How A New Park Could Protect Koalas And Grow Regional Adventure Tourism

A surge of industry updates sets the stage for a rare, behind-the-scenes look at a park network that could reshape the North Coast. We start with actionable items—Petzl safety alerts for harness D-rings and ice tools, EOIs for Jindabyne’s adventure project and NSW Sport and Rec centers, and the AAAS survey that may redefine knowledge, skills, and dependency across adventurous activities. With guides listed in shortage and subsidies live, we underline the workforce reality and the training routes that can help teams keep pace.

Then Glenn from NSW National Parks walks us through the proposed Great Koala National Park with clarity and candor. Think big, connected country from Grafton to Kempsey and inland—179,000 hectares proposed for reservation alongside existing parks—mapped with drone thermal surveys estimating around 12,000 koalas and 36,000 greater gliders. Boundaries exclude plantations to protect timber supply, and legislation is slated for later this year. Crucially, this isn’t one mega-park but a network under different reserve categories: national parks for flexible conservation and recreation, nature reserves for highest-value habitats, and potential regional parks near population centers where high-intensity activities need a proper fit.

Access is the crux. Glenn details how the team is planning early for fire, roads, bridges, staffing, and visitor flow while keeping community trust front and center. Nearly 4,000 survey responses and regular meetings with riders, drivers, and clubs show a path forward: better signage and reasons behind closures, zoned experiences to reduce conflict, and new opportunities where biodiversity values and visitation can align. From future campgrounds and stronger mountain bike hubs to education and volunteer tourism, the vision ties conservation outcomes to a healthier visitor economy—especially when First Nations partnerships lead cultural experiences and local benefit.

We close with tangible examples already moving: the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk with cabins, platforms, and a modern visitor center, plus a rewilding site at Numbar Nature Reserve that opens the door to conservation learning. If you care about koalas, access, and the next decade of outdoor experiences, this conversation offers a grounded roadmap and a genuine invitation to help build what comes next. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review with the one question you want answered when the park plan advances.

Transcript

Welcome & Industry Updates

SPEAKER_03 0:03

Welcome to the Outdoors New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, weekly Outdoor Industry Connect and Share Forum. Where ideas thrive, collaborations spark, and our industry comes together to grow. Let's connect, share, and make an impact. This episode is recorded live with our professional outdoor friends and provided post-event as a resource for the outdoor industry.

