City Bush Guides
Report to WAPC
Introduction
Despite the fact that the Perth metropolitan area has a greater biodiversity than almost any
other city in the world, the general public have little or no awareness of this fact.
The development of the Bush Forever strategy nearly a decade ago sought to protect
regionally significant bushland. It stated that ‘the Government will promote a better
understanding and appreciation of the role our natural bushland plays in the life of the community’.
To date the education commitment in Bush Forever has not been carried out. No
government resources have been allocated for this purpose, the general public have never
heard of Bush Forever and there is limited knowledge of or appreciation for regional or
local bushland.
Many residents never visit their local bushland or if they do they lack the knowledge to
interpret the biodiversity. They don't know what they are looking at, and they do not
relate to it.
The capacity of Friends groups to lead guided walks is limited. Because of inadequate
management, many groups feel compelled to focus their attention on dealing with
threatening processes such as the incursion of weeds; fragmentation created by
pathways made by people and domestic animals; dumping of rubbish and the after effects
of too frequent fires. Many such groups have no experience in guiding and in several Bush
Forever sites no one has ever led a bush walk.
In April 2007 the Urban Bushland Council put forward a proposal to increase the capacity
of Friends groups to raise awareness of local bushland. We believed that providing
organised walks with skilled guides would bring more people into the bushland and in
turn give them more understanding of the values of these special areas.
Walking in the bush with a skilled guide opens up a whole new world. Even a cabinet
minister was recently heard to say that he had never appreciated his local bush until he
was taken on a guided walk. Friends groups who are able to lead walks get this response
regularly.
At the mid-way point of the Bush Forever strategy a proposal was put forward to hold a
Bush Forever Festival as a way to engage members of the public. At the time, the Chairman
of WAPC supported this and made a commitment to proceed with a Bush Forever festival.
To date there has been no progress. We are in danger of ‘missing the boat’ to effectively
engage the people of Perth in appreciating and caring for their local environment. The
primary focus in our adaptation as a community to the challenges of climate change centres
on our understanding of the landscape in which we live.
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City Bush Guides
Report to WAPC
Findings
· Response to advertising suggests there are people in the community willing to play the
role of Bushland Guides.
· Advertising in community newspapers is an effective way to tap into community interest
in bushland issues.
· To take individuals from willing learners to effective Bushland Guides requires an
experiential learning program.
· Our experience from this program together with that of Kings Park suggests the need for
ongoing mentoring, support and training.
· Resources are required to run such a program and without support this is beyond the
capacity of UBC volunteers.
· Expert presenters are very willing to give of their time.
Recommendations
· The UBC recommends that a generic training and support program for City Bush
Guides be funded each year by the WAPC as part of the Bush Forever community
education and awareness program.
· Such a program could be delivered by the Botanical Gardens and Parks Authority at
Bold Park; WALGA’s Perth Biodiversity Project based in a bushland managed by a
specified Local Government or by the Department of Environment and Conservation's
Urban Nature program or a combination of these agencies.
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City Bush Guides
Report to WAPC
Introducing what is common in Perth’s bushland: Banksia menziesii
Project Objective
The City Bush Guides program set out to train 40-50 volunteer bushland guides who
would be confident to lead nature walks from September 2007. In addition, UBC agreed to
produce a city bush guide’s manual as a tool for others interested in becoming volunteer
guides.
Achieving the objective
1. Appointed a project coordinator
The UBC executive advertised for and appointed a project coordinator in May 2007
working 2 days per week. The coordinator was an experienced educator, a member of a
bushland group and had an understanding of guiding. UBC executive members assisted
the coordinator to set up the course, find suitable presenters and develop the program.
Members of the executive were active participants in the course, providing mentoring and
on ground guiding skills. The duties of the coordinator were to manage the administration,
organize and coordinate the course delivery, liaise with participants and attend to the day
to day needs of the program.
What we learned:
Finding the right person was critical to the success of the program.
Note: Unfortunately 5 weeks into the course the co-ordinator became ill and withdrew. At
that time, members of the UBC executive stepped in and picked up the workload.
2.
Developed a Training Program
Together the UBC executive and the coordinator developed an outline of the topics to be
covered in the training program. It was decided to hold seven, four-hour information
sessions including outdoor components in bushland. In the last session each trainee led a
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City Bush Guides
Report to WAPC
15 minute guided walk in a small group with an experienced supervisor. Participants were
asked to make a commitment to attend each week for seven weeks. Sessions were held on
Thursday and repeated on Saturday so each person had the opportunity to ‘catch up’ on
missed sessions.
