MEET THE MENTOR: CHARLIE CARLOW
OWNER OF WILD BUSH LUXURY AND PASSIONATE CONSERVATIONIST, CHARLIE CARLOW OPERATES SAFARI LODGES IN SOME OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST SPECTACULARLY DIVERSE WILDERNESS DESTINATIONS, FROM THE ANCIENT LANDSCAPES OF THE FLINDERS RANGES TO THE WETLANDS OF THE TOP END OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY.
Conserving, protecting and regenerating Australia’s wild and unique habitats is at the heart of the Wild Bush Luxury philosophy, with both Arkaba and Bamurru Plains treading lightly on their respective ecosystems, aiming to restore and regenerate their remote environments wherever possible. This commitment to conservation and regeneration makes Charlie a pioneer on Australia’s sustainable travel stage, and we are delighted to welcome him on board as a mentor for The Conscious Travel Foundation’s Collective for 2021.
Why is conscious or sustainable travel important to you?
Travel is a double edged sword in its impact. On one side it is responsible for the degradation of environments while on the other it can be a force for enormous good for the environment, particularly where it takes out (predominantly) city based clients out of their urban comfort zone and its associated materialistic distractions – travel can provide the chance to reconnect with the landscapes, wildlife and environments that ultimately sustain us all.
I believe that for conservation to be ultimately successful, it requires businesses to be actively involved. As a nature travel business my livelihood is completely reliant on an environment that is in good shape – in that sense there is complete alignment. In South Australia, for example, we operate in what would be described as marginal country from a farming/livestock perspective – however, travel provides a channel to employ people in the area, to look after the country and to provide immersive, eye-opening holidays for visitors at the same time. Travel allows this to happen, whether long or short haul (and all the arguments about carbon emissions in travelling to far flung destinations) – tourism should be a contributive force, supporting communities, culture and conserving environments.
What is your proudest sustainability moment?
When, a couple of years ago, in one of our cat traps in Arkaba, we found a Western quoll, a marsupial carnivore - not what we expected to find in there! They were released further away in the national park a year or two before and had only come into Arkaba because we had been trapping and getting rid of feral cats, which predated them and out competed them. It had been over a hundred years since the last quoll had been seen in Arkaba – evidence that some of our conservation work, in itself funded by our tourism, works.
Western Quoll
Who are your sustainability heroes in Australia? Who do you see doing great work?
If you were to pick out one person and the impact they have had, Tim Flannery’s influence has been huge. He has had the ability to put his scientific knowledge into layman’s terms and to communicate the issues to people more broadly – whether that be with wildlife conservation or climate change.
Or Craig Wickham on Kangaroo Island. He’s a really, really good wildlife operator. He’s done so much on the island, both for wildlife and the community. And Janine Duffy, who runs Echidna Walkabout Tours in Victoria. Her work with koala research and her tree planting programs, all embedded in the daily activities of her tourism business show what a difference an individual can make in a local area. And lastly Sab Lord in Kakadu, up at the Top End. His knowledge, his passion for the conservation of these areas, both on the indigenous side and the wildlife side are genuinely inspiring.
Is it true to say that Australian domestic tourism follows a different pattern to that of international visitors?
We do get many Australians staying with us and while international visitors will come and do a really big trip around Australia, Australians take shorter trips in their own country.
I hold Africa up as a bit of a role model in terms of how really immersive wildlife and wilderness tourism is delivered. There’s much more of that in Africa than there is in Australia. Australia doesn’t have the big mammals but it has certainly got the diversity of landscape and environment. You look at somewhere like the Top End and there’s really only two, maybe three properties that you could send high-end clients to. In the same area of Botswana you'd have a plethora of camps of a very high quality. Nature tourism-wise, Australia’s still got a way to go to catch up with Africa.
Kingfisher Suite at Bamurru Plains
Do you think Australia will continue to try and catch up with Africa when it comes to wildlife tourism?
Absolutely. As a destination it is already going in that direction. Take the work of John Daw at Australian Wildlife Journeys. They are all really good, ethical operators, it’s one of their criteria that they need that strongly sustainable basis behind all their members. It’s the first place you go for wildlife tourism in Australia. Members of his collective are very good, conservation motivated operators.
Are there opportunities for guests at Wild Bush Luxury lodges to volunteer, make donations or have a tangible impact?
There are; just by coming to stay with us at Arkaba that’s that’s what you are effectively doing. At Arkaba, it is the tourism that funds our conservation work. Guests can help us with checking the cat traps or setting camera monitors during one of our survey periods.
Because we’re not a charity we can't take donations, so if someone says to us ‘I’d love to help you’, we would normally give them the details of a particular camera trap, for example, and ask them to support us that way. Otherwise, we point them in the direction of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and suggest they donate there, as that can be a much bigger contribution than hands on work - which often is best left to the experts.
Camera trapping near a waterhole at Arkaba
Do you feel like Australia is, or could be, a global leader in sustainability?
Yes, I think it is and could be, if that is not being too ambiguous! In the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, you have one of the world’s leading science driven conservation groups that is making a very real difference in saving species. On the other hand, Australia does have the worst mammal extinction rate in the world and, until recently, one of the highest land clearance rates. Most people even within Australia are far less aware of the challenges Australia’s wildlife and environment faces than they are, for example, in say Africa.
Can you tell us about a conscious journey you’ve undertaken with your family, or one you’d dream to do?
I’d love to take my family to Africa. That’s high up on the list. Africa has that incredible ability to blow people’s minds and almost change their perspective on life completely when they go there. It did for me.
We took a family trip to Borneo, which was arranged by a very conscious operator, Borneo Adventure. We went out into local communities, and trips with local guides and you know that what you were spending goes back. The children got an enormous amount out of it not just from the wildlife and caves, but being out with locals again and the locals that enjoyed having them. We saw elephants, we saw clouded leopard - that was really special.
The rainforests of Borneo
