Eco-tourism has to be the future of travel. With environmental pressures bearing down from all directions, sustainable adventuring is really the only ethical choice. Luckily, if you’re in Sydney or surrounds looking for some quality time in our beautiful backyard, Damien McClellan from Ecotreasures has you covered.

At the core of every breathtaking trip Damien organises, there is a serious message. The natural world is ours to marvel at – but it’s also ours to preserve. All Damien’s tours go into conservation areas. Everyone who participates learns about why we need conservation areas in the first place, and what we stand to lose.

Since 2012, Ecotreasures has helped plant over 1063 native trees. This month, we planted another 200 trees with assistance from the Condobolin and Districts Landcare Network.

Condobolin and Districts Landcare were lucky to receive 200 mixed native tube-stock for planting in our region.

A local youth group helped to plant seedlings in the new bird habitat area of our recreational lake. This area has been created to give birds a safe area to rest, breed and forage for food. The plantings will stabilise the banks of the lake and create vital habitat for the birds and other wildlife.

The tube-stock, once grown, will facilitate numerous benefits to our native wildlife such as bees, gliders, birds, insects and bugs, but there will also be many benefits seen in land productivity through soil stabilisation, wind and shelter-belts to surrounding land and livestock. The list goes on. All species planted were native to Australia, some being endemic to our region.

Thank you to the Fifteen Trees community for supplying these seedlings to our community. We are ever so grateful and look forward to seeing them growing into strong, healthy plants.

Sarah Cranney | Local Landcare Coordinator | Condobolin & Districts Landcare

Ecotreasures’ trees will grow up a long way from the blue waters of Sydney that inspired their purchase, but the connection is just as strong as if they had been planted on the shoreline. We are all part of an ecosystem. Every piece has its place in the puzzle, and the health of our seas is intimately connected with the health of our forests, with the stability of our land, and with the commitment of its human custodians.

Damien is passionate about ‘spreading the message of conservation across the world while having a good time with new friends’. We absolutely couldn’t be more on board.

Writer – Sarah Hart.

Sarah is an artist whose passions include the stories and experiences of women and narrative driven creative work. Her aim is to delight, to reveal glimpses of everyday beauty, and to celebrate flights of the ordinary. Sarah works across a range of media, with an abiding interest in pen and ink, mixed media and the human form. You can find Sarah here.