Contents of the program
Environmental component
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Flora and Vegetation
Birds
Animals and Insects/Night walks
Wetlands
Ecosystems
Threats to urban bushland
In field practice
Social Component
Planning your walk
Group management
Effective Presentations
Story telling
Targeting your message
What we learned:
To be a guide one needs a good working knowledge of bushland as well as an
understanding of the specific area where the guiding is taking place. Such knowledge can
only be accumulated gradually. However, guiding is a skill that requires more than
knowledge. Not everyone has the personality or temperament to be a guide.
3.
Located suitable presenters
The UBC team suggested suitable presenters for various topics. Presenters needed to be
experts in their particular field, but also people who could relate well to beginners and
communicate their material in a way that would engender interest.
The project co-ordinator developed a list of possible presenters, contacted each of them and
arranged the program according to their availability. An excellent array of speakers
presented in an understandable and inspiring way to a relatively inexperienced audience.
Participants enjoyed these presentations, learned a lot and made personal connections
which they were able to pursue later.
What we learned:
There are a number of experienced presenters in Perth who are very prepared to share their
knowledge with others. Those who are employed by government gave their services
without cost, allowing for other use of those allocated funds.
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City Bush Guides
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Saturday group at Star Swamp with Kim Fletcher
4. Sought suitable venues
Venues were located both north and south of the river at Star Swamp Environment Centre
in the City of Stirling on Saturdays and at the Cockburn Wetlands Centre in Cockburn and
Piney Lakes in City of Melville. These centres provided participants and presenters with
the opportunity to work in and/or visit the adjoining bushland.
What we learned:
The Thursday course was twice as popular as the Saturday course.
5. Advertised the training program
Advertisements were placed in all Community and Independent newspapers over a threeweek period. Information about the course was sent to conservation group newsletters
such as the Wildflower Society and the Naturalists’ Club. An article appeared in the
Department of Environment and Conservation’s Bushland News. Advertising in the West
Australian was deemed to be too expensive and not as suitable as local newspapers.
The greatest response came from advertisements in the community newspapers. The
overwhelming majority of calls were from members of the public who were not involved in
any conservation organizations.
What we learned:
People read and respond to advertising in their local community newspaper. A well
funded component for advertising and follow up contact with respondents is essential in
running a training course for guides.
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City Bush Guides
Report to WAPC
6. Responded to inquiries from the public
The UBC took eighty-three telephone inquiries and some email enquiries. Of these, fortyfour people enrolled for the course, twenty-five for the Thursday sessions and nineteen for
the Saturday sessions.
Thirty-seven people completed the course requirements and the practical assessment
component.
7. Liaised with presenters, provided suitable course material, identified gaps and sourced
further information
Most of the presenters were happy to supply course notes and reference lists for further
reading. Many also provided complementary handouts e.g. pamphlets on birds, soils of the
Swan Coastal Plain, a CD of frog calls, information about appropriate lights for guiding
night walks etc. A Wildflower Society member set up a book stall at each of the training
sessions to sell reference texts. This stall was well patronized and participants appreciated
the opportunity to purchase material to extend their knowledge. The willingness to invest
in reference books was an encouraging sign and suggested course participants wanted to
become skilful guides.
8. Compiled a course resource kit for each participant
Because the course information was extensive and specific to the talks delivered by each
presenter, it became obvious that we needed to encourage participants to build their own
individual resource kit. Rather than write a generic manual, folders and dividers were
provided to each participant and the handouts were numerous. This supported the
experiential learning model. The original concept of developing a small booklet
summarizing the course material was abandoned because it did not fit this model.
9. Facilitated the course
The majority of participants had limited knowledge or understanding of ecological
processes, or flora and fauna and not many had experience with presentations. The positive
aspect of this was that UBC had managed to tap into members of the public who had not
previously been involved. The challenge was to turn these participants into competent and
confident guides in seven weeks. Adopting an experiential learning model was a key to
making the program work. It was an ambitious objective to imagine that forty-four
participants with little knowledge of urban bushland and seven weeks training would be
able to independently lead walks in their local bushland. The stand and deliver method of
transferring information was not going to give the course participants the confidence they
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City Bush Guides
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needed. We had to find opportunities to enable course participants to practice, be mentored
and work in teams to help each other develop skills and knowledge.