Safety Alerts: Petzl Harnesses & Ice Picks

EOIs: Jindabyne Park & Sport Rec Centers

AAAS Survey & Standards Changes

Skills, Training, And Workforce Shortages

PD Sessions, Guide Awards, Masterclass

Outdoor Learning Conference & Member Perks

Awards Categories, Judges, And Key Dates

Introducing Glenn And The Park Briefing

SPEAKER_04 0:27

Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us for episode five of season four of Connect and Shares. Today is the 6th March, and I'm coming to you live from Perth. So I'm over here at the moment uh helping some of our operators get on the big stage for the Australian Tourism Awards, but also catching up with colleagues on all things AAAS, Nature Play, and uh yeah, what's going on over here in WA. But before we um launch in today, can I please acknowledge the traditional learners in the lands in which we all come from today and pay my respects to elders past, present, and those that we're working with to communicate better about country and our values. So today we have got a fabulous guest. Glenn Glenn has joined us from Great Koala National Park. Well, he's come from National Park, so my life to talk about Great Koala National Park and the consultation that's happening at the moment. Next week, we have the Office of Sport, New South Wales, coming along to talk about their expression of interest, which is out at the moment on use of their sport and rec camps, allowing all of our operators to jump in and utilize some of these amazing assets that we have in New South Wales. So, quick rundown of what's going on. And if you didn't have a look at the February news newsletter that came out last week, it is jam-hacked. Um please read it. I spent a lot of time compiling these things. Um, and it gives you a really good rundown of what is happening around the ground. There's a really important survey which I'll touch on in a minute. Um, there's a lot of information around uh all different aspects, including safety alerts, uh, again, which we might go through a couple of those today. Um, yeah, so please jump in, have a read, uh, maybe grab a coffee before you start reading, because as I say, there's a lot of content in there. So if you scan that QR code, it'll take you straight to the newsletter. Okay, back to that safety alert. So we actually announced this last week, but it's also in the newsletter, and we're announcing again today that the uh Astro and Canyon Guide harnesses that um are put out by Petzel have detected an issue. So they actually are replacing the D-ring kits. So if you have one of these harnesses uh in that serial code number range that you see on screen, please get in touch and get your replacement D-ring kit. And last night I did see another safety alert. Didn't get a chance to put it onto this presentation, but Petzel was just a released one on ice picks. So if you have ice picks in your stock, um, please have a look at that petzel uh safety alert that they have put out only yesterday. Uh reminder for those that are interested in the ginderbine adventure park EOI. This closes on the 18th of March at 3 p.m. Um a reminder that this is asking private operators to look at operating the first stage one of the mountain bike trails on their property, on the New South Wales government property, and also looking at long-term uh operation and build of an adventure park and other facilities. So if you're interested in that, definitely jump on their website. Uh it's it's through regional development and planning, uh, and you can get down all the papers that you need to compile a response. Um, actually, it's on the Buy New South Wales website as well. So that might be an easier one to find. And as I said, Officer Sport will be along next week to talk about their use of the recreation centres. If you are interested in this, maybe download the papers before next week so you can ask the right questions of the team that are coming along. This close date is the 13th of April. So we've got still a little bit of time before you get your submissions in, um, which will be good to have that discussion next week as well. Triple AS, um, as I said, there's a really important survey. Um, that QR code will take you to that survey. This is around three particular areas, and if you read your newsletter, like good children, you would have read that um we are looking at changing the knowledge, skills, experience piece in the Adventurous Activity Standard and Good Practice Guides. And there's also um a couple of other things on dependency and um some of the articulation of how we uh communicate certain aspects for uh best safety practice. So if you're interested, um certainly to find out how this could impact you, but have your say on these particular items because this will really shape what the AAAS looks like on the other side, which, as you know, the process is going at the moment, should be produced by July this year. So please uh encourage you all to get in and um do that survey. If you are in the vet area or the skills area of the outdoor industry, this is a good event to attend. It is the Skills RQ Forum. So we'll be talking all things qualifications, training, uh, skills gaps, and it will be held at Business New South Wales Head Office, which is in Chifley Square. It's on the 23rd of March, and you can register via that QR code. There is no cost to attend. Um, so we encourage anyone who is interested in this to come along, and um, yeah, you'll uh hear lots of good content around the plans for training in New South Wales. The occupational shortage list has named outdoor guides as being a shortage as of 2025. 