Latest news with #green tourism
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Sustainable Sydney: How Australia's Tourism Industry Is Leaning Into The Green
Cityscape of Sydney, Australia, which has numerous green tourism initiatives. getty Margret Campbell stands at the edge of Sydney's Harbor foreshore, her hand brushing the leaves of a seasonal wattle tree. 'This isn't just a plant,' says Campbell, her voice steady with purpose. 'It's a seasonal pharmacy in a huge supermarket and a teaching classroom. My ancestors lived sustainably here for 65,000 years. Now, Sydney is finally listening.' Campbell isn't just preserving history, she's helping write Sydney's future. As founder of Dreamtime Southern X, her Aboriginal-led tours fuse ancient land stewardship practices with the city's ambitious sustainability push. And travelers are taking note. 'Sydney is doing something special,' says Stephen McGillivray, chief partner marketing officer at Internova Travel Group, which recently brought U.S. travel agents to Sydney. 'They're not just slapping solar panels on buildings. They're building a green economy that honors First Nations wisdom.' They're not just slapping solar panels on buildings. They're building a green economy that honors First Nations wisdom. Stephen McGillivray, chief partner marketing officer at Internova Travel Group The numbers back him up: Sydney now ranks second in the Asia-Pacific region on the prestigious Global Destination Sustainability Index, with a score that leapt six points in a year. But this isn't your typical eco-reboot. From airport runways to art galleries, Australia's glittering harbor city is quietly proving that cutting-edge climate tech works best when rooted in timeless traditions. Aunty Margret Campbell, an elder and founder of Dreamtime Southern X, an Aboriginal culture tour operator, leads a tour around the Sydney Harbour foreshore. Aren Elliott A blueprint for Australian sustainability Campbell's tours reveal what sustainability looks like through a 65,000-year lens. 'Every plant, every rock, flora, fauna and marine life has its story and place,' she explains. "Modern Sydney's finally remembering that.' Her work dovetails with impressive progress: Sydney Airport now spends 24 percent more on Indigenous suppliers than in 2022, part of its 2030 net-zero plan. The new $344 million expansion of the Art Gallery of New South Wales has a six-star Green Star rating, using stormwater recycling and native plant roofs. The City of Sydney has slashed operational emissions by 76 percent since 2006 through building electrification and implementing energy-saving circular economy policies. 'It's not about going backward,' says Melissa Snape of tour operator Collette, which partners with Campbell's company. 'It's about using ancestral knowledge to solve modern problems.' A concrete jungle turns green Unlike other sustainability leaders, Sydney's innovations aren't obvious. There are no signs advertising the city's green credentials. And Sydney is a typical big city, a little edgier than Melbourne but friendlier than Brisbane, so people aren't exactly talking about it all the time. You have to look closer to find out how it's being sustainable. But the evidence is all there. At Sydney Metro West, tunnel boring machines chew through sandstone while running entirely on renewable energy. As one project leader noted, "It's engineering meets ethics.' In Surry Hills, boutique hotels like the one real estate consultant Sebastian Wade visited now source power from regional solar farms. 'They even composted my breakfast scraps,' he marvels. But the real magic happens where tradition and innovation meet. At Midden by Mark Olive, the Indigenous restaurant inside Sydney Opera House, diners taste lemon myrtle-crusted barramundi while hearing stories of bush-tucker foraging. 'Every bite teaches stewardship,' says McGillivray. Sydney's sustainability playbook reads like a tech startup's pitch deck — with a heavy First Nations influence. Sydney's ripple effect The impact of Sydney's sustainability efforts stretches far beyond the city's postcard skyline. At Voyages Indigenous Tourism, solar-powered resorts in the Outback fund health care and education for Anangu communities. Their National Indigenous Training Academy has placed over 2,500 First Nations people in tourism jobs. Even Australia's famous adrenaline tourism is getting a reboot. Adventurer Meeshka Brand found that Sydney's Blue Mountains trekking hubs now offer zero-waste climbing gear rentals. 'You rappel down sandstone cliffs knowing your dollars protect them,' she says. Australia may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of ecotourism, but the innovations happening in Sydney are affecting the entire country. And their influence is growing. The road ahead for Sydney Challenges remain. Overtourism still strains resources, and critics argue green certifications need stricter oversight. Campbell is hopeful. A former schoolteacher, she says her tours are shaping how visitors see Sydney, and affecting the city's overall vision of sustainability. "It's bringing awareness to these issues," she says. But she says more needs to be done. In addition to working with tour operators and cruise ships, Campbell also offers tours to business and school groups. She teaches them the principles of the ancestors — that you can't take something from the land without putting something back – and the importance of rituals and tradition. It's clear that Sydney's voyage toward sustainability is only beginning. The signs of progress are there, whether you're visiting a museum or riding the Metro. In time, visitors will also discover the deeper spiritual connection that Campbell is teaching. It will no doubt come with more reflection — and with the sustainability initiatives that are starting to define Sydney as a tourism destination.
