Ecotourism is an often misunderstood term. It describes nature based tourism that occurs in a natural area, is ecologically sustainable and, through interpretation, educates participants about the area. It must also contribute to local conservation (environmental) and local (social) communities.
The O'Reilly family pioneered ecotourism in Australia when they began showing visitors around the park in 1915. O'Reilly's Story is a classic case of ecotourism enabling a local landholder to find a sustainable alternative to farming in an area of great environmental significance.
More recently O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat has been awarded Advanced Accreditation under the internationally acclaimed Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP). This program is administered by Ecotourism Australia.
The NEAP accreditation logo identifies O'Reilly's as having achieved best practice in vital areas including ecological sustainability, natural area focus, education and interpretation, contribution to conservation, working with local communities, cultural history, client satisfaction and responsible marketing.
For you, our guest, advanced accreditation under NEAP provides you with peace of mind guaranteeing a quality, ecologically responsible tourism experience. More information on the NEAP program is available from Ecotourism Australia on www.ecotourism.org.au
In 2005, O'Reilly's achieved the prestigious Green Globe Benchmarked Certificate under the new Green Globe Certification program, which recognises the operation's commitment to operating at the world's highest environmental standard.
Green Globe is the global benchmarking, certification and improvement system assisting the international travel and tourism industry to attain sustainability. Green Globe provides a certification system that responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet, including the greenhouse effect, over-use of freshwater resources, destruction of biodiversity, production of solid and biological waste and social issues. For more information, visit www.greenglobe21.com
O'Reilly's has spent considerable time benchmarking our energy and water consumption, waste production and disposal as well as implementing an integrated environmental and social policy. These measures will deliver ongoing reduction of non-renewable resources, extensive cost savings and secure a sustainable commercial and ecological future for us.
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Also in keeping with our commitment to the environment, O'Reilly's has joined the GreenPower program, whereby we purchase a percentage of our energy via green sources. GreenPower is renewable energy sourced from the sun, the wind, water and waste that is purchased by an energy company on behalf of a household or company. In 2005, by using GreenPower, O'Reilly's prevented 72 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from being released to the environment, which is the equivalent of taking 17 cars off the road or planting 299 native trees. For more information, visit www.greenpower.gov.au.
O'Reilly's also has an extensive Environmental Management Plan and a summary of this plan is available as our Environmental Management Policy.
