Check out the destinations where we can show you operators who have been certified as sustainable or eco through credible certification agencies. That means they have made the effort to ensuring they do not compromise their environment. They are helping move our travel industry in a new direction and by supporting them we are in turn supporting our planet.
Australia
In land area, Australia is the sixth largest nation after Russia, Canada, China, the United States of America and Brazil. It has, however, a relatively small population.
Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent and its outlying islands. The mainland is the largest island and the smallest, flattest continent on Earth.
Australia is a land of natural beauty with so many changing landscapes and seascapes. The highest point on the mainland, Mount Kosciuszko, is only 2228 metres and it is also home to the world's largest and most spectacular reef system The Great Barrier Reef. From the tops of the mountains to the depths of the sea it's magnificent. But there are some parts of Australia that really stand out as natural wonders and offer a great selection of eco-experiences for the traveller.
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system which has over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres. The reef is located off the coast of Queensland starting around Bundaberg, extending into in the Coral Sea, and all the way up to Australia's northern tip.
The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single living structure built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. This incredible reef supports a wide diversity of life, and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. It is one of the world seven natural wonders and one of the worlds leading tourist attractions.
There is nothing more valuable in the world than our natural treasures and the Great Barrier Reef is irreplaceable.
Gold Coast
The Gold Coast is a city in the Australian state of Queensland. The Gold Coast City is known for its sunny subtropical climate, surfing beaches, waterways and canal systems. Although often thought as the glitter strip it is the natural assets of the Gold Coast that attract so many people to this destination. World class beaches, stunning hinterland rainforest and a stunning year round climate that is conducive to a great outdoor lifestyle.
It is also one of the Gateways to the the National Landscape known as Australia's Green Cauldron which is home to ancient Gondwanan rainforests with beathtaking waterfalls, hiking and waterholes.
Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road is a 243 km stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warnambool. The road was constructed to provide work for returning soldiers and dedicated as a Memorial to those killed in the First World War. It is one of Australia's great scenic coastline drives.
Much of the road hugs the coast tightly, offering outstanding views of Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. The road passes through the Great Otway National Park, which includes some of the last surviving temperate rainforests in the south of Australia.
It is also a great part of the world to see healthy Koala populations with much of the coastal forest habitat protected.
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is 112 kilometres (70 mi) southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf Saint Vincent. At its closest point to the mainland, it is 13 kilometres (8 mi) offshore from Cape Jervis on the tip of the Fleuriau Peninsula in the state of South Australia.
Kangaroo Island is one of South Australia's most popular tourist attractions, attracting over 140,000 visitors each year, with international visitors, primarily from Europe, accounting for more than 25% of these visits.
More than half of the Island has never been cleared of vegetation and a quarter of it is conserved in National Parks, Conservation Parks and five Wilderness areas. It is great place to see Australian wildlife. Surrounded by ocean this also allows visitors the chance to see the endangered Australian Sea Lions and Fur Seals as well as boasting great wildlife.
The Daintree Rainforest
The Daintree Rainforest in Australia is one of the most diverse and beautiful examples of Mother Nature in the world. It is home to the most diverse range of plants and animals on earth, and all are found within an area of approximately 1200 square kilometres – the largest chunk of tropical rainforest in Australia. The Daintree region supports species of plants and animals that have existed for millions of years and are integral to the ecosystem what happens in the Daintree Rainforest affects what happens on the other side of the planet.
This World Heritage Listed area contains the highest number of plant and animal species that are rare, or threatened with extinction, anywhere in the world.
Visiting the Daintree Rainforest exposes tourists to a wonderful outdoor experience. Untouched tropical rainforest, Golden beaches with calm water, Hiking tracks, Thousands of species of birds and other wildlife, Remote wilderness, Ecological information about the most diverse ecosystem in the world.
The tropical warmth combined with dazzling sunshine and crystal clear calm water makes you wonder if this is what heaven could be like.
Ningaloo Reef
Ningaloo Reef is the world's largest fringing coral reef located off the west coast of Australia, approximately 1200 km north of Perth. The reef is 260 km long and the only large reef positioned very close to a landmass. When this reef spawns it attracts the world's largest fish the whale shark.