2026, however, is still up for grabs. So this is the survey where we encourage anyone that cannot fill their roles to jump on and fill out this survey. It's an incredible tool because we need to tell the government how we are struggling and getting our roles filled. If you look at our jobs board as a great example, at the moment, there's reams of jobs that are on our outdoors job board. Um, so it's showing that we've got lots of opportunities out there, but it's really, we're really struggling at getting the people on the ground. So please, if you do have a shortage, we encourage you to fill this out. I have actually filled this out. I'm liaising with Jobs and Skills Australia on it as well, um, both at the OCA level and outdoors New South Wales level and ACT, but we just need the operators to also have their say. Because if we continue to be on the shortage list, we'll continue to get trainee subsidies. So at the moment, there is a trainee subsidy of$2,500 for the employer and$2,500 for the training that they need to conduct. So if you're looking at having trainees, now's a great time to do it because we are on that shortage list. So here's a tip to fill out that survey. Uh reminder about all our professional development sessions. They've been uh certainly getting uh some interest, particularly all of the refreshers around first aid, um, remote first aid, wellness first aid as well. Uh there's some ab sailing, uh kayaking, canoeing, uh, various aspects that might be of worth to your employers, uh, employees, I should say. So yeah, jump on the site. It is on our main page, and you can see all of the professional development available. And the top two guide awards are a great opportunity to highlight some of our adventure guides. So if you're thinking that you have a staff member or even yourself, um, we could actually nominate you through this process. It closes on the 10th of April, and we could get you up and um on the stage as the top tour guide of New South Wales. If you win a New South Wales level, you go through to the Australian Tourism Awards, which has the potential to give you some great exposure. So um, yeah, if you're interested, please reach out and we'll certainly give you a letter of support, um, but also may help you in um yeah getting through uh your information into that process. The masterclass is happening again. So, as you might remember, we have a masterclass every two years and a summit every other year. This year is masterclass year, 15th and 16th of July in Wallemeyer, which is in the Jervis Bay region, and we've got some incredible topics that we're going to be covering. Basically, we try to bring all of the topics that are going to be of interest to any business, particularly in the outdoors, though, for the next two years. So, some of the real key topics that you need to be on top of for the sustainability of your operations. This one is really tailored to business owners and senior managers in small to medium enterprises. So hopefully we'll see you there. There'll be more on on this coming up very soon. And the industry awards will be held on that night. So it's the 16th of July, we'll be celebrating our own outdoor industry awards. So they are open now, and um there is a whole heap of categories which I'll briefly go through in just a minute. The following days is the outdoor learning conference. So, this is the opportunity for all of the educators, all of the facilitators of outdoor learning. And this is where we get our kids out and about and uh more active, but also learning about the environment and uh even taking all the curriculum outdoors. How do we do it better? Well, this is the event where we get to share our experiences, share our skills, and connect with one another. So if you're an educator or a facilitator, this is the event for you. Also being held in Wallemeyer at the beautiful Trinity Grammar School outdoor campus in Jervis Bay. Reminder about the pro deal from One Planet. Thanks to OnePlanet for giving us access to this great pro deal. All our members get access to this via your um your members' portal. But if you apply, uh you'll be seen as an out, they've got the list of all the outdoor members, so you can get access straight away. And back to the awards. Here is all the categories for the outdoor industry awards. So if you see yourself in one of those opportunities, now's the time to have a sit down and look at the application process and see if it's something that you would like to enter this year. We've got a couple of major awards there that won't be open for entry, but will be based on the entries to the other categories. And these will be judged by the team of judges as well as the Industry Choice Award, which is open for public to vote on that category. And the Outdoor Education Astrality categories will go through that portal, but still come back to us for judging. So don't get confused by that. Just follow the links on the website and it'll take you to the right spot depending on the category that you choose. We are calling for judges. So if you don't see yourself as entering these, um, you might be in a stage of your business that is beyond uh needing the promotion of uh award uh winner, but you might be a great candidate to help us judge some of these businesses that we'll have applications from. So if you're an experienced professional in the outdoors, experienced business person, uh we would love you to be part of the judging team. You can scan that QR code or take you to a brief form in which you just provide us a few details and we look forward to having you on the judging panel. There's the key dates. So we're now open. They close on the 10th of May. Judging period is from the 13th to the 30th of May. So all of the people that are looking at being judges, make sure you've got that uh area that you can at least put aside a couple of hours to have a look at the submissions, and then the public voting will be also open at the same time. Judges deliberation day is a mandatory requirement by all judges. So the 9th of June, we get together virtually and uh yeah, go through the results of the judging process and verify the findings before the 16th of July awards evening. So a bit of excitement for the outdoor industry this year. And there's the flow chart. As you can see, outdoor education categories go through the OEA website while the other categories go through ours. But at the end of the day, they all come back to us to the judging team to be assessed, and then the winners announced on the 16th of July. You can find all the information at the 2026 awards information site. Now we're going to talk to Glenn. So Glenn's here from National Parks and Wildlife New South Wales talking about the Great Koala National Park. So don't forget we've got the Office of Sport next week. But right now, Glenn, I'm going to hand over to you. I have made you a co-host, so hopefully you can share screen if you uh so need to. And um, yes, we'll let you carry on from here.

