Known as "Australia's last wilderness" or " the world 's last paradise", Lord Howe is an archipelago of 28 islands. The main Lord Howe Island has an area of 56 km2, stretching nearly 12 km.
Lord Howe has all the makings of a tourist destination that could easily be overcrowded: lush green peaks, pristine white-sand beaches, and clear water where you can see fish. Yet the island, nearly 600km east of Australia, is almost always deserted. The only sounds you’ll hear when hiking through the rainforest or up the mountains are those of wildlife.
Lisa Makiiti, an island resident and owner of Bowker Beach House, says the secret to its unspoiled landscape is keeping visitors to a minimum. For more than 40 years, Lord Howe has maintained a limit of 400 visitors at any one time by limiting the number of rooms it can accommodate overnight. This is done to protect the island’s many endemic species and to help it earn UNESCO World Heritage status.
Darcelle Matassoni, who works for the island’s council, said the visitor cap also creates a unique experience that attracts interest. Makiiti’s guesthouse is currently booked until 2026. Accommodations range from $200 to $3,000. Round-trip airfare from Sydney to the island can cost nearly $700 in peak summer.
Dean Hiscox, a local guide, says the island’s nature is a top priority, with policies in place to protect it. More than 85% of the island is still virgin forest, while about 70% is in a conservation area where all development is prohibited. Residential areas account for 15% of the area.
Life on the island is like living in a documentary, according to Ian Hutton, curator of the Lord Howe Museum.
The island is home to many species of plants and animals found nowhere else. The rainforests are filled with climbing plants, orchids and birds. The top of the Gower, a great hiking spot, is home to rare and endangered cloud forests. The island’s most famous endemic export is the seed of the Kentia palm, a world-famous house palm.
On the beach, visitors walk past flocks of Providence Petrels, a gray-and-white seabird with a curved black bill. The birds are considered so friendly to humans that visitors can even approach and pick them up.
The island's charm lies in the closeness to nature. Beaches are just a few minutes' walk or bike ride from hotels and guesthouses, and a 5-10 minute boat ride to the main reef. "You have to spend 3-4 hours to visit the Great Barrier Reef but you definitely won't see as many things as here," said one resident. There are about 500 species of fish, crabs, starfish, and urchins living around this reef.
One of the best places to dive is Ball's Pyramid, the world's tallest sea rock located 24 km east of the main island, surrounded by caves and waters rich in rare marine life.
The island also has strict biosecurity protocols in place to guard against invasive species. Imported goods and visitors are thoroughly inspected. The island also employs sniffer dogs to sniff out rats and frogs, and has built a shoe-scrubbing station at the beginning of the trail for hikers to prevent the spread of fungus. The island’s strict level of conservation is something that visitors enjoy from the moment they step off the plane, according to Hutton.
The island also eliminated introduced pigs, goats, and feral cats. New breeds of domestic cats have been banned since 1982.
In 2019, the government heavily promoted a rat-hunting campaign. The initiative was widely supported, but the use of chemical rat poison and frequent house inspections to kill rats made many people uncomfortable. Many native animals thrived after the successful rat-killing program.
However, the island still faces the threat of climate change. Long-term changes in air and ocean temperatures and the El Nino phenomenon have caused many coral reefs to bleach and cloud forests to die.
Lord Howe is now just a two-hour flight from the mainland, but in the past the island was isolated. For decades, the only way to get to the island was by seaplane. According to the Australian National Maritime Museum, the first seaplane landed on the island after World War II, a three-hour journey. Life on the island was described as "slow and immaterial" back then, with no television, internet, or telephone. "We lived a free, wild life in safety," Makitti said.
In the 1970s, the government built an airstrip on the island. Seaplanes are no longer used. Life has become more modern, but many aspects of Lord Howe have not changed much over the past few decades. People leave their homes without locking their doors, and there is no public telephone service except for wifi.
There are no schools on the island, so children attend distance learning or board. Food is shipped in by cargo ship every two weeks, so the cost of living is three times higher than on the mainland. An apple costs $2 on the island, a liter of milk is nearly $2.70. To reduce living costs, people also grow vegetables and fruits.
Despite the challenges, Makiiti says, people feel lucky to live the way they do: rejecting excess, recycling everything, and spending their free time surfing, swimming, and hiking. The main mode of transport on the island is bicycle.
The islanders have a spirit of respecting and protecting the environment from a very young age. "They are aware of the simplest things like not dropping ice cream wrappers," Matassoni added.
TB (according to VnExpress)Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/thien-duong-chi-400-nguoi-duoc-ghe-tham-cung-luc-387768.html
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