Update on Wildlife Tourism Conference September 2015
A couple of weeks ago I spent a very encouraging few days in Melbourne and Geelong with Roger Smith and Caz Bartholomew of Echidna Walkabout (I’m chair of Wildlife Tourism Australia, and Roger is vice chair), helping to prepare for Australia’s third wildlife tourism conference at the end of September this year.
Exploring the venues
First we explored the possibilities we had narrowed down to for.
The Botanic Gardens Conference Centre, a lovely location but not quite big enough
All were lovely venues, but our final decision had to be made on the numbers they were able to accommodate at the conference. We’re hoping for at least 200, so had to abandon ideas of holding it at the Conference Centre in the Botanic Gardens or the Vines Road Community Centre.
Grey headed flying foxes in the Botanic Gardens, Geelong
The Botanic Gardens, with its sweeping parklands, birdlife, fruitbat colony and views of the sea, is within easy walking distance of the venue we finally chose, so we may still have a social function there, and it is also one of our recommended accommodation choices for those who prefer to be surrounded by trees instead of city streets at night.
Vines Road Community Centre was our original choice, but once again it won’t take the numbers we’re now predicting.
The Mercure Hotel in Geelong can take the numbers,and will be having a major facelift soon, to be finished before the conference, and the staff are happy to provide all our needs . It’s just a few minutes walk from the gardens or the beach. They’ve offered us a generous discount on their rooms, many of which can take three adults in separate beds (thus making the rooms affordable for students) but are also totally okay about some delegates choosing to stay elsewhere.
The really exciting part though is the quality of speakers we already know about (and we should soon be hearing from plenty more), spread across several continents and presenting a range of useful topics relating to how wildlife tourism can contribute to biodiversity conservation and local communities.
In the afternoons we’ll do as we have so successfully done in the WTA workshops over the last few years: divided into small groups for interactive roundtable discussions, joining up again in plenary discussions afterwards, and ultimately collating and uploading the notes from these to the WTA website as well as taking action (new policy guidelines on the website, letters to politicians etc.)
Some elephants we drove past in Kruger NP in 2010.
Just one more day at home. Tomorrow I head to Brisbane, and Tuesday will be on my way to South Africa!
The trip was originally to present some research findings on the germination and survival of native fig seeds spread by local birds to the International Frugivory Symposium in the Drakenburgs late next month. Now I’ll also be presenting a paper on wildlife tourism and biodiversity conservation to the Best EN Think Tank conference at the edge of Kruger National Park.
Of course I can’t get that close to Kruger without spending some time there, so will be traveling with the NP for almost 2 weeks before the first conference.
I’m also visiting an elephant sanctuary, one that apparently uses elephants rescued from potential unhappy lives, not calves taking for the purposes from their mothers. I’ve heard many calls for all places offering elephant rides to be closed down throughout the world because they are all cruel. I suspect not all are based on cruelty, and the place I’m visiting in Hazyview seems committed to animal welfare and conservation, so I want to see it for myself. I know firsthand that there are cruel methods and gentle methods of training horse, dogs and other animals, so suspect it is the same with elephant training.
The events of next week don’t seem quite real yet, and maybe won;t until I’m actually in Africa. Internet access will be limited, but I’ll try to record some of what happens along the way!
I’ve just attended the World Parks Congress on behalf of Wildlife Tourism Australia Inc.
Citizen science was featured in the Eye on the Reef display
This important congress is held only once every 10 years, and this time it was in Sydney. The previous one was in South Africa, and at the opening ceremony here in Sydney we watched a video of part of Nelson Mandela’s speech on the importance of protected areas for both biodiversity and people, and were then addressed by his grandson who had flown in for the event. The next will be held in Russia in 2024.
The organisers were expecting about 3,000 delegates: instead we had over 6,000, representing 170 countries!
