04/05/2005 - Some 40 frontline
staff from NSW, Victoria and the ACT working
in towns throughout the Australian Alps have
attended a two day workshop at Mount Buffalo
National Park aimed at increasing their capacity
to better assist visitors to the region.
The ‘Frontline of the Alps Workshop’ was an
initiative of the Australian Alps Liaison
Committee (AALC), a body incorporating government
agencies with a major role in managing significant
parts of the Australian Alps national parks;
the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
(NPWS), Parks Victoria, and Environment ACT.
Australian Alps Program Manager, Gillian
Anderson, said today that the aim of the workshop
was to improve the knowledge base of people
who dealt daily on a face to face basis with
visitors to the Australian Alps as well as
provide an opportunity for networking amongst
park managers and people in the tourism industry.
“The people who attended were largely tour
operators and visitor centre staff whose job
is to deal directly with the public providing
a diverse array of information about the Australian
Alps, how it is managed, what is important,
and how not to cause harm to the environment
when visiting,” Ms Anderson said.
“Staff from Parks Victoria, Environment ACT
and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
(NPWS) were able to impart to this group a
huge amount of information that will be invaluable
in dealing with people visiting the Alps.
“We brought them up to date with the Alps
National Parks program, gave public contact
training and advice and talked about the recovery
of the parks since the 2003 bushfires.
“They also received presentations on Indigenous
and European culture, geology and flora and
fauna in the Australian Alps.
“The Australian Alps National Parks are extremely
important to the local communities who rely
heavily on tourism and it is part of our role
to support the local tourism industry by increasing
the ability of frontline staff in maintaining
high standards of information for visitors
to the region,” Ms Anderson said.
