Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape Sustainable Tourism Plan
The Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape Sustainable Tourism Plan was prepared in 2007 for the Winda Mara Aboriginal Corporation by Context, with Urban Initiatives and Sinclair Knight Merz.
The plan is a practical framework, based on extensive systematic planning, for the Gunditjmara Aboriginal people to develop sustainable tourism ventures that will benefit the local community and showcase the remarkable natural and cultural heritage values of the Lake Condah and Mount Eccles region, which is included on the Australian National Heritage List as a place of outstanding national significance. The plan forms a component of the Lake Condah Sustainable Development Project (2002), which is a Winda Mara Aboriginal Corporation initiative.
The plan is based on a long term vision for culturally-based Indigenous tourism, where visitors are welcomed as guests to the Gunditjmara traditional lands and experience the landscape and its history with the people who care for it. A sustainable approach is central to the plan, so that the level of tourism is carefully matched to the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage features and the aspirations of the local Aboriginal community.
In developing the plan, the consultant team engaged the community and stakeholders identified values, constraints and opportunities, did a feasibility assessment of short-listed options drawn from consultation and research, and then developed an implementation plan.
The plan is designed to build from an existing low base of tourism, to develop the area and its facilities into a popular Indigenous and cultural tourism destination. It provides effective strategies to ensure that this is achieved in a way that meets community aspirations and provides much needed social and economic development in a remote rural community. The plan provides for these benefits to be shared widely in the local community and is an excellent model for developing Indigenous tourism in rural and regional areas.
The plan achieved a Commendation in the Rural and Regional Planning Achievement category of the Planning Institute of Australia, Victoria Division Awards 2007.
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