Forbes
18-06-2025
- General
- Forbes
UNESCO's Man And Biosphere World Changing Program, That Needs More Awareness
The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program is a remarkable initiative carried out by resourceful, dedicated communities around the world who develop multi-pronged, sustainable ecosystems with economic, quality of life, and environmental benefits. Each biosphere reserve functions as a 'living laboratory' for sustainable development with hundreds of local initiatives ranging from biodiversity conservation, to regenerative agriculture, and green tourism. Though MAB has been in existence since 1971, and today there are 759 UNESCO biosphere reserves across 136 countries, including 28 in the U.S., and more than 250 million people live in biosphere reserves globally, the program has limited awareness in much of the world. Increased resources to communicate what the program is all about and the value it provides, could have a tremendous impact on further growth. In late March I attended the U.K.'s UNESCO Man and Biosphere summit in Brighton and Hove in Sussex England (south of London) that brought together the country's 7 biospheres, including The Living Coast (Brighton and Hove), Wester Ross, Galloway and Southern Ayrshire, the Dyfi Valley, the Isle of White, Isle of Man, and North Devon. Representatives from each UK biosphere met to share their progress and learnings, and better understand the successes in Brighton and Hove including: Mauro Colagreco, the remarkable chef who has done as much as any chef in the world to promote biodiversity and sustainability, is using his perch as a world renown chef to help UNESCO increase awareness for MAB. In 2022 Mauro was designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, the first chef named to this role. Mauro's restaurant, Mirazur, in Menton, France was chosen '#1 In The World' in 2019. Aside from serving only biodynamic food supplied from the restaurant's 5 biodynamic gardens and carefully chosen local suppliers, Mirazur's kitchen is the first and only Michelin 3-star restaurant that's both 100% plastic free, and also a B-Corp. He shares his pioneering work on biodynamics and the total elimination of plastic in kitchens with other chefs, as Vice President of Chefs for the global Relais & Chateaux Association, and also at his other 26 restaurants on 4 continents. At the extraordinary Goldstone Primary School in Hove, its principal and educators work throughout the district to integrate sustainability into all aspects of the curriculum. The school was blessed with a large plot of land, and that day, one of the first warm, sunny days of Spring, all the kids were outside learning from nature. A 4th grade class was studying British history during World War II by planting and harvesting a victory garden. Mauro visited the elementary school and spoke with 4th graders who asked extremely thoughtful questions about the importance and impact of sustainability on his restaurants, on local communities, and on the planet. During the week before the UNESCO UK MAB summit, the Mauro Colagreco Michelin-Star Restaurant at London's historic, 5-star Raffles at The OWO Hotel, offered an extraordinary meal that honored the 7 UK biospheres. Dishes inspired by each region featured produce, fish, meat, poultry, and dairy products from those biospheres, beautifully presented, like ceviche with seafood from North Devon served inside a hollowed-out kohlrabi, and a beautiful, honey-based dessert with ingredients from the Isle of Man. The OWO Hotel, opened in 2023, is an extraordinary restoration of the Old War Office (OWO) for the U.K.'s Department of Defense, where Winston Churchihill ran England's WWII operations. I had not previously known of the important work of the UNESCO MAB initiatives around the world, and when I described my extraordinary experience to people on both sides of the Atlantic, I didn't find anyone else who was familiar the Biosphere Reserves. I researched UNESCO MAB and learned that the U.S. had 28 biospheres, but the last one that joined the program was 35 years ago, in 1990. Having worked at Disney in the licensing division and managed Disney toy line licenses for Mattel globally, I noticed some parallels with UNESCO. In the corporate world, licensors create the name, standards, overall awareness, and brand image that all products and programs under its umbrella must live up to. Licensees market their own executions of the brand, and play a major role in creating awareness for their specific initiatives. While UNESCO is not a commercial brand, its Man and the Biosphere (MAB) program provides a unifying identity, framework, and international recognition for the over 700 biosphere reserves worldwide. It facilitates cooperation, and each reserve brings the concept to life in ways that reflect its unique ecological, social, and economic context. Given the program's tremendous economic and quality of life benefits to communities and the environment globally, and given the importance of the UN 17 Sustainability Goals that have been adopted by governments and organizations around the world, greater awareness of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere program would be additive and a virtuous cycle. It would help each biosphere with 'place marketing' (promoting locations to attract tourism, investment and business growth), showcasing each as a great place: - For people to live - For businesses to locate and find talent - For university students to study - For tourists and eco-tourists to visit - For products to proudly display they are from Individual UNESCO Biospheres often operate on tight limited budgets, with local partners' and regional funding. The small core teams who operate them are usually experts in biodiversity and community engagement, but not marketing. Given the seemingly low global awareness of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere programs, it's important that more dollars be spent at the global level to increase awareness, knowledge of, and the value of the program to encourage other communities to join. UNESCO, is currently setting up national and international partnerships with businesses and organizations interested in supporting these local sustainability labs that bring so many health and wellbeing and economic benefits to their residents. The positive flywheel of support and guidance will help grow the movement: - Increasing the likelihood new communities will want to qualify - Increasing the value to participant communities, as more people will want to visit, students will want to study, and businesses will want to locate there because of the MAB designation - Businesses can claim their products are from their biosphere, benefiting from associations with health and sustainability. On-package biosphere designations can also help grow biosphere awareness around the world, wherever the products are sold, even hundreds of miles away. I found this wonderful Cheddar with the Isle of Man MAB designation in New York City food shop.
