Ambassadors Tours: a life changing experience
The highly successful Ambassadors Tours programme devised and run by Coffs Harbour City Council has proved to be a life-changing experience for both the volunteer tour guides and participants, in the two years since it began.
Surveys of 200 of the more than 800 people, who have experienced one of the free walks or rides, reveal that nearly 70% have made one or more changes to their daily lives, inspired by knowledge of Coffs Harbour’s natural world gained from the tours. In addition, a number of tour guides have found new jobs or career paths as a result.
“I’ve been an enthusiastic advocate of the Ambassadors Tours programme from the very beginning and am very pleased to see that it has more than fulfilled its early promise,” said Coffs Harbour Mayor, Councillor Keith Rhoades.
“Like many of the very best ideas, this was a simple initiative – enthusiastic and knowledgeable locals sharing their love of a special area with visitors and fellow residents on a free walk or ride. At the same time, the guides also help educate the participants on the ways we can all contribute to the health of our local environment.”
‘Coffs Ambassadors’ tour guides receive comprehensive training and mentoring in interpretive tour guiding and Aboriginal cultural awareness by National Parks and Wildlife Service ‘Discovery’ Rangers and Council staff. Initial funding came from the NSW Environmental Trust, but the programme is now supported through Council’s Environmental Levy.
Ten different tours are offered across the Local Government Area (LGA) opening up a diverse range of landscapes including rainforests, estuaries, headlands, beaches and eucalypt bushland. All are free.
Tours are advertised through Council’s ‘What’s On’ e-newsletters to local residents, media releases, newspaper articles and posters distributed at community venues and tourist accommodation.
Of the tour participants surveyed, 69 percent reported that they have made changes to the way they behave as a result of learning more about the local environment.
Changes include fishing in the right zone of the Solitary Islands Marine Park, keeping cats inside at night, ensuring dogs are on leads and safely fenced, retaining native trees and shrubs on private property, preventing chemicals and rubbish going into stormwater drains, picking up rubbish, joining a Landcare group, removing weeds from gardens and disposing of garden waste is green bins.
More than 90 percent rated the tours as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’.
