New collaboration with orienteers and rogainers
From the Winter 2006 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
Orienteer Rachel West during a 2003 event. The new MoU will ensure ongoing access to State forests for staging orienteering and rogaines. Photo by Bob Mouatt
Have you ever seen red and white flags in the forest, or joggers at night? It may have been an orienteering or rogaining event in action.
Forests NSW, the Orienteering Association of New South Wales and NSW Rogaining have been working to develop a memorandum of understanding (MoU) over the past year.
The MoU establishes a framework for a collaborative working relationship between the three organisations and their affiliated clubs. The agreement addresses issues including:
- ongoing access to areas of State forest for organised orienteering and rogaining events, taking into account operational, environmental and culturally sensitive areas;
- access to planning information for the development of event maps and sharing of these maps with Forests NSW;
- standardisation of fees and conditions for event permits;
- provision and use of promotional material; and
- management of safety issues for participants and the general public.
Planning manager for Orienteering NSW, Mike Weller, says the MoU will provide security for the future of orienteering and rogaining in NSW.
“This is a cooperative agreement which reflects a better understanding of each other’s needs. In practice, orienteering will benefit from stability of fees, as well as State-wide consistency in the permit application process,” Mike said.
“Where in the past, orienteering and rogaining have been limited to foot-based activities, they have recently diversified to include mountain bike orienteering and cyclegains, so access to State forests is becoming more important.”
The opportunity to develop the MoU arose following the development of Forests NSW ‘Living, working, playing... forests’ strategy for sustainable recreation, sport, tourism and training which sees partnerships with stakeholders as an important step to managing State forests in the future.
More information about orienteering and rogaining can be found at www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au and www.nswrogaining.org
Sustainability Analyst, Batemans Bay
