Responsible Travel
spend your travel dollars wisely
In today’s world we all need to reduce our environmental footprint. Travel is a privilege, so think about spending your money with a company that actively protects the environment and genuinely cares about the local communities it operates in. At Auswalk, we try to lessen our environmental impact by:
- operating our office in an environmentally responsible way
- educating our customers about minimal impact walking
- buying local wherever possible
- providing financial assistance to conservation groups
auswalk’s office
We’re fortunate to be based in one of the most spectacular natural regions in the world – the Grampians National Park. Yes, the kangaroos really do hop by the windows!
Our office is very energy efficient with its passive solar design, double glazing, rainwater tanks, solar hot water, evaporative cooling and a worm farm for sewerage waste. Our latest initiative is the installation of a huge solar power system. We adopt a reduce, reuse then recycle policy wherever possible.
auswalk is ecotourism certified
We are proud to have achieved Advanced Ecotourism Certification. This provides travellers with an assurance that Auswalk is committed to best practice ecological sustainability, natural area management and the provision of quality ecotourism experiences. The definition of ecotourism adopted by Ecotourism Australia is:
“Ecotourism is ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation”.
on tour
We adopt a “carry it in – carry it out” policy and pick up litter left by others. You’ll learn minimal impact walking techniques that will ensure you take nothing but photographs and leave nothing behind other than footprints.
We provide insulated lunch carrier bags that can be re-used for many years. We actively recycle as much as possible. On group tours, we provide reusable plastic cups for drinks and provide snacks in bulk containers. These are some of the initiatives we have undertaken to reduce our carbon footprint.
supporting local communities
On Auswalks we stay in local communities, enjoy eating in local restaurants and visit local attractions. In this way, more of your travel dollar benefits grass roots tourism.
supporting conservation
Auswalk donates money to the following four small, local groups that are committed to conserving our natural environment:
Their mission is to educate the community on environmental issues, conduct site inspections on land subject to development applications, operate a Native Plant Nursery, a Bushcare Network and an environmental club for children. An ongoing project is the conservation of endangered “hanging swamps” where plants such as the beautiful grevillea acanthifolia grow. This plant is endemic to the Blue Mountains – it grows nowhere else in the world! These swamps are also home to several threatened animals, insects and plants.
Friends of Otway National Park
This group has been active in the area the Great Ocean Walk passes through for over 25 years. Their primary focus has been to assist the rangers to manage the Great Otway National Park. They regularly write submissions to government on various management and planning issues as well as local seed provenance, preparing sites and planting. One area they have worked on recently is Castle Cove. It is now hard to distinguish this area from natural areas of the park. Other similar works occur regularly along other sections of the Great Ocean Walk.
Friends of the Great South West Walk
This group is a hands-on group that maintains the Great South West Walk track. They have regular working bees. Activities include maintenance work such as scrub trimming and mowing (one hundred and thirty kilometres of track are mown each year), construction of lookouts, staircases, bridges, gravel paths, marketing, administration and organisation.
Friends of Grampians Gariwerd
FOGGS works in close co-operation with local Parks Victoria staff to promote the conservation, protection and restoration of the Grampians National Park. Recent projects include walking track maintenance, environmental monitoring of prescribed burning locations in the National Park and various threatened species projects.
Friends of the Cape to Cape Track
This group is very active in developing and maintaining sections of this long distance track in the Margaret River region of Western Australia. They seek to increase appreciation of the track and encourage community involvement and ownership. They encourage the principles of minimum impact bushwalking, and sustainable environmental useage.