Why The Great Koala National Park

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Thanks, Laurie, and g'day to everybody. Um I do have a presentation that I'll share in a minute, but just to maybe give a bit of background about myself. I'm um normally been an area manager for national parks. Um I started my career managing Keringai Chase National Park down in Sydney, and um I've uh been managing reserves around the Coffs Harbour region on this mid-north coast area of New South Wales for some time, uh, up until recently, where I'm moving into this role to help national parks get ready to take on the management of the proposed Great Coil National Park, which we expect sometime um towards the end of this year. Uh, I've been uh area manager and so managing about 50 parks across the um uh Coffs, Bellingen um and Nbaka regions. Uh so I do have a bit of a presentation. I'm gonna go through uh I will go backwards a little bit just to give everybody uh um background to the Great Koala National Park and then uh start to talk about some of the things we're starting to think about, uh including around um visitation and recreation experiences that really align with um with with this group. So I'll go at sharing my screen. How's that?

SPEAKER_04 14:51

That's looking good.

Science, Surveys, And Koala Numbers

Boundaries, Plantations, And Legislation

Recreation Use Today & Community Input

What We Heard: Support And Concerns

Getting Ready: Staffing, Fire, Assets

Reserve Categories And Recreation Fit

New Experiences: Camping, Trails, Education

Partnerships With Operators And First Nations

Case Study: Dorrigo Great Walk Project

Rewilding And Conservation Tourism

Q&A: Access, Gates, And Community Trust

Q&A: Carbon Credits Pathway

Q&A: Reserve Types And Part 11 Lands

Closing Remarks & Next Steps

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Excellent. Really thank you for um the invite for today. It's um great to reach out to a group of people that really love natural areas and um ways of getting people into them and and experiencing them. Certainly something that really aligns with what we're on about. Uh I just now need to uh work out how do I drive this thing. There we go. Uh so um I think it's really important, as you have done, but you know, from a national park's perspective, we work really closely with Aboriginal people to manage country. Uh I'm on the lands of the Goombangya Nation, and the majority of the Great Koala National Park is on Goombangy country, and uh small amount spills into Dungati country. Um we work very closely with Aboriginal people and Aboriginal elders. It's one of the most rewarding parts of my uh my job. Um I've even just had, while we've been waiting, one of the elders reach out to me about some issues, and we're um we're looking at working with Aboriginal community to form a park partnership arrangement around the Great Koala National Park. They've been really strong um supporters of the concept to protect their culture and country, and you know, we'll definitely be looking at opportunities where they can um explore economic outcomes as well, including you know uh visitation experiences, uh, and I'm sure you've got some Aboriginal organizations involved in your in your group, and so um it's something that we're very supportive of. And so I certainly want to acknowledge that uh you know Aboriginal people have cared for country, and that's why it's um worthy of being considered for a national park. So, uh in terms of um what I'm planning to cover today, I'm I'm gonna be giving you a bit of a rundown on on the on the park and the announcement. Um working through, we're doing a lot of community engagement at this point of time. We're getting out and about and really speaking to the community about how this current state forest areas are being used for recreation and then starting to explore what could be some opportunities for the future. And you know, through that, as many of you would experience, we'd be working through things like plans of management and so forth. So um uh just um uh going backwards a little bit, the Great Koala National Park um has been a proposal that's been around for some time focused on conserving koalas in this region, um sort of between Grafton and Kempsey from the coast um three-quarters of the way to Armadale. So it's uh quite a large region, and uh it um has uh been an idea around converting um state forest into national park estate to conserve koala population, uh whilst also conserving other species as well. Uh we've uh in uh over the last couple of years um we've undertaken a a detailed assessment process of the values of that area, also working with an um uh reference groups. Uh there was a community um conservation reference group, there was an Aboriginal advisory panel, and there was also an industry uh reference group, it was mainly around the forestry industries in terms of um harvesting and uh and using timber. From that, we had a a raft of documents that then went to government and assisted them in deciding how they wanted to proceed. So they um made some decisions to proceed with proposing to conserve the um the whole of the area that was being assessed. Uh within that part of that assessment process was uh one of the most detailed um uh surveys of koalas ever done, maybe using drones um across a whole uh vast footprint of the Great Koala National Park. From that and then um scientific modeling, they've identified that there's approximately 12,000 koalas in that um patch uh and 36,000 greater gliders. The methodology of the drones very much picked up those two species. Um and so that uh demonstrates uh the values, you know, some of the conservation values. There's also other threatened species. Um, and of course, um you know, there's um uh we'll be protecting corridors, so that will assist species in the future as well around climate resilience. Uh, and there's some you know beautiful patches of rainforest and old growth forest in that as well. And um, you know, it is also uh the catchment to our water supplies up here. So uh in September last year, the government made an announcement that they proposed to um work towards uh the creation of the Great Koala National Park this year. There is a process that they're working through with the Commonwealth Government around carbon credits across that area. And so that's something whilst I'm not directly involved in that's happening right now, uh where they're um they uh exploring that the reserving of the um of this land will uh be a way to um absorb carbon and that is therefore a process that can be used to um uh uh obtain credits in the future. So the the announcement was made uh back in September. So where we're at now, um there's been a process where we've been working really closely with Forest Corp, which is you know the current managers of the land of the State Forest, uh to work through the detailed boundaries of the proposed park. Uh so the government had um stated that they wanted plantations excluded from the Great Koala National Park, so there was an ongoing source of timber. And so that's taken quite a bit of um work to work through that detailed uh boundaries uh to make sure that those plantations were sustainably accessible into the future. And that's actually led to, and so there's a bit of give and take between um Forest Corp and ourselves uh in identifying places where you know there might have been a little bit of uh plantation that spilled over a road or otherwise on the other side, there was places that were um uh timber harvesting areas that um you know were on another side of the road, and we wanted to use roads, for instance, or or major streams as the boundary. So we've been a givea give and take, and that's led to uh the current uh figures are around 179,000 hectares that will be added to already existing reserves in the in the region. Uh we're also looking at um yes floor reserves that um are a form of conservation already within the state forest process. And numbers will also be transferred across uh and their areas of of um you know that haven't been harvested for a long time, so they have high biodiversity values. So process of um preparing the legislation, um and that will take some time, but that is um viewed to be heading to parliament later in this year. This