Margaret River scooped a coveted spot in the Green Destinations Top 100 Sustainable Destinations Awards last month, a huge step towards becoming a certified ECO Destination.
Here are some of the businesses currently working towards or who are already eco accredited, to help you minimise your carbon footprint and maximise the opportunity to give back to the community during your visit to this special place.
Tree Chalets operate entirely off-grid. Photo credit Dylan Alcock / West Beach Studio.
Forest Rise Chalets and Lodge has long been eco accredited in the educational category, and Benson Holland and his team are now working towards carbon neutral.
“We’re a Land for Wildlife property, a great place to relax and reconnect with nature, but there’s still a touch of luxury,” said Benson, a former environmental scientist. Guests enjoy interpretive information about birdwatching and trail guides explaining the five different eco systems on the property, including the orchids, wildflowers, fungi and native animals.
“We’re working towards solar electricity and carbon neutral. We look at what we order, what our footprint is, and offsetting our carbon consumption in a rehabilitation project in the wheatbelt, the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor.”
In the meantime, they’re supporting local business with a recent move away from mini shampoos to large refillable bottles, with superb products from Vasse Virgin.
Fair Harvest is a permaculture farm with camping and glamping facilities, and an absolute delight to visit on their farm and café open days. While we’ve popped them in the accommodation category, Fair Harvest also offers a range of fantastic permaculture workshops, yoga retreats and events such as the annual Festival of Forgotten Skills.
Tree Chalets operate entirely off-grid, harvesting rainwater, solar energy with a 28kW battery storage system. There’s also a Tesla car charger ready to recharge your EV. Set in a Rosegum plantation, you can soak up the atmosphere with an outdoor bath, massage or take a nature walk.
Cruise, fish and relax in comfort on the beautiful Blackwood River in Augusta, knowing you are leaving no trace. Blackwood River Houseboats are set up for eco adventures in splendid isolation, with bush walks, a bird sanctuary, river dolphins and wildflowers along the way. Their base and houseboats operate completely off grid with a minimal footprint.
Cape to Cape Explorer Tours is a Margaret River Region-based hiking operator specialising in experiences on the 124km Cape to Cape Track, and a two-time gold medal winner for ecotourism at the WA Tourism Awards.
Founder and MD Gene Hardy is full of enthusiasm for his epic outdoor ‘office’. “The Margaret River Region and the Cape to Cape Track is home to some of the most incredible nature you can experience anywhere in Australia. From towering karri forest to coastal heathland packed with rare orchids and wildflowers, ancient granite and limestone cliffs overlooking the Indian Ocean, all supporting an incredible diversity of fauna on land and in the water. It’s this environment people come to experience. They’re in awe of it. They connect with it. And they’re changed by it. Caring for and protecting that environment – locally and in a broader sense – is at the core of our business and our staff values.
Out on the track they collect rubbish, carry out pruning and have a “leave no trace” policy, and are looking to become even more sustainable in the year ahead.
Help to preserve the incredible natural environment through eco-accredited local tourism operators. Photo credit Cape To Cape Explorer Tours.
Brothers Mick and Ryan White grew up with Meelup Regional Park as their playground, and now share its natural beauty and native animals with small groups via their tour company South West Eco Discoveries. They offer coastal and wildlife eco tours around Cape Naturaliste, the northern tip of the Margaret River Region, and nocturnal tours in a fox-proof sanctuary in Yelverton where guests meet critically endangered woylies.
“We make the wonder of the natural environment the number one focus on all of our tours.” This could involve sitting under a starry sky while quendas and woylies hop about your feet, or sighting whales from Cape Naturaliste, or discovering stunning wildflowers.
“The environment of the southwest is particularly sensitive due to its high level of rare plants and wildlife, and proximity to a large population. It is imperative that we as eco-accredited businesses lead from the front in establishing a mindset that is sustainable for our environment for future generations.”
For 13 years Sean Blocksidge has taken guests canoeing, hiking, 4WDing and to an exclusive wine lunch experience amongst the barrels at a working winery, and he’s about to hit ‘send’ on his eco accreditation submission. “To be honest I was already doing everything they require for the past decade, this has just been a way of documenting the process. We wanted to help create awareness the Margaret River Region is an eco-tourism destination” says Sean.
Margaret River Discovery Co only hosts small group experiences with a maximum of 6 people, entering spectacular landscapes and leaving only footprints. “Our aim is to leave the landscape better than we found it by volunteering for weed removal, rubbish collection and working with local authorities to provide environmental updates. We also source only local products and have an almost zero waste policy.”
One of the most rewarding aspects according to Sean is meeting the type of people his tour attracts. “I love being surrounded by likeminded people who’ve chosen to do something a bit different to the standard mass tourism experience and want a truly unique adventure into pristine environments. It’s super important to me we leave no trace of having ever been there and our guests leave the region with an authentic experience that more deeply connects them to the Margaret River Region.”
What better way to explore the world’s last remaining tuart forest than to climb and zip line amongst the statuesque trunks? Billed as a treetop obstacle course that will challenge the toughest, Forest Adventures is suitable for brave souls aged 7+, and especially good for adults. Bring your sense of adventure, and look out for the resident brushtail possum and kangaroos.
Winding your way down Caves Road at 80 kilometres an hour, admiring the magnificent bushland and vineyards, it’s hard to imagine that over 100 limestone caves lay below the ground. The ancient caves were created around 1 million years ago, with glorious calcite crystals formations adorning the chambers. Ngilgi and Mammoth are well suited to younger children, Mammoth’s first chamber is wheelchair accessible. Lake Cave is truly spectacular and photogenic, while Jewel Cave is the most pristine and awe-inspiring.
You’ll never see them, but there’s a team dedicated to cleaning and conserving the cave as well as weeding and revegetating the cave precincts. A recent switch to LED lighting has helped better showcase the crystals as well as reduce the growth of lampenflora.
Bouquets to Cullen Wines who have been certified carbon neutral since 2007 and carbon negative since 2019 – a tremendous achievement in an industry where glass production and freight leave a heavy carbon footprint. 2021 Halliday Wine Companion Viticulturist of the Year Vanya Cullen prefers the term ‘carbon positive’, as it’s such an outstanding accomplishment. “We’ve created a carbon positive business – our soils sequester more carbon than our whole business emits.”
Cullen is the only Australian member of International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA), an organisation taking collective action to decarbonise the global wine industry.
Visit the Biodynamic Wine Room for a wine tasting and delicious lunch overlooking the vines, and you’ll notice a greener approach. Vanya’s replaced cut flowers with living vines on the tables, and switched from a la carte to a set menu where 90% of the food is grown onsite, with significantly less food wastage. Cullen use lightweight glass bottles and switched from glossy painted cardboard to recycled, a move praised by UK wine critic Jancis Robinson who notes bottle weight in her reviews.
One Table Farm have been walking the eco-tourism walk for a while, sharing paddock to plate cooking schools and educating guests on sustainable farming philosophy. Owner operators Tim and Cree left high profile corporate careers and purchased a 100-acre blank canvas farm which they’ve transformed. They promote carbon drawdown principles, including the use of solar power, regenerative farming, food waste reduction, recycling, composting and low food carbon miles.
Look out for their range of farm tours, workshops and classes where you might learn to make sourdough, chocolate or the art of cake decorating.
Tim and Cree from One Table Farm offer a range of educational farm tours, classes and workshops on sustainable practices. Photo credit Russell Ord.
