A dream city & Schizophrenia

Brisbane is an amazing city!  I love my Chicago, but on the list of big cities I’ve visited, Brisbane is definitely up there – it’s very clean, it’s new, but also has some history, great public transportation, and there’s tons to do and see.  We went to the Brisbane Forest National Park yesterday – it’s a great example of what Parks should be and can be if you have a good regional gov’t and a good staff that cares and is innovate in their approach to managing their areas.  The Park is actually pretty big (largest Park within 15km of an urban center in Australia, for whatever that means), and they have some really good infrastructure.  They have lots of trails (the only resistance from the locals has been the recent ban on horse riding in the Park).  It’s destructive, but so far, people have grumblingly accepted this.  We went to the wildlife center, which is doing a lot of successful things.  For one, they have installed solar planels and rainwater tanks that have reduced the impact of the center – this serves as a model for the local community (they have material about how to do the same in your home) and also just cuts costs so more of the budget can go to actual work of the park service.  Then they have a small zoo of the local animals, which is tons of fun and pretty educational for kids.  And they run a lot of environmental education programs with the local schools, which is great.

But in what way is it successful, you ask?  I just gave a few different answers, all which are true, kind of.  This summer, I’ve been asking what the fundamental function of Parks are.  This is because my paper is looking at how the success of parks is tied to local engagement, but you have to know by what standards you’re judging the success should be judged by.

Parks have what I call, and what a lot of my interviewees have reiterated, a schizophrenia of identity.  They have one of the broadest mandates of any protected area, and it shows.  Cultural reserves have a set function – preserve culture.  Forest preserves have a set function – protect forests.  But Parks have always been a jack-of-all-trades.  They are supposed to support tourism, protect biodiversity, educate the community, preserve the cultural heritage of the country, preserve the natural heritage of the country (different form the above), and provide econmic benefits for local communties.  So, they really do have a schizophrenia of identity – becuase there is no way, even the best parks could ever possibly fulfill all of those goals completely.  But sometimes, they have to try.  A lot of which “identity” the parks take up depends on the location, the amount of biodiversity, the number of people nearby.     The beauty of the scenery.  A lot of the problem comes I think when Parks try to be too much – there isn’t enough funding, manpower, or qualified individuals (Sorry, but true) to do everything.

I am going to leave you with my new favorite thing, something that I think America should import right away.  In the supermarket,  the carts (trolleys here) – all four wheels are free to move in any direction.  So you can push the cart sideways and diagonally and all ways.  It honestly is so much fun!  I wanted to shop more just so I could push the cart more.

I’m heading up the coast tomorrow – I’ve got a flight next Monday  in Carins, a short 1000 miles away.  So a lot of ground to cover, lots of Parks to visit.  Should be fun!