is just uh uh video of the data that is collected through the survey process. Not only is it using um uh heat sensors to pick up where uh koalas are, they then use uh visible light in order to confirm that this is a koala. And so here's a uh I'll just play a little video of what was collected as part of the data process. This is within the Great Koala National Park footprint, and um uh is a way to make sure that you know the data that was collected was was accurate and uh specifically picked up a koala or another uh type of animal. So that's an example. I just need to work out how I move on from that now. Okay, so um moving on. Uh so one of the things it was clear to us uh was that these um areas of state forest are highly used for recreation now, and we needed to learn more about that, you know, because we're not the managers at the moment, so we needed to understand that. So straight off the bat we um sought for the community to register their interest so we could keep people informed. Uh, we got out and about and spoke to all the local government areas, there's five LGAs. We also were very aware of um groups that use the state forest, and so we reached out to those groups. We both reached out to them before the announcement and after, so that we were uh working with those. You know, for instance, there's five mountain bike hubs within the um within the area. Uh, there's groups that um, like for instance, Telewood Ventures is a company that's looking at creating a rail trail, maybe you're aware of. Um, there's other groups that have an interest in tourism and visitation to the region, and so we've very much been working with those uh to learn more about their interests and and their ideas for the future, but also um making sure that we were providing accurate information because there's a lot of misinformation out there, and it's important that we um we we're all working from a factual base. Uh so far, you know, what we've heard, we've heard both support and concern, uh, and we're aware of that, you know, particularly those people that use through um use the areas for uh active recreation, such as trailbike riding for driving and so forth. So we're certainly working with those groups on a regular basis to better understand how they use the current state forest, um, and how that might be something that we can consider into the future. As part of that, we've uh put together a have your say survey, which we ran recently, that only um finished about a week ago, and that was really successful in that that um garnered 3,963 responses. Uh, we're just currently working through that data now to understand what all that says, but that was us reaching out to the um uh the community, local and further afield, to understand how what people value in the current um state forests and what's some ideas for the future management of those areas. We also um recognize it was really important to get out face to face in front of people. So we've done a lot of um and we're in that process now of um just turning up to some um street fairs and festivals and so forth in the region. Uh that's been really worthwhile because you get, you know, obviously the different methods um garner different groups, um, and so the uh face-to-face has been where we probably talk to more of the general community rather than people that are um part of any groups or have uh a concern. Uh and so they were very positive, very positive about the concept as well. Uh we've continued to meet with recreational groups. Um, for instance, uh just the other day, you know, we're meeting with um trailbike riders and forward drivers at a really large um motorbike shop in Coff's Harbor, and that's a regular basis where we're catching up with those groups so that we better understand their uh interests. Uh, but we're also getting out and talking to a whole host of um groups that not just about recreation and visitation, but things around our land management responsibilities, uh, neighbors, um, farmers, um, conservation groups, obviously. Um, there is also a visitor economy reference group that's being established by Destination North Coast. That's with um particularly the um councils locally, you know, they really want to play a part in um uh shaping what the future opportunities are and you know, particularly around providing opportunities for the visitor economy. Uh the North Coast, as you would imagine, is is very um visitor focused in its um economy. So we're very aware of that and wanting to work closely with those groups. So, in planning ahead, some of the things that we're doing to get ready for the park when it's created later in in the year is just to be as ready as we can be, um, and acknowledging that, and and many of your members would um you know have experience where a new park is created and it's taken some time for us to work through all the management issues, do a plan of management, identify uh opportunities to provide you know improved facilities, for instance. That's you know quite a process. We're trying to concertina that as much as we can, but acknowledging that um you know it does take a while. Uh so things that we're trying to do is to be really ready. Uh so we're thinking about our staffing needs. You know, this is not a small addition to the national park estate. This is uh for us in the North Coast, it's about a 26% addition to our National Park Estate that we manage from our North Coast branch. So that's that's pretty significant. It is um, you know, uh because it's so concentrated around the uh Nyambaka, Bellinger, and Coffs up into the Clarence area, it is basically converting the majority of public lands that into National Park Estate. So, you know, in taking that on board, we need to be thinking about how we might need to manage that in a different way in the future. Uh, we're thinking about, therefore, our staffing. Uh, obviously, I mentioned working with Aboriginal people and and considering uh uh how we uh create some sort of park partnership. We're obviously thinking about um land of biodiversity management. That includes fire. You know, fire is a significant issue in this environment, and um so we're working closely with the Rural Fire Service and Forest Corp. Uh we're already starting to do our fire planning, we've already ordered additional uh equipment and so forth to make sure we're ready. Obviously, as an interest to you, all is around visitor management and uh what are future experiences that we can not only uh continue to enable, but also what can we enhance in the future. So we're very much looking for ideas uh on you know what are some um opportunities for uh businesses to come to us and consider how we can make this great QA National Park and the existing reserves that will be part of that as well, uh, you know, a great destination for people to come to and and and experience. Um and part of that, you know, is when we think about it asset management, you know, there's a lot of assets already there, particularly roads and bridges, and uh there's a few um camping areas and so forth. And so we'll be looking at making them, you know, bringing that up to a national park standard. So one of the things we're working through right now is what sort of reserve category we're going to um choose for the different parts of the Great Koala National Park. So one of the misinformations is that it's all gonna be one park. It's actually the Great Koala National Park is more of a, I guess, a coverall or a term that represents a raft of parks that are coming together. Uh, a bit like you know, um some of you would be across Gondwana as a World Heritage concept. It crosses a number of parks and it brings some sort of broad um uh focus, but it is not the um, you know, every park won't be called Great Coil National Park. We're basically looking at having a raft of reserves. Uh, we um as a policy aim to name reserves uh by using local Aboriginal names where possible. So there will be some new parks, there'll also be some additions to existing parks, and we're working through what those um what you know what we would be categorizing those parks as. Uh, as many of your members would be aware, there's there's a raft of different categories, everything from nature reserves, which are our uh areas that have the highest conservation value and where we