Friends of the Park

The Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park formed in 1994 in response to a specific but very important concern. During 1993 and 1994 many park visitors found to their dismay that the newly-built Visitor Centre was often closed on weekends. The Friends were formed to ensure that the Centre was open during peak visitor periods.

Ten years later, staffing the Visitor Centre is still the group's main activity, but they have contributed to the park in many other ways. In 1995, a joint project with the Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers removed blackberry from a rainforest gully and repaired tracks damaged by floods. The Friends have helped park rangers conduct the annual lyrebird survey, participated in tree-planting days, led guided walks for visitors and school groups and secured valuable grant funding to improve the park.

Today the Friends group has 37 members. Despite the comparatively small numbers, the contribution of this committed group of volunteers has been vital to the park. Since its formation in 1994 it is estimated that the group has contributed about 9,000 hours of volunteer labour.

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