World's leading conservation resort

Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley was re-certified as carbon-neutral, for the eighth consecutive year since opening, in the carboNZero certification programme and remains the only resort in Australia with this standard of accreditation. This ongoing achievement is a true testament to the resort team who are committed to sustainable and carbon-neutral operations.

Nestled in a private valley with soaring bush escarpments, Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley is located between two national parks; the Wollemi and Gardens of Stone National Parks in the World Heritage listed Greater Blue Mountains area. A short 2.5 hours drive from Sydney and occupying just one per cent of a 7,000-acre wildlife reserve, the secluded resort combines ultra-luxury with a quintessentially Australian outback bush experience, and continues to be a world-leading example of carbon-neutral conservation and sustainable design within a hotel or resort.Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley is also proudly supporting a previous member of its Field Guide team and current University of Sydney student, Emma Spencer, to undertake her three-year PhD research project investigating the dynamics and interactions between prey and predator species across several key biodiversity regions in Australia. A significant portion of Emma’s research will be conducted within the 7,000-acre conservation reserve and will focus on examining relationships between introduced predators (such as the feral cat and red fox) and Australian endemic carnivore species that call Wolgan Valley home, including the spotted-tailed quoll, goanna and wedge-tailed eagle.Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley continues to work collaboratively with the University of Western Sydney as they utilise drone technology to survey wombat burrows and macropod populations within the valley and also supporting critical research into the devastating condition of Sarcoptic mange in wombats.

Additionally, the success of the resort’s ongoing revegetation efforts is gradually becoming very apparent. Since opening in 2009, the Field Guide team have planted several thousand trees and native shrubs along the riverbanks and in many key areas of the reserve and the results speak for themselves. Resort guests remain actively involved in these projects through the scheduled Conservation Activity programme.

Detailed planning is also well underway to develop a propagation facility at Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley to further support the revegetation programme. Over the past two years, guests have been busily helping the resort Field Guides collect native seeds and the team are excited at the prospect of including guests in the process of growing the resort’s very own native stock.

“Conservation and sustainability lie at the very heart of our resort, and we are extremely proud of our environmental practices and credentials,” says General Manager James Wyndham. “We are committed to sustainable best practice and our dream is to show the world a tourism model that is at one with the environment and providing an ultra-luxury experience for our guests to discover.”