really provide the least amount of facilities, right through to regional parks, which um haven't been used extensively, but they have been used in some areas. We've got a couple up here on the North Coast where we've got high visitation. Uh, one of the things that can uh occur in regional parks is people can walk dogs when allowed through a planner management process, which isn't able to be accommodated elsewhere. So uh we're looking across those. I suspect we'll use um, you know, we definitely national park will be uh highly used because it does give us some flexibility. Um, nature reserves, there's certainly some flora reserves that are coming across with really high conservation values and low, low use, they make sense to maybe be called um nature reserves. And I think we're going to think about regional parks uh more extensively than we have in the past to acknowledge that really intense recreational uh use that's occurring. I mean, across all of those, we obviously need to protect those really important conservation values, um, particularly, you know, what the park's been established for around koalas and other uh threatened species, but um, it also gives us some opportunity to be um a bit broader in the kind of recreational use that we we will be providing. Uh so what's happening now, we're doing more consultation. Um we will come out with um the results of all this work so that we can tell the community what we've heard. So that's uh something that we're working on. Um we're working on this reserve categories, and we're also thinking, you know, starting to get um ready for the management of the lands later in the in the year. Um so in terms of visitor experience opportunities, um very much you know, we're thinking about what could be future experiences. There aren't a lot of campgrounds that already exist in the new lands. There are campgrounds within the existing park reserve estate, but there's not um there's there's only a couple within the state forest areas. So we'll be looking at whether there's some opportunities for new places for for camping and bushwalking and other recreational activities. Um there's been some talk about the idea. Do we come up with an adventure precinct where you know there are some state forests, particularly closer to Coff's Harbour, where there's uh really intense recreational use, all in one state forest, you know, there's mountain biking, there's full driving, there's trailbike riding, there's horse riding, uh, there's dog walking. We've had mixed response. Locals aren't that keen on that idea because it uh might um might uh conflict with their current use. But anyway, there's some of the things we're thinking through as a as a concept. Um, and obviously, some you know, there's there's real potential for um uh education tourism, um you know, visitation that's based around um uh doing you know giving back so volunteer tourism as well would be something that we would very much uh consider. It looks fake that koala, but it's a real one. Uh yeah, definitely around business partnerships. Uh I'm sure some of the members have a partnership already with us in national parks. Um I know you've got representation of national parks on your board, so we're very keen to explore those opportunities. Um, we want uh skilled professionals uh taking people into national parks in a safe way that does add to their experience. We absolutely acknowledge what your organization is established to do is to really provide opportunities for um you know the community to get into natural areas. Um we definitely uh saw the benefits of natural areas to the community, you know, after COVID, or you know, during those uh I'm one of the reserves I've managed is Dorigo National Park, and during um the uh you know those little openings that we had during COVID and people flooded out, and you know, they definitely came to places like Dorigo and really needed that um open space and beautiful places to explore. And you know, if there's people that can help in that experience, then you know we're very supportive of that. Um, and to to that end, you know, commercial tourism operators we're looking for to consider opportunities. There's definitely these five mountain bike hubs. I think mountain biking could be a real uh focus of at one level of our destination. You know, they're basically all managed by volunteers, and they've never had the capacity to come together to really market the place uh overall, so that's something we can help with. And you know, if ever the um rail trail experience gets up, it really would make uh biking as a as a real um experience opportunity here. I know there's lots of that elsewhere, but you know, at times it's about how you bring together those different experiences to meet the market. Um, you know, acknowledging that in a family there might be one that wants the real adventure stuff, like jumping off Mount Caramba on the downhill, uh, while uh you know younger kids and and families might want a uh more of a you know uh a lower level experience. So uh I think we can offer that here. Um, so yeah, we're pretty excited about what the opportunities lie, but we really want to work with industry to come up with those and explore. Um so you know there's everything around also particularly working with Aboriginal people about what how they could economically benefit from their knowledge and skills of their on their country. So just as an example um of some of the things we're doing locally, uh of what you know we do. So I've been uh very much involved in the um Dorigo Escarpment Great Walk project and new visitor center that's marching along. We're I think nearly at the end of all the approval process, which is uh I'm sure all of you have experienced, long and complex, even for us in government, even sometimes even maybe more complex. Uh so we're about this year to start building that um Great Escarpment, Dorigo Escarpment Great Walk, which goes from Dorigo down into the Aurara Valley, which is just behind Coff's Harbour. Four-day walk, um, three nights, including um galleys, um, small cabins and camp platforms, uh, and then a new visitor center uh to that is more um uh I guess fit for purpose for the current visitation, how people visit natural areas now. Uh certainly be an experience centre, you know, with a uh a major upgrade into the walkway that goes out over the rainforest. And we've been slowly working on all the tracks and uh platforms in the forest. And as many of you would know, Dorigo National Park is a real gem, and uh you know it's a place where it's easily accessible. We're definitely looking at trying to accommodate opportunities from everything from people who have uh accessibility needs right through to the adventure walkers. Uh, so that's an example of some of the stuff we're doing. Uh, also uh you know, more on the education conservation um opportunities. Also, in the patch I've uh been managing, we've created one of the rewilding sites at Numbar Nature Reserve, which is just inland from the coast around uh Scotshead, just south of Maxville. It's um so we're starting to release species in there, and there's a real opportunity for us to link with um with organizations to do some conservation um tourism, conservation and education in there. You know, it will be a place where species are being returned to and uh you know to the forests that were have been lost for uh for a couple of hundred years. So yeah, it's a great project and uh some real opportunities there. And you would know that um you know, we we are getting better at as an agency in marketing some opportunities within uh National Park Estate. And when we've done that, we've had some great um responses, you know, things like our great walks, you know, they're now booked solidly. So that just shows the the demand and the thirst from the community for these experiences. Uh they're a great way for people to um further love their parks, and you know, we're um very much supportive of that. Where people love parks, then they're going to um defend them and uh support their uh their creation. I'll happy to share this presentation with you, Laurie. There's lots of links there. Um and I guess it's really that's the main update. But if there's any questions from anybody in the group, I'd I'd love to be able to answer them.

