Hunter Wetlands Centre Annual Report 2013

CONSERVE DISCOVER EDUCATE

The Hunter Wetlands Centre is a

not-for-profit community organisation established in 1985 as

Australia’s first Wetlands Centre.

Hunter Wetlands Centre 1 Wetlands Place Shortland NSW 2307 AUSTRALIA

Telephone: 61 2 4951 6466 Facsimile: 61 2 4950 1875 Email: [email protected] Web: www.wetlands.org.au

ISSN 1449 - 4736 Contents

Organisational Profile

Executive Reports

Conservation & Management

Education

Ecotourism

Our Team

Partners

Members & Sponsors

Financial Report

Grants

3 Organisational Profile Guiding Principles Commitment to wise use of wetlands Commitment to ecological sustainability Respect diversity Make decisions based on scientific research Respect and value people Act with integrity Protect our credibility Provide a safe environment for staff, volunteers and visitors Achieve financial sustainability

Hunter Wetlands Centre’s Strategic Plan (2004-2009) outlines the organisation’s strategic direction and focuses on four key operational areas:

1. Wetlands Conservation and Management promoting and demonstrating sustainable conservation and management of wetlands through community participation.

2. Education – Increasing and sharing our knowledge and understanding of wetlands and promoting the Ramsar Convention.

3. Tourism and Recreation – Providing services and facilities for visitors to create a high quality and enjoyable experience that showcases wetland values.

4. Governance – Meeting business requirements using ethical practice; achieving financial stability, and fostering community involvement.

4 Board of Directors

Joe Bidwell Chair of the Environmental Science Department, University of Newcastle Representative

Jenny Castles Hunter Landcare Representative

Ben Chard (Chairman) Community Representative

David Crofts Community Representative

Carolyn Gillard Department of Education and Training

Mary Greenwood Community Representative

Nicole Holmes Hunter Water Representative

Christine Prietto Community Representative John Stewart Community Representative

Deon Van Rensburg Area Manager, National Parks & Wildlife Service Representative

5 Hunter Wetlands Staff

Chief Executive Officer Ken Conway

Site Manager & Biodiversity Officer Paul Trute (resigned Oct 2013)

Biodiversity Officer Matt Stow

Project Officer Will McCaffrey

Spoonbill Cafe Chef Peter Halse (resigned Oct 2013)

Spoonbill Cafe Manager Jenny Aitcheson

Nursery Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Ken Bayliss

Volunteer Coordinator Grant Morgan (resigned Feb 2014)

Ecotourism & Marketing Manager Anna Ryan

IT & Events Jake Relf (resigned March 2014)

Visitor Centre Information Officers Kim John & Mel Latos

Activities & Birthday Party Hosts Sue Smith, Alexis Ting

Administration Manager Michelle Strathmore

Wetlands Education Centre

Principal Peter Jones

Teacher Carolyn Gillard

School Administration Manager Rhonda Atkins

6 Chairman’s Report - Ben Chard

The calendar year 2013 represented an extremely difficult year for Management and the Board of the Wetlands Centre. An operating loss of over $300,000 is unsustainable. For the last few years the Wetlands Centre has survived because of the generous grants provided by the Federal and State Governments. However, due to both governments tightening their belts, the grants available in 2013 were substantially lower. Staff who had been employed to manage these grants needed to be made redundant adding to the short term costs for the centre. This was disappointing because the staff were committed to the growth and development of the Centre.

The general population is still not spending which means visitation, while increasing, does not cover costs. The Board has reduced entry fees to encourage more visitors and these fees are more in line with fees charged by competitors. In spite of all this gloom there are some positive signs for the future: • The bequest left to the Wetlands Centre from Shirley Millar will be available in March/April 2014. While the Board was keen to allocate these funds towards capital improvements, the imme- diate use of the funds will assist in cash flow problems. • The change in management in the cafe and therefore the improvement in quality of food is starting to generate greater visitation. However, this process takes time as the poor reputation of the previous cafe is still affecting throughput. • The nursery and the contracts being won for the supply of plants will generate a healthy return.