Participants enjoyed valuable networking and secured books and resources during
morning tea breaks. Trainees were asked to choose a bushland site where they wished to
become regular guides. For 'homework' they gathered information about their chosen site.
Benefits for the bush come from an increased capacity for Friends groups to conduct
guided walks and thus introduce local community folk to their bushland. Familiarity
brings enjoyment, appreciation and involvement. Remarkably few people visit their local
bushland and hence do not connect with nature.
As well as environmental and social components of the course, there was a need to inform
participants of the legalities of working in bushland, the safety aspects of guiding walks,
the protocol involved in informing local council and also bushland groups who might
already be involved in the area or the landowners in the case of school bushland. New
guides were encouraged to contact those already involved and seek their support. In most
instances the involvement of guides was welcome but there were also situations where the
authority and/or the local bushland group were suspicious of this new involvement in
‘their’ patch.
Where an authority was actively involved in bushland preservation and promotion the
presence of new guides was viewed as a welcome addition. However in some cases, a
protocol arrangement was required before guides could operate. This was particularly so in
the case of Bold Park, which is administered by the Botanical Gardens and Parks Authority
(BGPA).
To address this issue the UBC executive set up a meeting with the CEO of BGPA. We
involved the Wildflower Society, the Friends of Bold Park and other peak conservation
bodies who have a presence in the park, such as Birds Australia and the WA Naturalists'
Club as well as graduates from the guides program. Representatives from each
organisation took part in a facilitated workshop with staff from (BGPA) at Bold Park. A
report of this workshop was presented to BGPA and is available in Attachment 5. The
recommendations in this report have been accepted by BGPA and there is a commitment to
establishing a guiding program for Bold Park.
Presenter Phylis Robertson demonstrating to trainees
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City Bush Guides
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10. Provided ‘in field’ training opportunities, mentoring and feedback
Time was set aside for practicing presentation skills. Experienced presenters shared their
skills and tips and participants were encouraged to set a time and conduct their own walk.
People became ‘buddies’ and travelled to other bushland to assist a new guide with her/his
walk and to provide constructive feedback.
Representatives from bushland groups offered their services to assess participants and
provide guidance on effective ways to present information. Some participants had the
personality and/or confidence to present, for others it will take longer to reach the stage
where they can independently undertake guided walks.
An evaluation and training workshop was held at Piney Lakes Environment Centre six
weeks after the course. Participants gave constructive feedback on the course and on walks
they had taken. A number of participants had led guided walks, advertising locally to
attract nearby residents. In Craigie bushland a new guide was challenged when more than
thirty-five people turned up to her first guided walk.
11. Presented all participants with certificate
At the completion of the course, thirty seven participants were presented with certificates
and badges as ‘City Bush Guides’. A presentation ceremony was held at the Ecology centre
in Bold Park and the Hon Giz Watson presented the certificates and spoke of the value of
city bushland.
The Thursday group learning stories from Delvene King
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City Bush Guides
Report to WAPC
12 Bold Park Workshop
Whilst the Bold Park workshop may not seem to directly involve the training of guides, the
UBC believes that it was a necessary step as there has been a history of cultural reluctance
to co-operate with community groups in Bold Park. Employment of a skilled facilitator
enabled us to bring the stakeholder groups together to work effectively on a guiding
program for Bold Park. The model developed has the potential not only to produce trained
guides for Bold Park, but also to provide ongoing training and support for guides
throughout the Perth region. This will however need ongoing Government funding.
Conclusion
There is a great deal of momentum, good will and commitment to go forward. If the
graduates from the City Bush Guides’ program are to maintain this commitment they need
regular opportunities to meet together. The Urban Bushland Council has organized follow
up events at Woodman Point and at Garvey Park, and another will take place in July as
part of a fungi programme.
There is a need for a generic training and support program for City Bush Guides. This is
not the core business of the Urban Bushland Council. We recommend that such a program
be funded each year by the WAPC as part of the Bush Forever community education and
awareness program.
Training for City Bush guides could be delivered by the Botanical Gardens and Parks
Authority at Bold Park; WALGA’s Perth Biodiversity Project based in a bushland managed
by a specified Local Government or by Department of Environment and Conservation's
Urban Nature program or a combination of these agencies.
List of Attachments
Attachment 1
Folder of collated course material
Attachment 2
Spreadsheet of Program Expenditure and financial report
Attachment 3
List of urban bushlands which benefited from this
grant.
Attachment 4
Sample of participant comments on the course
Attachment 5
Report to Botanical Gardens and Parks Authority
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