SPEAKER_04 41:31

Thanks so much, Glenn. Um, yeah, we'll upload that presentation with the link in the members' portal so they can um have a look at those links personally. Amazing, thank you. Thank you so much for the other update. I actually learned a couple of things in there myself, so that's good. Um, yeah, and can I say, you know, some of those rewilding um things are just incredible. I had a lot to do with the Sturt National Park one. Um, and uh yeah, watching what wild deserts are doing out there is incredible. Um, Zach, over to you. Question, comment?

SPEAKER_01 42:01

Um Yeah, look, no, that was great. Thank you. Thanks for that uh presentation, Blenn. Really I I'm actually stunned at the scope of the real estate that you've got to manage that's quite dispersed. And I imagine you're probably tearing and others are tearing their hair out over that. Um because you know, most parks traditionally just have a boundary, and it's pretty simple. You know, you it's it's an easy beat to manage. Um, and I'm just thinking too some of the infrastructure challenges, you know, bridges, roads, uh, and so on, um, and they're high-cost items to maintain, as we've discovered here in Canberra after bushfires, areas stay closed for five or six years for rehabilitation and people lose a lot of access. Um, so really it's look, it's not a really specific comment or question, but I'm just wondering that's a real challenge. And I think what really often pisses people off to use the vernacular is suddenly a gate or a fence appears somewhere and they don't know what it's about. And clearly it's well-intentioned. And I think with such a dispersed area where you've got patterns of use, it's gonna nibble away people's, you know, what they consider to be their access. I just wonder that's a real challenge for you to to keep the community on side with these sorts of areas that they consider to be their little backyard beat. And obviously, we want to preserve the koalas, isn't nobody's gonna argue against that, but people also do want access to recreation.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

Yeah, yeah, good observation, Zach. Yes, it is uh it is a big challenge, and I made that point, it's very different to um you know park additions we've had in the past, even when we've had you know, 20 years ago the um regional forest agreements, uh especially up here on the north coast, that did create a lot of reserves, but it also left a fair bit of state forest, and really um a lot of our reserves are surrounded by state forest, and so now that will become National Park Estate, and therefore we We will become the neighbors, whereas in the in the up till now it's generally we've had state forest mostly as a neighbor. So that's one of the issues. Certainly access. We fortunately, you know, where the major access points, Forest Corp has had to manage those for their own, you know, whether that's timber production, but also part of the firefighting effort where we have a nil tenure approach to those key roads. But you know, there are a lot of assets. Um, it is a very uh different concept. That's why we need to think a bit differently about how we're going to manage it. It is a whole of a landscape that we're um, you know, public land in the landscape that we're going to be um engaged with. So we are coming to it with a different thought about how we'll do that. And um uh and that's why we're reaching out so early to um get ideas because um you know the the the minister has made it clear that um you know she's looking towards opportunities for people to uh access and use the um the future park. So uh, you know, um you you mentioned the issue of gates, and I think that's one of the misinformations that's out there. People think that you know the first thing we do is is close up. Whereas really, as I've mentioned to trailbike riders and forward drivers, you know, there is often very good reasons why we do what we do. And um, you know, one we're very careful about spending your collective taxpayer money uh to make sure that we're not um trying to maintain trails that really don't provide uh anything other than a management need, for instance, you know, a place to pull up a fire or something like that. But you know, we had some good comment from um, you know, this is why this engagement's been really important. You know, some good engagement from uh travel growth. You know, if we knew, like if there was a sign that said why that is the case, then that might give us a better understanding. Um I suspect as we move forward, we'll be looking at um there are some reserves closer to the coast, closer to urban areas, highly used. And they're also the ones that actually don't have the same level of koala populations. Um, so there's a good synergy there that we can uh you know provide some um recreational uses, and so we're looking at that as a way forward.

SPEAKER_04 46:16

Amazing, thank you. Um, Brian, over to you.

SPEAKER_05 46:22

Yep, uh Brian Wood from Motorcycle Council, New South Wales. Um, you mentioned carbon credits, and the meeting we had in Cobbs Harbour last week, um, the local member of parliament also mentioned carbon credits, but he was a bit in the context that the whole proposal is hinging a bit on the federal government sort of allowing carbon credits. What's the what's the sort of story behind that?

