From: Martin on 18/01/2000 09:41 AM
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Subject: Tourism and birdwatching
Stuart Cooney mentions an unfortunate experience with the 'rangers' he met at
the entrance to Wilsons Promontory National Park in South Gippsland, Victoria.
I think the problems people are having with getting (bird) information is that
they are asking the wrong people - not their fault. Many people also don't seem
to understand that not everyone that wears a uniform is a ranger - again this is
probably not their fault. (Mind you I'm not saying that rangers will always
know the answer but they are probably the best person to start with!). The
person at the gate that Stuart spoke to would definitely not have been a ranger.
I'm not really sure what we do about this, maybe 'real' rangers should wear a
completely different uniform!!!. For example, Parks Victoria (the managers of
parks in Victoria) has set up a guided walk to the lighthouse. They have
employed a number of people to do this - all temporarily employed, some are
students, one is a teacher on summer leave. These people are called rangers,
they even wear uniforms with 'ranger' badges on them. I do not know what
criteria are used to employ such people, but apparently bird identification
ability is not one of them (?). Most parks would have staff with bird knowledge
about their area but such people invariably do not work 'in the front line'.
Maybe a good first action is to ask what are the best spots for birds (ie. ask
about accessable habitats) and inquire about a bird list for the park. All
parks I have visited have a bird list of sorts. Letting all land managers know
we're interested in birdlife would help 'spread the word' about the importance
of this vertebrate group.
Martin O'Brien
Executive Scientific Officer - Scientific Advisory Committee
Parks Flora and Fauna Division
Department of Natural Resources and Environment
4/250 Victoria Pde.,
East Melbourne 3002
AUSTRALIA
Tel: 9412 4567
Fax: 9412 4586
(prefixes: Interstate 03 International 613)
email:
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Visit the Biodiversity section of the Department of Natural Resources and
Environment at:
http://www.nre.vic.gov.au/conserv/biodiver.htm
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