data collection and surveys. Since 1992 Jenny has been recording wildlife encountered on tours and walks then contributing this data to the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (and its predecessor). Mostly these are casual observations that add to knowledge of species distribution, but there have also included targeted surveys or repeated monitoring.
Photo Credit - Gippsland High Country Tours - Red-browed Finch
Wildlife surveys run in conjunction with tours have compared pre and post fire wildlife records and surveyed for, or monitored threatened species. The re-discovery of a small population of threatened Smoky Mouse during a specialised wildlife research tour was very significant and resulted in an article published in The Victorian Naturalist.
Bird lists are routinely submitted to the Birdlife Bird Atlas and over 60 fixed survey sites are visited during a variety of tours. Sometimes these observations are part of a dedicated birdwatching tour, but most often just the birds encountered during a variety of walks and activities on a tour.
We have recently been able to add some nice invertebrate sightings (moths, dragonflies etc…) to the Atlas of Living Australia, which has resulted in some new “dots on the maps”.
Photo Credit: Gippsland High Country Tours - Arrowhead Rockmaster Damselfly
Currently we have a couple of Citizen Science projects we are contributing to-
- Looking out for feathers to collect from wetlands as part of an Australia-wide study on wetland birds called
Feather-map.
- Looking out of emu feathers as part of a genetic study of Emus in south-eastern Australia.
- Reporting dead sea birds to contribute to a study of plastics in the diet of sea birds.
On any tour we do little things to help when we can, picking up rubbish (especially the sort that poses a risk to wildlife), removing a few scattered weeds or reporting a larger infestation to relevant mangers. Every little bit helps.
Gippsland High Country Tours is Advanced Certified, Ecotourism Australia's highest level of certification. This means they consistently deliver quality tourism experiences that follow sustainable practices, with exceptional interpretation values and commitment to nature conservation.
Find out more about Gippsland High Country Tours.
If you have an ecotourism initiative that you would like to share, get in contact with us at eco@ecotourism.com.
Photo Credit: Gippsland High Country Tours