From floods to cyclones to droughts and nearby earthquakes, Australia is struggling to promote and protect its natural resources.Virtuous Traveler Leslie Garrett asks if Down Under can get on top of its environmental challenges to become an ecotourism hotspot.
Ask a traveler about visits to a rainforest and you’ll likely hear about treks through the Amazon or zip-lining in Costa Rica. Yet tucked Down Under, on less than 0.2 percent of the continent’s land mass is the oldest rainforest in the world – more than 135 million years old – and home to the largest range of plants and animals on earth, including some that exist nowhere else.
What’s more interesting, this rainforest rubs up against The Great Barrier Reef, making it the only place in the world where two UNESCO Heritage Sites meet.
It’s a source of great pride to Australia, which is going to some efforts to invite the world to marvel. But one has to walk a fine line between promotion and protection, as anyone involved in ecotourism can attest.
