Eco Operator
Eyes on Wildlife is a one man business operated by Patrick De Geest, with lots of support from family, friends, guests and the local community. Patrick strives to educate guests on his nature tours about the local ecosystems, but also tries to make a solid contribution to preventing climate change by offsetting the carbon footprint for each tour. His conservation efforts are aimed at helping local conservation organisations in the Wet Tropics Bioregion and surrounds.
About Patrick
Patrick’s interest in nature started when his father began taking him out on field trips in Belgium when he was still a young child. His passion for birds and nature in general has never faded. Since he migrated to Australia, he has spent most of his free time finding and observing birds and other wildlife – mainly in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, but also Cape York and the rest of North and Far North Queensland. He is a member of several conservation groups and organisations.
Patrick was a teacher for 10 years and is very passionate about conservation and getting young people involved in nature/wildlife conservation. He started Eyes on Wildlife to allow him to combine his passion for nature and education in a role as birding and wildlife guide and share all the beauty this part of the world has to offer. His knowledge of and passion for the Wet Tropics and North Queensland will guarantee you a fantastic experience! He can guide you in English and Dutch, and will try to help you out in French.
Eyes on Wildlife is a legally operating business. The following permits/certificates are held:
- Operator Accreditation - full
- Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services permits
- Liability Insurance & Personal indemnity insurance
- Current First Aid Certificate
- Blue Card
All photos on this website are Patrick’s; unless otherwise indicated (by copyright). All photos have copyright.
Carbon offsetting contribution
Tours booked from 2021 will include a carbon offsetting contribution included in the tour price.
We desperately need to limit our carbon foot print. Climate Change is real, and we need to do something to counter this phenomenon. Educating guests about our wonderful natural riches and wildlife by taking them out to experience it first hand may help, but we can do more. Tours involve a bit of driving, which in turn increases our carbon footprint. Carbon-neutral vehicles that will allow us to access difficult terrain on tour, are not available (yet), so we will still be using our traditional 4WD, but will have a hybrid AWD as second vehicle available from the second half of 2021. This second vehicle will be used for most tours and will halve our fuel consumption.
Halving our fuel consumption is great as we are not producing as much CO2, but is still not where we would like to be. This is why Patrick decided to offset the carbon footprint for each tour, by including a carbon offset contribution in the tour price.
For each tour, an amount of the tour price will go to an organisation that endeavours to make a positive contribution to our environment, acts against climate change or, is otherwise committed to environmental sustainability. Initially we will focus on local organisations who focus on tree planting, but the list that you can choose from will get longer as we learn and expand our network. You can find our list of partners.
To make sure you know the contribution goes to the organisation of your choice and not to Eyes on Wildlife, a payment receipt will be provided for the payment made by Eyes on Wildlife.
CONTACT
Phone
outside Australia: +61 439 817 214
In australia: 0439817214
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