Best Practice in Park Management
The search for good ideas, or solutions to problems, often leads one to look over the proverbial back fence to see what our neighbour, colleague or competitor is up to. As the old saying goes: 'No one has a mortgage on good ideas'.
At a park management level it is not uncommon for staff in a park, regional or head office to find out how their counterparts in another state or territory have handled a particular issue. How often, however, does the idea or solution get passed on to others who might benefit?
The National Parks and Protected Area Management Committee has been established under the Land, Water and Biodiversity Committee of the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council it's purpose "to provide an inter-Governmental mechanism for identification and resolution of park and protected area management issues at a National level across Australia and New Zealand".
The Committee comprises representatives of each state and territory park service, the Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage and New Zealand's Department of Conservation.
The Committee has a formal and structured benchmarking and best practice program, concentrating on the development of best practice models for protected area management. Benchmarking has been used for many years in industry to achieve a competitive advantage in the manufacture and sale of products, and more recently, in the provision of services.
Each agency committed to a code of conduct as a basis for participation in the benchmarking and best practice program. Under the code, agencies agreed to:
A series of reports, each one dealing with a particular aspect of protected area management, has been prepared under the program. Details of completed reports and those underway are available on the Best Practice Reports page. A study of the use and uptake of best practice documents was undertaken on behalf of the Committee by the New Zealand Department of Conservation:
