Brisbane Forest Park

Brisbane Forest Park is 28 500 hectares of superb bushland comprised of national parks, state forests and council reserves only 20 minutes from Brisbane city.
Tony was involved in the conception, development and implementation of :
	• Go Bush Program
	• Bush Volunteers Program
	• Walk-about Creek Freshwater Study Centre

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Go Bush Program

This is a nature-based program developed within Brisbane Forest Park. This was the first comprehensive ’user pays’ nature program in Australia. The Go Bush Program, initiated in 1983, is now in its 22nd year. This is a stimulating and fun way to explore and experience the bush.
The Go Bush Program conducts a wide range of activities including
	- off-track adventure walks, - full day bushwalks, - trail walks, - bush picnics, - nature search activities and field skills as ‘focus on frog’; ‘identifying rainforest plants’… - evening activities, and - activities especially for kids until 6 years
These activities are designed for families, children, or singles - anyone who would like to learn more about the Australian wildlife, lands and its features. All the Go Bush activities are guided and booking is essential. Grades indicate the difficulty of the activity; from 1 (easy) to 5 (very difficult).
Now, the Go Bush activities are held at four locations in South-east Queensland:
	- Brisbane Forest Park, - Daily Hill Forest Park, - Sunshine Coast parks, and - David Fleay Wildlife Park (Gold Coast)

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Bush Volunteers

Bush Volunteer program consists in a team of 60 volunteers working within Brisbane Forest Park, initiated in 1984 to implement a more comprehensive recreation program. Volunteers run a wide range of interpretive and resource management projects. This program was also established to enable community participation in the Park and provide management with a wider network of community contacts.
Bush Volunteers are required to assist with the running of the Go Bush activities, assist weekend staff with customer’s services, provide information to the public about the park and its facilities and represent the Brisbane Forest Park at local fetes, festivals and shows.
Since 1998, as a result of the Brisbane Forest Park’s greater role in the natural resource management, a second program has been in operation, ‘The Resource Volunteer Program. Its objectives are to assist the park with many of the resource protection based projects.
Resource Volunteers assist park staff in specific activities including flora and fauna surveys, water quality monitoring and fire regeneration monitoring. Moreover they supply support to staff and specialist conveners who run the park’s projects.

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Walkabout Creek Freshwater Study Centre

Great for nature-based recreation, Walk-about Creek Freshwater Study Centre re-creates a creek environment where you can see fish, lizards, pythons, turtles and platypus. And that’s not all, there is a nocturnal wildlife section, bird aviary, wallabies, amphibians and many other amazing animals. This unique wildlife offers a special close-up viewing displays.

Walk-about Creek Freshwater is located at the Park’s Headquarters. It opens from 9.30 am – 4.30 pm weekdays and 10.00 am – 4.30 pm weekends and public holidays.

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Qld Recreation Areas Management Board

The Queensland Recreation Areas Management Board aims to provide a wide range of opportunities for people to have fun in natural environments and to help people to appreciate, enjoy, respect and protect resources in recreation areas.
The Management board develops global recreation policy for these areas
	• Fraser Island
	• Moreton Island
	• Green Island

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Fraser Island

Inscribed on the World Heritage list, Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island of over 180, 000 hectares. Its outstanding sands dunes are still evolving, representing a significant ongoing ecological and biological process.
Fraser Island has over 350 species of bird and an amazing diversity of plant life. Moreover, the amazing array of white sand beaches, beautiful rainforests, freshwater lakes and coloured sand cliffs make Fraser Island a renowned destination on the Fraser Coast.
Tony Charters was actively involved in the management of Fraser Island through his involvement with the Queensland Recreation Areas Management Board, and then later as the Director of Environmental Management for Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village, a multi-award winning ecotourism resort on the west coast.

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Moreton Island

Moreton Island is situated just 35 kilometres from Brisbane in the Moreton Bay Marine Park. 98% of the island is National Park because of its fragile ecosystem including flora, fauna, its white sand beaches, freshwater lakes, wetlands and forests.
		The island offers a recreation area managed for nature-based recreation including camping, walking, fishing, and birdwatching. Seasonally, turtles, whales and wading birds can be observed.
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Green Island

Just 30 kilometres north-east of Cairns, Green Island offers more than 120 species of native plants, a wide range of birdlife and a true coral cay. The eastern part of the island is National Park and the surrounding reef and waters are Marine Park.
Green Island houses a luxury resort and day-tripper facility offering a range of high quality services. Green Island Resort has a range of products certified by Ecotourism Australia as Eco Tourism advanced certified products. About 3,000 visitors travel to this small cay coral every week.
Eco Tourism Consultant Tourism Consultant Marketing Consultant Ecotourism Sustainable Tourism Destination Development Recreation Concept Design Advocacy and Stakeholder Engagement Public Private Partnership Development Market Research Analysis Social Economic Impact Assessment World Heritage Protected Areas Conservation
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