The Board and Management will continue to keep a close eye on income and expenditure and make changes to our operating procedures to turn these losses around. It must be frustrating for all staff who work so hard to keep the Centre viable to see these disappointing figures. The tremendous efforts by the CEO and staff have not gone unnoticed and are greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank all the volunteers who put in thousands of hours in all facets of the business because without their efforts the Centre would surely be closed. I would ask volunteers and staff to not lose heart as the Board is confident we can turn these losses around.

Ben Chard Chairman

7 CEO’S Report - Ken Conway

As you can see from the financial results it has been an extremely difficult year financially. As a result of this I have had to restructure the organisation extensively to stem the unsustainable losses. Contraction of the economy, a reduction in available grant funding, loss of sponsorship and the need to close the cafe for several months along with a decline in visitor numbers all contributed to the poor result.

We are now running the café ourselves following its closure for repairs. We took a decision that we needed to regain a reputation for quality service and food. It has been a struggle to regain lost reputation but I am happy to say that complaints now are now very rare and financial results from the café are trending in the right direction as are function bookings. I would like to thank Peter Halse and Jennifer Aitcheson for their hard work to get the café established under the Spoonbill Café Brand. Peter was engaged as Head Chef and consultant through the start up period and has since departed. Jennifer is now managing the café and along with her team is rebuilding our reputation and trade.

In response to the losses we have restructured the operation and reduced staffing levels in other areas. Paul Trute, who was our very skilful Site Manager, took a voluntary redundancy. His company and skill is being missed although he still visits regularly and is currently involved in guided Segway Tours of the site. He is also happy to assist with advice and help when he is available. Jake Relf our popular Events and IT Manager sought employment elsewhere. Jake however is still involved with the Centre as he remains involved as a volunteer assisting with the organisation of the Hunter Paddle Challenge which is in its third year. He can rightfully be proud of his achievements with this event. Grant Mor- gan unfortunately had his hours reduced as a matter of financial necessity and sought employment elsewhere. He was heavily engaged in our volunteer program. Matt Stow has taken on the role of Site Manager- Biodiversity and Will McCaffrey the role of Site Manger Fauna; Michelle Strathmore has taken on the new role of Administration Manager and is looking after IT and on site event organisation. Ken Bayliss, the Nursery Manager has taken on primary responsibility for volunteer inductions and WHS. Along with Anna Ryan our Ecotourism Manager they are all working very hard with less resources to achieve a sustainable financial future for the Wetland Centre.

Matt Stow and Will McAffrey 8 CEO’S Report - Continued

In January the Board held a strategy day which also involved senior staff and we are now working through a range of potential income producing ideas that were suggested at that meeting as well as continually reviewing all areas of the business operation seeking improvements. Our pricing structure has been revisited and we have reduced admission prices which may seem paradoxical but we are hoping that increased visitation and therefore higher income levels will result. The new pricing structure was reached after some experimentation with prices in January and February followed by a visitor survey and some focus group work conducted by Anna Ryan. The new structure will remain under review but appears to be beneficial at this stage. We are also increasing our reliance on volunteers.

One area of growing success has been our Nursery. It was established in 2008 by Boyd Carney to produce plants for our revegetation efforts. In 2010 Ken Bayliss, a man with a passion for native plants came on board as a volunteer and quickly established credentials which have allowed him to take the role of Nursery Manager. The nursery now has the capacity to produce around 100,000 plants per year, has an excellent environmental management system thanks to Ken and his dedicated team of around 17 native plant enthusiasts and volunteers. It has also become a major new source of revenue filling a range of orders for commercial clients including National Parks and Wildlife Service, Wetland Care Australia and Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group who are undertaking a Green and Golden Bell Frog program on Kooragang Island.

