Rough and Tumble Lodge-West Coast

From WildWiki

The Rough and Tumble Lodge] is another dream come true for the New Zealand program. Marion and Susan are the lodge owners and have been very willing to work with us to design a program that is mutually beneficial to the lodge, our program, and the surrounding environment. The lodge is situated in lush and dense West Coast rainforest and is thoughtfully constructed to minimize the environmental impact. The result is a true feeling that you are "out there." It is located right on the Mokinui river.

The area is experiencing challenges as a new hydro-dam has been proposed on the river above the lodge. Rather than give up, Marion and Susan have made an inspired choice to bring together all the stakeholders and build a coalition that will both meet the national governments needs in terms of hydro power but also protect and maintain the biodiversity and wilderness potential of the area. In essence, the project presents the opportunity for Earlham to use Rough and Tumble as a classic environmental case study- one that combines many of the elements of the semester: conservation biology, eco-tourism, sustainable development and environmental ethics.

In 2008, we plan to base out of the lodge for approx. 5 days meeting with many of the stakeholders (with Susan and Marion's help) including the Energy company proposing the dam, regional coal mine executives, dep't of conservation employees, local conservationists, and others. We also plan to begin the process of developing new tracks in the area to re-establish a historic walk that has since overgrown.

There is huge potential here for an on-going relationship both with the lodge and in terms of a longitudinal study of the area and its potential both biologically and in terms of eco-tourism and recreation.

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