Weeding Wonderland

Ku-ring-gai may be positioned in between three National Parks and be regarded as a place of national significance, but will the tourists pay to weed? Amelia Pulsford investigates.

A well-deserved break to enjoy the spectacular views.

Paying $1,800 for the privilege of pulling out weeds has to be one of the most unusual travel fads to preoccupy consumers, but that's what hundreds of Australians have signed themselves up for with the Lord Howe Island Nature Tours. It doesn't hurt that they're weeding against a World Heritage listed backdrop. Whatever the secret, a group of committed community groups want to get Ku-ring-gai in on the action.

"We probably can't compete with the natural splendour of Lord Howe Island," says Ku-ring-gai Council Sustainability Manager, Peter Davies. "But we are positioned in between three beautiful National Parks."

A report to Ku-ring-gai Council in 2000 stated that the environmental splendour of the area was "of such a scale" that the area is of national significance. Not to mention exhibiting some of the best domestic architecture in Sydney and sitting along the railway line and all within 30 minutes from the CBD.

Each winter, since 1998, groups of volunteers have set-off for Lord Howe Island to assist in eradicating the invasive weed known as Ground Asparagus. From one group of 23 in 1998, the project has become so popular that six separate groups now make the trip each winter.

Rymill Abel, who led the first Lord Howe Island Nature Tours in 1998, says the package offered there "ought to be transferable to any situation where there are natural areas in which volunteers are welcomed to assist."

As part of the National Trust Heritage Festival last month, Friends of Ku-ring-gai Environment (FOKE) held an evening on "Promoting Eco/Heritage Tourism", looking at the Lord Howe experience. Prompted by the Festival theme 'industrial heritage', FOKE believes
the new industry of Ku-ring-gai could lie in ecotourism.

Director of the National Trust Festival Janine Kitson says it could be a good way to win favour with the State Government, "We're not doing too well in the eyes of the Minister at the moment and with these ecotourism plans we've got something really worthwhile to put forward."

A buzzword of the tourism industry in recent years, ecotourism refers to ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas to foster environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation.

Ku-ring-gai plans to draw upon the experience of Hunters Hill - an area of comparable heritage significance - whose community has embarked upon like-minded initiatives in promoting their built heritage through tourism. "It's difficult to sell suburban tourism as a notion but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist," says Davies.

Referring to Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden and other festivals and guided walks already on offer by the council, Davies says, "We've been working on programs that could be branded with the ecotourism badge for quite some time. It's not like we woke up one day and thought lets get into ecotourism."

But Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Elaine Malicki believes more could be done to encourage tourism in Ku-ring-gai, "We have never promoted ourselves to the outside world as a fine place to visit and explore." She is keen to see the process handled "slowly and carefully, and by those who love our area and know how to share it without harming its fabric."

In their attempt to "put Ku-ring-gai on the map", says Kitson, the FOKE meeting "resolved to form an incorporated body, something like 'Discover Ku-ring-gai.'"

Davies hopes local community groups and council can work together to set up the requisite infrastructure to promote tourism in the area. "The private sector can do it [set up the infrastructure], but they lose some of the more intimate aspects," he says.

Kitson is keen to involve members of the business community who are experts in the tourism industry in the process. "We've got lots of goodwill and volunteers but we probably need somebody who's got some business acumen," she says. "I would class this a low-cost option. It's not a budget breaker," says Davies.