SPEAKER_02 46:51

Hey, Brian, great to hear from you again. Brian and I caught up at our meeting at uh the the motorbike shop last week and with a number of trailbike riders and four-wheel drivers, and it was great to have you there, Brian. So um, yeah, look, it it's not an area that I'm directly responsible for, but it is a case it is a matter that's being explored at the moment with the Commonwealth Government, where the proposed Great Koala National Park um there's a could be a uh project that is put forward for um for consideration uh to be a way of um reducing our carbon impacts. Uh firstly, there's a first step, which is which is about um a methodology being considered by the Commonwealth Government and being added to all the methods that you can um use to uh capture carbon and for that to be an accredited method. Uh that's the process that's been going through at the moment, Brian, and then a second process, if that's um accepted by the Commonwealth Government, then that the Great Quarle National Park project would be put forward for that. Uh look at ultimately it's a question for government that's they're going to have to answer as we move forward. It's something they are absolutely exploring. It's why at the moment we keep talking about it being a proposed uh park, and while why we're working through to the end of the year uh as um that process which is on track, uh, that will then help government make some decisions how they want to proceed. Okay, thanks.

SPEAKER_05 48:34

Um Laurie put my hand down, but I'll put it back up again because I had a second question. Um you had a slide with a table of about four different types of reserves, um, but you've got more types of reserves than just those four. Um, there was a later map with um state conservation areas, and also there are other areas which are called um flora reserves. Um how come you had a sort of condensed list of types of reserves?

SPEAKER_02 49:07

Yep, so um flora reserves are a state forest reserve type, so our equivalents are nature reserves, so um, that's not under the National Parks legislation. But definitely state conservation areas, they're generally being used uh only where there's um conflicting mineral interests. And so what it allows for is some of those mineral interests to remain uh until they've been sorted out. And if um if there's no longer the mineral interest, generally those uh state conservation areas transfer to um national park estate of the other types, national park, natural reserve, whatever's the appropriate um reserve type. So we're really focused on those ones that I put up, you know, and I suspect um the only other type of reserve type, which is not a reserve type as such, is where we actually don't gazette some areas. They are called part 11, and that's part of our act. Uh, but what they what that enables is some broader uses of those lands. As an example, all the roads initially will be made part 11 because um that will enable us to work with through in a detailed way with Forest Corps, because the access to the plantations and the removal of timber doesn't sit with what is national park roles, so we don't want to hinder that as a future opportunity. We'll also probably look at some uh just the nature of this reserve, as was mentioned before, it's pretty complex. There's some little isolate patches just here and there that have been created, for instance, when the highway was upgraded, and so you might have a a slight uh an area with one hectare sitting on the other side of the highway left. Uh, it doesn't make sense that they become um national parks initially. We'll look into them in the future when we've got a chance to detailed think about what might be an opportunity. But once they're reserved, uh it's really uh uh basically that's it. Whereas if we keep them as part 11, that gives us some opportunity to consider them into the future. So that's why um Brian, we were looking. I I mentioned national parks, and I suspect the largest proportion of the land will be uh national park estate, because that's where we both have conservation and uh appropriate recreation. It's big areas which we're going to be having, and most people in the community understand those. I think we'll be thinking about nature reserves in a much smaller way, uh, particularly around some of those flora reserves. And then we are thinking um about using this regional park ten year as a bit broader than we have in the past in order to consider some of these broader recreational uses. Um thanks, Brian.

SPEAKER_05 51:55

Oh, well, you you mentioned that a floral reserve is more a forestry act type term. So that would mean somewhere like Jalore. Um has that just been rebatched? So it's not actually it's still, I guess, established under the Forestry Act, um, and it's just managed by national parks. Are there any areas in the Great Koala National Park that might still remain?

SPEAKER_02 52:25

So there has been a small number of um lands under Forest Uh Corp that we've taken on the management responsibility, but they remain under the State Forest Act. Uh there's a small number of those. Within the Great Koala National Park, we're working on everything coming under the National Parks and Wildlife Act. Okay, thanks.

SPEAKER_04 52:47

Cool. Thank you so much. Any other questions or comments for Glenn? No, fabulous. Well, thank you so much again, Glenn, for being here and sharing that enormous amount of content with us. Um, as Brian articulated, it's it certainly looks like a little bit of a um a challenging situation with all the categories, but as Zach highlighted, it's not an easy geography to also navigate. So well done. And um, yes, we look forward to working with you and getting more of our ecopass holders out into um into the region. So thank you, guys. I think we might um close it off there, as we've only got four minutes left in our session. But I know someone asked me briefly around um some uh skills that uh AI is driving. So I'm happy to stick around and just quickly show that if you wanted to uh stay and understand a little bit more about where we're up to with AI. But um, other than that, we might close the recording for today and uh look forward to seeing you all next week. Have a great week, everyone.

SPEAKER_03 53:57

Thank you for joining the weekly Outdoor Industry Connect and Share Forum. Brought to you by Outdoors New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, your peak body for the outdoor industry. Together with our members, we're shaping the future of the outdoors. See you next week for more insights and collaboration.