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Awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Environmentalist of the Year, the Australian Geographic Conservation Award and accredited at the highest level by Ecotourism Australia, the ecolodge is the charitable business venture of The Cape Otway Centre for Conservation Ecology, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity. All profits from the ecolodge are reinvested directly into wildlife conservation programs and ecolodge guests enjoy unsurpassed wildlife experiences as a result.
Environment
The ecolodge is a celebration of environmentally sustainable design: showcasing solar power, solar hot water, pure rainwater, extensive organic kitchen gardens and organic dining. This is a place where you can be a part of the natural world, observe it, enjoy it, share it and conserve it. The ecolodge provides an immersive nature experience: guests live sustainably and are invited to observe wildlife, assist with the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned wildlife and participate in ecological monitoring and habitat restoration projects alongside ecological researchers. Only through recognising our connection and interdependence with nature can we truly understand the value of our natural environment, and so seek conserve and protect it.
Community
There is now abundant evidence that green places improve health well being, self-esteem, self-respect and our sense of connection to nature and to other people. The non-profit conservation organisation employs local community members and engages the community through education and conservation monitoring participation programs, open days and workshops. They are also are building capacity for conservation and research through sponsorship of the Cape Otway Centre’s annual Conservation Ecology Fellowship program, and by securing increased resources for conservation efforts undertaken with numerous program partners. As part of these conservation programs the Centre creates volunteer opportunities and builds capacity for conservation in the local community by fostering future conservationists.
The founders, honourary board and management of The Cape Otway Centre for Conservation Ecology live and work on the Great Ocean road and are a part of the local community. They work closely with the community to encourage sustainable land use and to develop sustainable tourism opportunities that help the local economy while minimizing negative environmental and cultural impacts. The Centre works to raise levels of environmental awareness and appreciation of the Otways region, and to promote the values of ecological research and conservation.
The Great Ocean Road and Otways community includes many non-human members including abundant and diverse wildlife, some species of which are found nowhere else in the world. The ecolodge is committed to supporting The Cape Otway Centre for Conservation Ecology in its dedication to wildlife conservation.
We invite every traveler who books a vacation via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the vacations they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same vacation can have different views!