Promises werte made and goals were set. Delegates n he nature conservation stream agreed that by 2020 one-third of the oceans should be designated as no-take areas, to allow fish and other marine creatures to breed up to pre-exploitation levels and re-poluate the remaining two-thirds. Currently only 1% of the ocean is thus protected. The president of Madagascar promised to triple the amount of marine protected areas around his country, Gabon and Bangladesh pledged to create marine protected areas, and our own environment minister Greg Hunt declared there would never be drilling or dumping on the Great Barrier Reef, that he would work in with other countries to protect the Coral Triangle and the world’s oceans, and that China and Australia had signed an agreement not to allow mining in Antarctica. He also acknowledged the number of extinct and endangered terrestrial mammals in Australia and expressed a commitment to protecting our remaining species.
Much was said about the importance of protected areas to physical and mental health of humans, and the desirability of attracting young people into our parks. I presented a short talk on this theme, and the value of youth becoming involved in citizen science while travelling, including the opportunities presented by Wildlife Tourism Australia’s research network: http://www.wildliferesearchnetwork.org/
The dedication and bravery of rangers worldwide was honoured by awards and speeches, especially those who frequently risked their lives. A long list of those who had in fact died while performing their duties was displayed. Read more about these rangers on http://thingreenline.org.au/story/ Some ways you can assist rangers was presented by the Big Life Group: https://biglife.org/
IUCN has long been known for its Red List of endangered animals. At this Congress they launched the Green List, a positive step to reward those protected areas who are doing a great job on a number of important criteria. The first areas to be accepted for the Green List are situated in Australia, South Korea, China, Italy, France, Spain, Kenya and Colombia. Read more on this at: http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/gpap_home/?18617/Green-is-the-new-gold
The TAPAS (Tourism and Protected Areas) group creed a schedule for all those interested in the connection between tourism and conservation, and I attended a number of the presentations on this theme.
Wildlife Tourism: A Handbook for Guides, Tour Operators, Job-seekers and Business Start-ups
Most books on wildlife tourism are aimed at researchers and policy-makers. This one is more of a practical guide for those who want to work (or are already working) within the field of wildlife tourism as guides, ecolodge managers, wildlife park staff or other situations where they will be interpreting our wildlife to visitors and also making a living.
Coming more from an academic background than a business one (although I had once run a holiday farm), the business of starting and running a small business took me and my husband into a very steep learning curve. I knew little of the red tape involved, marketing, book-keeping, insurance, or working with booking agents. One of the aims of the book is to help others who may be in the same boat – starting out with loads of enthusiasm for wildlife and for haring their enthusiasm with others, but lacking experience in running a business venture.
Other readers come from the other direction – they’ve been running a tourism or related business but have an interest in including more wildlife experiences, and want to brush up their wildlife skills (bail knowledge and how to find, view and interpret animals), so there are chapters devoted to getting a grasp of the basics and links to further information.
Ronda
For students and job-seekers there are also guidelines on what might appeal to your prospective employers.
Most of the examples are Australian, but there is ample general advice to be applicable anywhere in the world.
A PayPal system will soon be set up for other online and printed copies. Until then, it can be purchased directly by electronic transfer, cheque or credit card: contact me (Ronda) on info@learnaboutwildlife.com if interested. Cost $27.50 plus postage ($5 Australian, $12 Asia-Pacific, $15 elsewhere)
Contents:
1 Introduction
Is this book for you?
The big picture: does wildlife tourism matter for our economy or for conservation?
Not just the facts ma’am (but not ignoring them either): why good interpretation is so important
What this book will do for you
Background experience of author
2. The basics
Skills you will need as a guide
Going a bit further: how to excel as a tour guide
Becoming self-employed as a tour operator or using your skills in other areas
3. Wildlife Skills 1: knowing the wildlife
Getting the ‘big picture’ of wildlife in Australia (or other countries): a good start for avoiding major errors and showing your guests what is different from their own homelands
Identifying wildlife: how to know what you’re looking at (or at least narrowing down the possibilities)
Finding out what species to expect in your district
4. Wildlife Skills 2: finding the wildlife
Knowing when and where to search
When you can’t see the wildlife: tracks, scratches, scats and sounds
5. Wildlife Skills 3: understanding the behaviour and ecology of wildlife
Why should you understand ecology?
Population ecology: why populations of animals of a particular species increase, decrease, stay the same or never enter a particular area.
Community ecology: interactions between species living in the same locality
Further notes on wildlife behaviour
6. Wildlife Skills 4: not disturbing the wildlife
How much disturbance can animals tolerate without changing their behaviour, avoiding you or even disappearing from the region?
