Joint Management Stories
West MacDonnell National Park Tourism Industry Think Tank
The Parks and Wildlife Service and Traditional Owners are developing a Joint Management Plan for the West MacDonnell National Park. To incorporate local tourism expertise into the planning, it was timely to speak with tourism operators who use the park along with the broader tourism industry. The Think Tank was organised as a forum for the industry to share their long term vision for the West MacDonnell National Park and talk about how they see the park evolving over the next decade.
Expressions of interest from the tourism industry were sought and submitted through Tourism Central Australia. The Think Tank was held on March 11th 2008, and was attended by 23 representatives from the tourism industry, school users and Government stakeholders. A list of participants can be found in the workshop report, below.
Workshop Report
Everyone was actively involved in discussions as to how they would like to see tourism being offered and visitors managed within the park in the future. Participants also talked about a vision for the park and developed a number of Guiding Principles that would be necessary to achieve the longer term vision. Participants then identified the most important recreational values (and any threats to these values) of the West MacDonnell National Park, in particular those experiences which must continue to be available to the visitor into the future.
A range of issues were identified through this process that will require detailed strategies and consideration in the planning process. The ongoing involvement of the tourism industry in these discussions will be necessary.
The outcomes from the workshop will be shared with Traditional Owners and will feed into the preparation of the Joint Management Plan for the West MacDonnell National Park. For more information on this plan, please contact Jonathan Vea, Senior Planner, Parks and Wildlife Service on 08 8951 8250.