Some of our Nursery team at work

We have also been fortunate to receive a major bequest from the estate of Shirley Millar who was a Wetlands Administration volunteer until her retirement a number of years ago. If the Board and management had not taken the necessary steps to restructure, that money would have been quickly eaten up. It has been placed on investment at this stage. Partnerships form a valuable part of our business and we are working in close conjunction with Wetland Care Australia on various projects and with National Parks and Wildlife Service on an exciting project to remove mangroves from salt marsh areas around Windeyer’s Reach on the Hunter River as well as our traditional partners like Hunter Bird Observers Club, Australian Plant Society, Hunter Native Fish, Native Animal Trust Fund, the Hunter Volunteers Centre, Newcastle University and the Wetland Environmental Education 9 Centre. They all form a valuable part of our operation. We have also established important partnerships with NSW Community Service and a number of employment/job search agencies for the placement of people wishing to meet their government obligations through providing valuable community service. Our volunteer cohort however is still the mainstay of the Wetland Centre. The Board all volunteer their service and volunteers work in all areas including management . Without them we would not survive.

In late April we will be honouring a former CEO Geoff Winning CEO who left in 1995 and then became a long standing volunteer. We are naming a new bridge in his honour. Geoff passed away in 2010 after a short illness. He was responsible for developing many of the ponds and tracks on the site. When he became ill he was working on a project to fix a number of hydrology problems we had on site. He devoted many hours of his time to the design of the project and the Environmental Impact Statement we needed for approvals. The work was completed this year with the installation of a series of new flow control gates and Channels. The new bridge uses one of those new channels as its foundation.

Geoff Winning

We will be involved in two fund major fund raisers this year. The first being the third annual Hunter Paddle Challenge in August followed by a new event called Mud Sweat and Tears which is an adventure race being run in conjunction with Belmont Wetlands State Park and an adventure racing company from Canada called Mud Sweat and Tears. We also have a Fund Raising Committee led by Cath King who will be running a number of smaller events and raffles over the year. While 2013 was a difficult year financially it was a privilege to work with a dedicated staff and volunteer cohort who are comitted to the sustainability of the Wetland Centre.

Ken Conway CEO 10 Site Managers Report - Matt Stow

2013 saw the continuation of the Environmental Trust grant that outlines project objectives and activity summary for the Site Manager Position. This grant also provides us with a funded Site Manager position for three years (2012 – 2015). Without this funding, many of the projects we are currently managing would not be possible. The grant can be broken down into 5 main objectives, which include: • Hydrology: Focusing on improving the water quality of Melaleuca Swamp to improve the failing health of swamp trees and manage high nutrient loads associated with Egret and Ibis nesting. • Fauna: Improving hunting and feeding habitat for endangered species Australasian Bit- tern, Green and Gold Bell Frogs and Freckled Ducks of up to 18 ha within the site through on ground regeneration works. • Biodiversity and Vegetation: Increase biodiversity on site through breeding and release programs; increase number of fauna and avi-fauna present on site. Continuing active pest management, weed control and bush regeneration works to protect biodiversity values. • Fisheries: Facilitate resilience of fisheries and riparian corridor along Ironbark Creek. We aim to do this by improving 2ha of riparian habitat area through managing access and monitoring vegetation changes along with the control of priority weed species and planting appropriate species. • Community: Increase awareness of the importance of wetlands and promote Ramsar values for Hunter Wetlands Centre.

We have recently completed some of the activities outlined in the grant, including the completion of the 2013-2023 Site Management Plan, installation of hydrology gates and development of a monitoring plan for several activities on site. We have finally had our 3 hydrology gates installed in late October/early November in Mela- leuca Swamp, Middleton Swamp and Reedmarsh. Water and vegetation monitoring plans have now been developed, allowing our dedicated university volunteers to adequately mon- itor and manage water levels, nutrient levels and vegetation health in Melaleuca Swamp. These monitoring activities, including our WaterWatch sampling, will become even more important when we begin to actively manage the water levels of our ponds. The hydrology gates will allow us to hold water in Melaleuca Swamp for longer at key times of the year, mainly during Egret and Ibis breeding season.

