The term "Eco" is used every day in society and often times is overused and overmarketed to the point of having very little meaning. But for us at Ecolodges Indonesia and Ecosafari Indonesia "Eco" has great meaning and importance and is at the heart of everything that we do.

We have a genuine commitment to sustainability in our properties and it is a continual work in progress. Read on for more clarity on what this means for our guests.

Ecolodges Indonesia: Our Eco History

Ecolodges Indonesia (ELI) commenced in 1996 seeking methods to measure and reduce our ecological footprint with the establishment of our first lodge, the Udayana Kingfisher Ecolodge in Bali. Our first international partner was the Environmental Department of The University of Western Sydney who gave us a system based on “Six Pillars of Eco-tourism” (1996 – 1999).

ELI then began a beneficial relationship with Green Globe 21 (2001 – 2010) with the aim of quantifying the “Six Pillar” system to obtain an international Eco-certification entailing four years of benchmarking (2002 – 2006) of the Udayana Kingfisher Ecolodge. In 2006 we obtained this certification and were the first small hotel in Indonesia to achieve Green Globe Certified status.

We have our own Eco Standards System

ELI has now made a very tough company ecological standard of measurements based on 57 measurements of many aspects the Six Pillars. There is a possible score of 30,000 points including new sections for solar power, using reverse osmosis to clean dirty water for immediate use and a new Carbon footprint measurement developed by a team from the Governments of Sweden and Indonesia at our Kelimutu Crater Lakes Ecolodge.

We now operate with 20 years of experience and our own comprehensive Eco Standards System that we measure our properties against.

Each ecolodge has an ELI Eco score and has to improve through annual plans. The scores are compared against an internationally acclaimed ecolodge in Australia, Lady Elliot Eco Resort. Any hotel can enter this system with the aim of improving through annual ecological plans.

The Rimba and Kelimutu Lodges have greatly improved their scores after their recent installations of a Solar Power system.

Kelimutu is the leader due to its low carbon footprint and now developing farm producing organic food; the ecolodge was chosen by the Swedish and Indonesian governments to undertake a carbon footprint study for application in Indonesia. Kelimutu’s footprint is more than 150 times less than the average Kuta hotel in Bali.

Current scores are as follows:

LADY ELLIOT 68.3, KELIMUTU 64.8, RIMBA 51.0, SATWA 46.1

Any score above 30 is considered good; 40 very good and 50 excellent.

Eco Friendly Lodges

In summary, the Six Pillars are based on measurements for ecological sustainability, eco-management practices, partnerships with key stakeholders, training, culture, support of local businesses, employment practices and transparency. We aim to green our workplace practices and cultivate strong relationships with the local communities where we operate our lodges.

All of our ecolodges are established as conservation areas; we now protect over 60 ha of land in Indonesia as sanctuaries for birds and animals, native plants and special flowers to encourage butterflies. Some examples of our measurable eco practices are:

• areas of conservation in the immediate environment around lodges
• % of solar energy of the total electricity needs – Rimba and Kelimutu
• % volume of rainwater (in litres) stored to total water use where possible – Rimba and Satwa
• % grey water recycled on to the gardens through biological recycling systems – all lodges
• the weight of growing organic food (kg) produced.
• % rubbish recycled to a total – paper, bottles, cans and clean plastic.
• Presence of special systems e.g. carbon footprint measurement - Kelimutu.
• 'Solar hot water systems, solar lights and energy saving bulbs help to reduce the use of non-renewable energy; Kelimutu and Satwa are electrically powered by the sun.
• The number of training programmes raise awareness of the environment among staff, guests and the wider community.
• % of our staff are local, empowering local people with sustainable jobs founded on the environment
• Our accounts are transparent and a showing over 70% of profit is used for further environmental protection using a recognised accounting system; accounts are audited.