How should we approach wildlife?
What happens to the wildlife you never see?
Feeding animals
Other interactions with animals
Wildlife habitat
7. Wider conservation issues
Getting it straight
Some threats to wildlife
Learning about conservation problems while still enjoying a holiday
Licences and permits needed for starting and running a tour business
Public liability – nowadays it’s risky not to have insurance, and there are some things you can’t legally do without it
Copyright (yours and others), slander and related topics
Hiring staff
Indigenous culture
Conservation legislation
14. Final note: Never-endingLearning and Innovation
Learning about wildlife
Nature interpretation and guiding techniques
Wildlife tourism literature
Market trends: keeping up to date with what your potential customers are looking for
Thinking creatively: it’s fun and often productive!
References and further reading
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The book is packed with links to useful websites and other publications on wildlife, environment education, conservation issues, bureaucracy of running a small business, and other essential topics.
Next month will be your last chance to submit a paper for Wildlife Tourism Australia’s 3rd national workshop.
A workshop rather than a conference, the emphasis will be on interactive discussion, with ultimate actions in mind (e.g. policy statements and guidelines for the Wildlife Tourism Australia website, beginning of new projects, lobbying government etc. but a limited number of oral and poster papers will also be accepted.
Call for papers ends 24th February
The workshop will be held at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Gold Coast
Wildlife Tourism Australia’s 3rd National Workshop
Venue Currumbin WIldlife Sanctuary
Date Wednesday to Friday 16-18 May
My grandson Axel meeting the lorikeets at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
The call for papers is now open for the national wildlife tourism workshop to be held at Currumbin WIldlife Sanctuary next year.
WTA has some great keynote speakers lined up, the venue houses the largest range of native animals in captivity in Queensland and is doing some great work with its new wildlife hospital, and the discussions are on important topics and leading to definite actions to follow on from the workshop.
For those coming from afar and wanting to stay on for the weekend, the beach is just a couple of minutes’ walk away, extensive rainforest tracks less than an hour ‘s drive from the venue, there are many lovely ecolodges and B&Bs in the mountains, whale-wacthing will have started and there are islands to visit, turtles to snorkel with, dolphins to kayak with ….
“Imagine if your home security was monitored by a howling pack of dingoes? Could you share the couch with a koala that has a thing for reality TV? And what about being woken up every morning by the lick of a Ringtail Possum sitting comfortably on your face.
Welcome to Chris Humfrey’s world. He’s a zoologist, passionate about wildlife, who lives with his wife Nicole and their young family on a sprawling private zoo in country Victoria. With more than 2000 amazing creatures in their care – including their daughters Taasha (4 yrs) and Charlie-Ashe (6 yrs) – Chris and Nicole share their property with an enthusiastic crew of Gen Y zookeepers. Every waking minute is consumed by animal and human dramas and dilemmas of one kind or another.”
So begins an introduction to Chris Humfrey’s TV series “Wild Life”
Each week for the past 5 weeks Wildlife Tourism Australia has been asking a set of easy questions, the winner each week recevign from Universal Pictures (Australasia) a complete set of DVDs of the entire first series.
We used the Araucaria tour vehicle to cart gazebo, tables and displays to Gecko’s “Green Day Out” on the Gold Coast for the Wildlife Tourism Australia display.
The day attracted a fair crowd despite being wet and windy and various organic foods, environmental technologies and environmental issues were on display.
The following day we took adavantage of a special offer and headed out on the Spirit of the Gold Coast for whale-watching. The whales were not especially playful that day, but we did see a few blows and tails – always great to see!
I have recently become chair of Wildlife Tourism Australia, a national body that promotes a strong and diverse wildlife tourism industry that supports conservation
The Mercure Hotel in Geelong can take the numbers,and will be having a major facelift soon, to be finished before the conference, and the staff are happy to provide all our needs . It’s just a few minutes walk from the gardens or the beach. They’ve offered us a generous discount on their rooms, many of which can take three adults in separate beds (thus making the rooms affordable for students) but are also totally okay about some delegates choosing to stay elsewhere.