Continuing with our work on the Biodiversity Fund Project has been our highest priority in 2013. The aims of the project are: • Removal and control of Weeds Of National Significance and Local Lands Service 11 Priority Weeds • Revegetate approximately 8ha of the site with 120,000 plants, using a staged mo- saic pattern and biodiverse plant species to minimise disturbance to native fauna and avi-fauna. • Install 80 nest boxes across the site to boost the habitat and breeding capacity of selected species. • Creation of habitat piles within Biodiversity project areas to provide shelter for reptiles and small birds. • Ongoing maintenance of the sites, including follow up planting and weed control. • Monitoring and evaluation of the project at 6 month intervals.

In 2013, we have been working on 7 Biodiversity Fund Project sites, covering approximately 1.5ha. The sites were prepared using weed control and suppression techniques before planting 26,568 plants. This brings our project total to over 35,000 so far. We have also been working on mapping suitable locations for nest box installation and undertaking appropriate Workplace Health and Safety training to install them safely.

Assisting with achieving our bush regeneration targets The Thursday Mob, led by Paddy Lightfoot have been working in various areas across the site and have planted 3,886 plants during 2013, as well as maintaining several of the areas that they have worked in the past. Thursday’s LandCare team led by Jenny Castles, have recently completed a Hunter Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority (now Local Lands Service) project to plant riparian vegetation around the perimeter of Farm Dam, planting 5,891 plants across 5 sites, as well as maintaining previous sites and carrying out target weeding projects. Bush Tucker Garden, GGBF Pond maintenance and Friday’s Biodiversity team, led by John Kerr, have planted 5,127 plants across the three sites, while maintaining each of the sites. Planting days and working bees have been held with University of Newcastle Language Centre students. As a result of the tireless efforts of all of these groups, 35,779 plants were planted in 2013. Congratulations to all of the teams involved with the project on reaching our targets. We would also like to thank all of our corporate volunteers , school, and community service volunteers for their assistance with planting days and work experience programs.

12 Site Managers Report continued

We have recently begun building a partnership with Hunter TAFE, which will allow classes studying Conservation and Land Management to have hands on experience using fauna monitoring techniques. The data that is collected can be used as a record to identify reptiles and aboreal fauna that have not been previously recorded on site; identify what types of habitat species prefer and estimate population numbers. We have also had a work placement student from Charles Sturt University working on animal procedures, display tanks and freckled duck program details. Hunter Wetlands Centre staff also completed some work around Water Ribbon Pond for WetlandCare Australia to improve hunting and feeding habitat for the Latham Snipe with maintenance to be carried out by Hunter Wetlands staff and volunteers throughout 2014. Although Native Animal Trust Fund had limited releases on our site in 2013, they still maintain a strong presence on site and assist HWCA staff when required. Some very timely rainfall and installation of the Melaleuca hydrology gates helped to boost Egret nesting numbers at the end of 2013, with 340 egrets counted at the start of the nesting period. Thank you to Geoff Nicholls, Paddy Lightfoot and Hunter Bird Observers Club for organizing and conducting the Egret and Ibis counts for us again during the 2013-2014 breeding season.

There has been a lot of work put into the Freckled Duck breeding program in recent months. A workshop was held to discuss the future direction of the program and address issues we have been facing over the past few years. David Rushton, former CSIRO Freckled Duck Researcher, was brought in as a consultant to assist staff and volunteers with enclo- sure maintenance and husbandry of the resident ducks and new ducklings. As a result of their efforts, we had 11 healthy ducklings born in 2013, with more expected in the coming weeks.

At the end of 2013, our long time volunteer Bob King retired from his role as maintenance team leader. Tony Townsend has stepped into the maintenance team leader role and will be a valuable team leader. While we would like to have the time to manage all aspects of the site, the role that our volunteer teams and team leaders play in the day to day operation of the centre is important. This allows us, as site managers, to work on Environmental Trust targets, Biodiversity Fund targets, fauna management, Workplace Health and Safety issues and off site contracts. Will and I have been adjusting to our new roles over the past six months and would like to thank staff and volunteers for their support, assistance and patience during this time. At this time we are working through three large jobs on site, numerous off site and contrac- tor jobs and the regular operational requirements. Without the assistance of our volunteer teams, we would not have the time to manage all of this work.

