-------The Story of Hunter Wetlands Centre

The Wetland Centre, Australia

 

This paper will showcase how innovative thought and action turned Australia’s first wetlands centre from facing almost certain closure, to now operating as a viable Conservation, Education and Eco-tourism facility.  As owners and managers of a Ramsar wetland in the Hunter Region of NSW, the Hunter Wetlands Centre Australia (HWCA) plays host to some 50,000 visitors each year whilst also leading the way in Communication, Education & Public Awareness (CEPA) through local, regional, state and national projects.  Indeed HWCA was joint recipient of the Ramsar Conservation Award (Education) and Special Evian Prize in 2005, celebrating some 20 years of wetlands education work on and offsite. 

HWCA was saved from closure through a great deal of futures thinking, planning, community ownership and belief in the organization by all involved.  The organization is now thriving, with one of the key foundations of its success being community support, with over 150 volunteers now working over 300,000 hours since the Centre’s inception.  Another is a project termed the “Gateway Project”, which has seen Hunter Wetlands Centre working collaboratively with a number of wetland owners (mostly government agencies) to undertake destination marketing of the wetland areas in the large estuary, and significantly this has seen the Centre re-positioned as the key Gateway, or entry point to this much larger wetland area. 

Hunter Wetlands Centre truly understands that CEPA can lead to positive changes in the way wetlands are valued across Australia.  The organization has recently worked on developing a State-wide communications strategy and series of activities over a 2-year period raising the profile of wetlands through on and off site educational programs.  Hunter Wetlands Centre has also developed a Regional Ramsar Communications Plan and employs a part-time Ramsar Officer.  The Hunter Wetlands Centre drove the process of establishing a national network of wetlands centres in 2001 to support strategies under Australia’s National CEPA Plan.  This became the Australian Chapter of WLI and HWCA is now the active coordinator of this network.  This involves facilitation of activities and products that are jointly developed by some 44 wetlands centres across the Country. HWCA is leading the way in innovative thought and practice and provides a wonderful model of how wetlands centres, and community centres in particular can showcase true sustainability in action across the globe.

This oral presentation will provide attendees with an insight into the innovative management practices at Hunter Wetlands Centre that have seen the organization turned from near closure to a thriving business, and will also showcase a number of key initiatives and products that the Centre has recently produced.

Key words:  Wetland centres;   Conservation;   Education;    Eco-tourism;

 

Tara Ure

澳大利亚湿地中心

 

本文剖析了富有创新的思想和行动怎样把澳大利亚的第一个湿地中心从几乎濒临关闭状态转化为现在作为一个有活力的保护、教育和生态旅游机构的运行状态。作为新南威尔斯猎人地区的拉姆萨尔湿地所有者和管理者，澳大利亚猎人湿地中心(HWCA)每年约有50,000名参观者，同时还通过地方、区域、州和国家项目引导交流、教育和公众意识(CEPA)。猎人湿地中心(HWCA)赢得了2005年拉姆萨尔公约教育奖和特别依云奖，以此庆贺20年来在湿地中心内外开展的湿地教育活动。 

猎人湿地中心从关闭到拯救得益于一个对未来思想、计划、交流社团的伟大想法和本组织所有成员的信仰。该组织现在生机勃勃，拥有社区支持的坚实基础。自中心成立以来，已有150名自愿者工作了300,000多小时。另一个项目被称为“入门项目”，已使猎人湿地中心与多个湿地中心所有者（大部分为政府机构）共同协作去开拓大河口湿地区的目标市场。而且非常明显的是，由此已经被重新定位为关键的“入门”或者说成为进入湿地领域的入口。

猎人湿地中心真切地认识到CEPA能够对使全澳大利亚湿地更富价值起到积极的引导作用。该中心最近致力于发展一个国家交流战略及一个两年期的通过中心内外的教育计划提升湿地形象一系列活动。猎人湿地中心还发展了一个拉姆萨尔区域交流计划而且雇佣了一个兼职的拉姆萨尔官员。中心于2001年引导成立了国家湿地国际网络，以支持澳大利亚国家CEPA计划下的战略工作。这成为湿地国际网络的澳大利亚篇章而且澳大利亚猎人湿地中心现在是该网络的积极协调员，国家湿地国际网络包括44个湿地中心共同开展的活动和出版物。猎人湿地中心正在引领创新精神和实践活动，并提供湿地中心和社区中心如何通过全球行动展现真正意义上可持续性的极佳模式。　　　　　　　　

本次的口头报告将使大家了解猎人湿地中心从近乎关闭转向勃勃生机的事业的革新管理和实践，同时也展现中心的几个重要计划和最近已经产出的成果。

 

关键词：湿地中心公约     教育     生态旅游