Volunteers give Boost to Summer Nature Programme

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 32, 27 January 1987, Page 3

Volunteers give Boost to Summer Nature Programme

The response to Tongariro National Park's appeal for volunteer interpreters vvas so successful that the park did not have to cancel any of their scheduled activities over the four week period of the Summer Nature Programme. Calling for volunteer interpreters came about after severe cuts in funding. Initially fears were held by Park staff that there would be insufficient staff to maintain this year's summer nature programme. Radio coverage at Taumarunui and extensive coverage of the country's universities had "an incredible response" and saw a large number of young people apply for 17 positions available. The successful applicants were those with a good knowledge of the Tongariro National Park and a background of geology and botany. The volunteer interpreters started their duties on Boxing Day and worked solidly for three weeks with hardly a day off. During their stay they were provided with complementary food and accommodation, plus a wealth of experience. Tongariro park ranger, Russell Montgomery was delighted with the input from the young people. "They were a real bonus for the Park — new faces, new ideas; all working towards running operations smoothly and at the same time supplying us with ideas on how things can be improved," he said.

Mr Montgomery was pleased that the boost to staff numbers also meant a higher degree of safety on tramps around the area and ensured a good staff/ public ratio. Two such volunteers were university students Kim Young (20), from Wellington and Jane Petersen (19) from Otago. Both students said they had thoroughly enjoyed their job as interpreters and had benefitted immensely from the experience. "A lot of what we learned is relevant to our studies," said Kim. "We found that even having a background on the native plants and terrain is not always enough because we were asked numerous questions we didn't know the answers to."

The girls described their job as "a liaison between the public and the Park." They were very impressed by the hospitality and warmth shown by the permanent staff towards all the students as well as the opportunities they were given to participate in staff functions. The students were taught leadership and communication skills and in turn added their own individual characters to the programme. Excellent weather conditions meant that this year's number of visitors to the

Park was well up on previous years, but numbers were described as "nice and manageable" by officials. The most popular walks proved to be Mount Ruapehu's crater lake and the Tongariro crossing. On average 150 people attended each crater trip according to Park ranger. Russell Montgomery. "People have commented to me that the Park was the highlight of their trip. A lot of the visitors were skiers who come here over the winter and notably there was an increase in the number of people who used to come purely for skiing," he said.