13 Thursday Mob Report

Our mottos are ‘It never rains on Thursdays’ and ‘You can work and talk at the same time’.

However, due to the vagaries of the Hunter’s weather, sometimes it does rain on Thursdays. This does not deter Mobsters from arriving in their raincoats.

We enjoy working and talking at the same time. As volunteers we share the interest of pre- serving and enhancing our environment here in Newcastle. We enjoy chatting to other volunteers and especially we enjoy this chat over a well earned cuppa after a couple of hours steady work.

The Thursday Mob is basically divided into two groups who come together at morning tea.

The propagators are members of the Newcastle Group of the Australian Plants Society. They produce a variety of Australian native plants for Novocastrians to purchase to enhance their gardens. Funds are raised by selling these plants, as tube stock, to the public on Thursday mornings (mention at the Visitors Centre desk you are purchasing plants and there will be no entry fee) and, as well, at various shows such as Tocal Small Farm Field Days. The monies earned are then distributed to the Wetlands, Hunter Region Botanic Gardens and the Australian Flora Foundation as well as being used to finance their club.

The second group are involved in bush regeneration – weeding and planting over our 45 hectare site , as well as maintaining gardens around the buildings and adjacent constructed ponds.

This last year has seen a makeover of the overflow car park as well as the re-vegetation of an area we call Wallaby Flat. Originally covered in Blackberry and Kikuyu Grass, Wallaby Flat is now home to a variety of wetter soil loving shrubs, grasses and sedges.

The Thursday Mob are indeed confident that, as environmental volunteers, , we have contributed to the Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle and the Hunter Valley in many ways.

14 Nursery Report - Ken Bayliss

The Hunter Wetlands native plant nursery has had a very successful year supplying 24,000 local provenance plants to be planted on site as part of the biodiversity grant. There are 176 local native plant species that we grow with all seed collected on site. Further to this we have had several other projects including several 1000 plant orders for the National Parks & Wildlife Services for planting at several of their sites; infill plants for our bush tucker garden and also several 1000 plant orders for our very own Thursday group that continually improve the outlook of the site with planned plantings throughout the whole site including plants for the rainforest area.

Another important project the nursery has obtained is one that is very pleasing, a repeat order from Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) for 45,000 plants. These are for establishing a habitat around their soon to be constructed Green and Golden Bell Frog ponds. These 16 ponds will be located at Ash Island. There is a strong possibility of a further 45,000 plants after this initial order. BHP are also enquiring about growing approx 20,000 plants for their yet to be constructed Green and Golden Bell Frog ponds also at Ash island. This is part of their responsibility to establish ponds to replace Green & Golden Bell Frog habitat destroyed on Kooragang Island when they land farmed contaminated soil from the former BHP site.

The nursery now have a very dedicated band of volunteers working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. The potting-on-ladies are particularly skilled in their tasks. They have achieved a 90% to 95% survival rate which to my mind is an exceptional effort. I must also say that the men who help with this activity are also very skilled, however the ladies stick to the task longer.

15 Other activities at the Nursery include mowing and whipper snipping the area with ongoing work to keep the weed mats and hot house free from weeds etc. I think most will agree that the nursery area is now a very pleasant area to work in. The effort carried out to uplift the environmental aspect of the nursery area has been very successful with ongoing 3 monthly audits conducted by nursery staff to ensure we do not slide back to old habits. While Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are mainly for activities in and around the nursery, Fridays mornings are kept for seed collecting around the site. It is pleasing that we have a dedicated band of seed collectors that are becoming very familiar with different plant seeds and when they are ready for harvesting. These are then prepared to ensure best possible germina- tion results. I have over time developed a paper on Australian native plant species germinating triggers that cover all 176 local providence plants.