Although most famed for the whaleshark which feed there during March to June, the reef is also rich in coral and other marine life. During the winter months, the reef is part of the migratory routes for dolphins, dugongs, manta rays and Humpback Whales.
The beaches of the reef are an important breeding ground of the loggerhead, green and hawksbill turtles. They also depend on the reef for nesting and food. The Ningaloo supports an abundance of fish (500 species), corals (300 species), molluscs (600 species) and many other marine invertebrate. The reef is less than half a kilometre offshore in some areas, such as Coral Bay.
Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bite, and the north by the Gawler Ranges.
This wild peninsula is often referred to the peninsula of parks with nearly half its area set aside as reserves, parks and native bush land. Protected areas like these are a haven for wonderful wildlife and our chances of seeing kangaroos, emus and more whales.
It also provides spectacular views of the Great Australian Bite which has been carved out by the full force of this southern ocean.
This part of the world is wild, remote and beautiful a place to get away from hectic modern life.
Flinders Ranges
The Flinders Ranges is located about 200km North west of South Australia's capital city Adelaide. Once you get to the ranges you start to get a feel for the unique topography of South Australia's largest mountains. But this vast and arid land changes landscapes like night and day. One thing you can not miss spectacular sunsets and sunrises over the range.
The National Park within the Flinders Ranges has an area of 95,000 ha and this area is crucial for diversity in South Australia for both flora and fauna. The list includes typical Australian bush characters. like the cockatoos, emus, eagles and wallaby's.
There are many ways you can enjoy the spectacular gorges, sheltered creeks lined with River Red Gums and abundant wildlife and all of them get you out and about in the middle of this naturally sculpted landscape.
Australia's Green Cauldron
This magnificent area was created 20 million years ago when the largest shield volcano in the southern hemisphere erupted. Millions of years of erosion has carved out a geological masterpiece from the stunning coastline to the world heritage listed rainforests and inland to the Great dividing Range this entire area is just waiting to be explored.
Australia's Green Cauldron is located on the Queensland and NSW border and stretches from Byron Bay to the Gold Coast and west towards the Great Dividing Range. The footprint of the volcano encompasses 7 different regions.
The last volcano to erupt was Mt Warning which reached nearly 2,000 metres in height and the lava flows went as far as 100 km out to covering an area of 5000 square kilometres.
Over time the volcano’s has eroded to half it's original height and has formed a massive caldera which preserves dinosaur plant and animal species like the Antrarctic Beech that have long since vanished in other areas.
Christmas Island
There are some places on earth that are secluded pockets of life, where Darwin's theory of evolution and adaption can be clearly seen. Isolated islands in the middle of the ocean are best to understand his theory and one of Australia's most unique islands for nature is Christmas Island.
Christmas Island is the tip of a volcanic mountain. Born from an eruption 60 million years ago it has created an Island at the end of the Java trench that rises from 3000 metres of sea water. but it's the nature of this island that makes it so special with some of the species here found nowhere else on our entire planet and incredible marine life that cruises this shoreline. It is one of the most isolated territories in Australia and if you're a nature lover this is your paradise.
National Landscapes
Australia's iconic landscapes are a major drawcard for visitors, with national parks such as Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year.
The National Landscapes initiative - a partnership between Tourism Australia and Parks Australia - is building on the natural link between tourism and conservation to market Australia's world-class visitor experiences.
Our National Landscapes are places that capture the essence of Australia - inspirational destinations including Australia's Red Centre, Flinders Ranges, the Australian Alps, the Great Ocean Road, Australia's Wilderness Coast, Kakadu, the Green Cauldron, Greater Blue Mountains, the Kimberley region and Kangaroo Island. These areas showcase and promote the best of Australia and are sought after by the global target audience of Experience Seekers, travellers keen to get off the beaten track and connect with local culture.
Kakadu
Kakadu has been home to Aboriginal people for more than 50,000 years, and during that time the land and their culture have become intertwined. Kakadu National Park is managed jointly by its Aboriginal traditional owners and the Director of National Parks.
Covering nearly 20,000 square kilometres, Kakadu is one of very few places World Heritage listed for both its cultural and its natural values. Its enduring natural values stem from its exceptional beauty and unique biodiversity, its variety of landforms, habitats and wildlife.
Kakadu National Park is a timeless place - a landscape of exceptional beauty, great biodiversity and a wide variety of of landforms, habitats and wildlife. Kakadu is home to 68 mammals (almost one-fifth of Australia's mammals), more than 120 reptiles, 26 frogs, more than 2,000 plants and over 10,000 species of insects.
Kakadu is a living cultural landscape. Generations of Bininj/Mungguy have lived on and cared for this country for tens of thousands of years. Their spiritual connection with the land is globally recognised in Kakadu's World Heritage listing, which honours one of the oldest living societies on earth. The natural and cultural heritage of Kakadu has also been identified as a key element of Australia's great National landscapes.
Byron Bay
Byron Bay is a beachside town in the north of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is located 759 kilometres north of Sydney and 140 kilometres south of Brisbane. Cape Byron a headland adjacent to the town, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia.
This stunning coastal town is a world wide tourist attraction boasting stunning beaches, great surf spots, diving, many water sports, hiking in the stunning surrounding coastal forests and access to Australia's ancient Gondwanan forests in the surrounding hinterland.
It is a mix between low key traveling with an incredibly social atmosphere. It is a destination that depicts fun in the sun.
Kimberley
The Kimberley is one of the nine regions of Western Australia (WA). It is located in the northern part of WA, bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts, and on the east by the Northern Territory.
The Kimberley is an area of 423,517 square kilometres (163,521 sq mi), which is about three times the size of England or comparable to the size of California or 15% larger than Japan and the same size as South Africa.
The Kimberley consists of the ancient, steep-sided mountain ranges of northwestern Australia cut through with sandstone and limestone gorges and steep ridges from which the extreme monsoonal climate has removed much of the soil.
The Kimberley was one of the earliest settled parts of Australia, with the first arrivals landing about 40,000 years ago from the islands of what is now Indonesia.
The Kimberley has a tropical monsoon climate. The region receives about 90% of its rainfall during the short wet season, from November to April. But this rainfall creates some of the most striking scenery anywhere in the world with stunning waterfalls, gorges and landscapes that have become famous all around the world.
Whitsundays
The Whitsunday Islands are about 1125 km North of Brisbane and about 725 Km South of Cairns. Airlie Beach is the gateway to the 74 picturesque islands that make up this chain.
The Whitsundays are continental islands that started to form over 100 million years ago, when catastrophic volcanic activity formed a mountainous region, back then it was still part of the mainland. After the last Ice Age the mountains were engulfed by the rising sea level, forming Australia's largest group of offshore islands.
Originally named by Captain Cook the famous explorer in 1770 the islands today are still fairly untouched mainly consisting of designated national parks which include coral cays and fringing coral reefs.
This is a water lovers paradise from sailing, snorkeling, diving, exploring and exploring some of the most beautiful and unspoiled beaches in the world.
Nitmiluk
This vast and ancient Jaywon land located in the NT is about the size of Switzerland. It stretches from the southern end of Kakadu National Park all the way south to Mataranka. West to Pine Creek and east to bullman. There is a lot of country to cover but the draw card of the area is the Nitmuluk gorge which carves through this rugged landscape.
This 292,008 hectare National Park is owned by the Jawoyn Aboriginal people and jointly managed with the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory. Some of the park’s features include spectacular dissected sandstone country, broad valleys and numerous, significant cultural sites. The deep Nitmiluk Gorge carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River is the central attraction of the area, and creates a wonderful ‘natural playground’ for many activities.
Fraser Island
Fraser Island is to the world's sand masses what the Great Barrier reef is to the world's coral reefs.
This monumental island started to form 800,000 years ago.
Eroded granite from the mainland washed northwards in the currents and the sand accumulated around three volcanic rocky outcrops Indian Head, Middle Rocks and Waddy Point.
During successive ice ages as the sea level dropped and the sand dried out the wind formed the sand deposits into dunes. Through the incredible cycle of life dunes have transformed into wonderful forests and in some places even rainforest.