I should also mention the efforts of the team to undertake willingly various duties when they are asked even when these duties are a bit onerous all in all it is a pleasure to lead such a great bunch of volunteers.

16 Education Report - Peter Jones

2013 was another busy and exciting year for Wetlands Environmental Education Centre. Once again the school proved to be extremely popular with large groups of students from local schools attending throughout the year.

Peter Jones and Carolyn Gillard the permanent teaching staff; and Rhonda Atkins is the School Administration Manager. WEEC was also supported by a small team of casual teachers with a wide range of skills enabling them to teach across various curriculum areas and ages. This support is particularly necessary with large groups of students in order to comply with DEC requirements for staff / student ratios on excursions, particularly in proximity to water.

WEEC staff have continued to manage the design and delivery of our core excursion programs for visiting students from Kindergarten to Year 12. Students participated in a wide range of investigations with the integration of technology a great drawcard. All programs support NSW DEC syllabus requirements and enhance learning.

2014 will see the progressive rollout of the new National Curriculum in NSW schools. WEEC staff have been working hard during 2013 to review current educational programs and develop new programs to support the new syllabus documents as they are introduced in NSW.

Visiting schools predominantly come from the Hunter region, but also from Sydney and other areas of the state. 7708 students visited WEEC in 2013. This included 63% primary students, 37% high school students. 95% of schools were from the Hunter Region. Of the 23 Environmental Education Centres in the state, WEEC has one of the highest visitation rates.

WEEC staff also coordinated: Environmental Sustainability Forum, which is a one day networking forum for teachers to keep up to date with environmental initiatives across the state and programs offered across the region. Over 60 teachers participated in 2013.

17 Education Report - Peter Jones

Pre and post excursion video conference opportunities During 2013 the opportunities for visiting schools to participate in a pre or post video conference were expanded and promoted. Take up by schools for VC’s has been slow at this stage but should grow as awareness of this opportunity increases. By providing opportunities for video conferences before and after excursions we are able to prepare students for the fieldwork they will undertake on the day and con- solidate the learning by students from their fieldwork. Eco News is a quarterly newsletter WEEC sends to all schools throughout the Hunter Region. This keeps teachers up to date with our excursion programs, regional environmental events, grant opportunities, and contacts. A copy is also published on the WEEC website. Eco Youth Summit provided environmental workshops and speakers for over 2,000 students at Newington Armoury, Sydney. WEEC staff accompanied a bus load of Hunter students to the event for one of the days. Wetlands EEC staff are represented on a number of HWCA management committees including, Board of Directors, Site Management Committee and OH&S Committee. Technology Integration of technology remains a focus in all aspects of the operation of Wetlands EEC. Opportunities to further integrate technology into excursion programs were sought and implemented where possible. A large number of GPS units were purchased with the intention of ramping up the use of these at each site. Staff also received professional learning from another EEC in their integration of such units. Student Response Keypads were trialed and integrated into excursion programs in 2013 as a way to engage students, ascertain knowledge and gather data. The use of these will be further developed in 2014.

18 Education Report continued

Climate Clever Energy Savers is a state wide project for schools, encouraging student leadership in the management of energy in schools. In its fourth and final year, Wetlands EEC supported 10 local schools and 29 teachers for the Climate Clever Energy Savers program. This state program provides funded professional learning for teachers and guides students through the five step Sustainability Action Process when devising an energy saving action to implement in their school. The student designed projects are then funded and implemented as part of the program. The local primary and high schools involved implemented projects ranging from skylights, blinds, power timers, lighting timers to promotional resources and events. Staff from Wetlands EEC also visited schools participating in the program to provide support for teachers and engage students in energy sustainability activities. Evaluation Each school participating in an excursion program at Wetlands EEC is asked to complete an evaluation. These evaluations allow for improvements to be made in line with school expectations. In 2013 a Net Promoter Score was included on the evaluation. The total 2013 Net Promoter Score for Wetlands EEC was: PROMOTERS: 58 (86.5%) PASSIVE: 9 (13.5%) DETRACTORS: 0 A Net Promoter Score above 80 is considered an excellent result.

19 Ecotourism & Marketing -Anna Ryan

There is no denying the past 18 months have been a real trial for the Hunter Wetlands Centre. With a year of rainy weather in 2012, we have also had to endure being shrouded in roadworks with a completion date that kept moving further away. Without the roadside exposure and with people avoiding the roadworks, it put a big dent in our visitation. Our main source of visitors is by word of mouth so if that drops it can be a long road to recovery. Thankfully the beginning of 2014 is starting to show solid improvement and we will have a much better outlook in 12 months.

2013 was a challenge to start rebuilding our reputation and to get the news out that our new Spoonbill Cafe was open for business and worth visiting. Marketing efforts were focused on advertising through The Herald, NBN TV, Hunter iMag and various other publications throughout the year. The first months of the year were spent without a cafe until we finally launched Spoonbill Cafe in March. The evening was a great success and was testament to Peter Halse’s culinary and Jenny Aitcheson’s management skills. People ate, drank, enjoyed music and generally had a great evening.

We had big ideas for Spoonbill Cafe with Saturday dinners and later Friday Arvo’s but unfortunately we underestimated how long it would take to re-establish regular patronage and build a following, particularly with low roadside visibility and no passing foot traffic. Opening these evenings was not financially sustainable. With a dedicated focus on simple and fresh food and good service the business has come a long way in re-establishing a regular clientele.

With the opening of the long awaited bypass I made the decision to offer an entry special over summer to increase our visitation and word of mouth. With over 4500 visitors we were very happy with the results. After conducting surveys and a few focus groups over this period the board agreed to lower the entry price, the idea being that more people would visit and still have money to spend on our other activities such as canoeing and eating at the cafe. So far, this approach is working well.

20 Ecotourism & Marketing Continued

Other areas I have been working to increase our visitation have been in the direct domestic and international tourism markets. With the severe drop in sponsorships and grants available, increasing our income from this market is imperative. Establishing a good foothold in domestic and international tourism markets is not a quick fix solution and it may be a few years before we see big numbers coming through. I have been working with Destination NSW to increase my knowledge of how to become ‘market ready’ and to present ourselves to Inbound Tour Operators. With Destination NSW mentoring we are now ready to start attending trade shows to sell our attraction to wholesale and retail travel agents. Part of this approach is to ‘bundle’ our activities together with other operators in the area and we have done with this Nova Cruises and Moonshadow Cruises with more collaborations in the wings.

We have begun some simple improvements to our Visitors Centre to ensure our first impressions are desirable and reflect the messages we want people to take away. Over the years with renovations to our reception area and the cafe, has also come a slight sterilisation of the centre. With fresh eyes and the assistance of volunteers Val Noake and Peter Woods, we made some small but significant improvements that have made a difference to the visitor experience. Obsolete and unecessary signage was removed, a television installed above the reception desk to show a slideshow of the site, the blackboard repositioned, the entry thoroughly cleaned and cobwebs removed (obviously an ongoing job!). Soon historical photos will be installed. A project to create some simple but effective artwork and banners that will carry a range of messages for our visitors to consider is underway.

I would like to thank our small but dedicated team of administration volunteers without whom we not be able to continue to grow, to improve our services, to get the word out about this wonderful centre and basically function on the level we do. You are worth your weight in gold! Thank you so much for your efforts and dedication, it is so very much appreciated!

Easter Adventures 2013 Birdlands by Tanrum Theatre Tocal Field Days

21 Fish Fry band Events & Activities - Anna Ryan

• We celebrated Easter with Easter Bunny Adventures on Easter Saturday with around 250 in attendance - it was a fun day; the carrot trail that led to the bunny was eagerly followed (and the bunny certainly had it’s fill of carrots on the day! • We swapped golf for Barefoot Bowls and raised just over $2000 for the cente. • We attended Tocal Field Days in May. • The Hunter Wetlands Centre were officially part of the WUPA Aboriginal Art exhibition this year which is held at various locations across the Hunter Valley. We look forward to hosting and participating in 2014. • We welcomed the Maitland Gilbert & Sullivan Society who had a weekend season of Sweeny Todd in the breezeway of the school building. They had a bumper season with over 300 people in attendance over the two shows. • We ran school holiday programs and introduced the very popular Bush Adventure Day with bush shelter and damper making. We also collaborated with Tantrum Youth Theatre who offered a drama workshop followed by the show ‘Birdlands’ in the October school holidays. • The legendary Newcastle swing band, Fish Fry entertained an audience of about 130 with some grooving tunes. The boys are keen to return and we’ll see them again next November and grow the event.

hunter paddle challenge

Our major fundraiser, the Hunter Paddle Challenge was held again this year and has begun to cement itself into a significant annual paddle event for the region. We doubled our participation with paddlers of all persuasions, to just over 80 competitors, including a 20 strong dragonboat crew who sang almost the full 30kms from Raymond Terrace! The support, knowledge and experience our dedicated included Peter Freeman from Dive, Skate & Ski, Dave Woods from Newcastle Kayak Tours, Richard Finlay Jones from BaySup. They have been integral in the events’ burgoining success. A huge thank you to all our volunteer crew who assisted in the lead up and the event on the day. The 2014 HPC is listed as a Paddle NSW endoresed event - great news for us as we continue to grow with the Challenge being set down for the 24th August this year. We are currently working towards securing sponsorship to assist with the promotion and running costs of the HPC. Please let us know if you know of anyone wishing to throw their support behind this great event for a great cause. 22 Volunteer Coordinator - Ken Bayliss

With the resignation of the previous volunteer coordinator myself and our CEO Mr Ken Con- way undertook to carry on this role. Since starting we have changed a few of the operational aspects of the Wetland Centre’s inductions being that we now not only have the new potential volunteers fill out an application form we also go through several standard operation procedures (SOP) these being Manual Handling, Personal Protection Equipment and Harassment these three SOP’s relate to all new volunteers no matter where they will be working so if we have them complete these they are ready to go and their assigned team leader can then follow up with SOP’s that pertain to their duties this change seems to be working and positive feed back from inductees is pleasing.

We are conducting induction sessions monthly on 2nd Thursday at 11.00am during the induction each positional volunteer is interviewed to assist with placing these people to the best area but we are happy to move them to a different work area if required we also invite team leaders to meet the new volunteers at the conclusion of the induction session to ensure that volunteer on their first arrival they are not hanging around waiting for someone to notice them. We are also about to instigate a system whereby if a volunteers does not show up for a few weeks we will email them to enquire if there circumstances have changed or they have some problem with associated with the centre as there seem to be a drop off from the time of induction to when they start volunteering.

23 Sponsors & Supporters

The Hunter Valley Private Hospital continues to support the Hunter Wetlands Cen- tre and helps to promote the centre to all who visit their hospital and we would like to thank them for their continued assistance.

Our sponsorship from Hunter Water came to an end in June 2013. They have since replaced their community sponsorship program with a new grant based system. We would like to thank Hunter Water for their years of invaluable support.

We have a long standing relationship with The Newcastle Herald and more recently with NBN television who provide us with good deals on our advertising. We would like to especially thank The Herald for their ongoing support and sponsorship of our annual events, The Wetlands Annual Photo Competition and their media partnership for the Hunter Paddle Challenge.

We continue to seek major sponsorship for the Hunter Wetlands to assure the financial and secure future of the centre.

Thanks to our Supporters Newcastle Herald NBN Hunter Region School of Photography

24 Hunter Paddle Challenge 2013

Hunter Wetlands Centre Aerial Shot Financial Report 2013

29 Notes

30 CONSERVE DISCOVER EDUCATE www.wetlands.org.au