1. COFFS AMBASSADORS TOURS
A snapshot- April 2015
BACKGROUND
Coffs Ambassadors Tours is a Coffs Harbour City Council program that is run in partnership with
the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and community volunteers.
 NPWS train volunteers in interpretation tour guiding and these ‘Coffs Ambassadors’ then
lead nature-based interpretive tours for the community
 Council coordinates and funds the program, by providing support and professional
development for the tour guides and promoting the tours to residents and tourists
Coffs Ambassadors run tours of their local Council bushland reserve, creek or beach that they
know and love, choosing their own tour location and topic, based on their local knowledge and
interest.
In developing their tour interpretation plan, each Coffs Ambassador focuses on how their tour
will promote biodiversity protection actions as ‘take home messages’ for their tour participants.
 A specific set of biodiversity protection messages were developed for the program in
partnership with the NPWS, the Solitary Islands Marine Park and Coffs Harbour Regional
Landcare
 Each organisation identified the three most important biodiversity protection actions that
they felt the community could realistically undertake on a daily basis
Coffs Ambassadors Tours is a sustainability education program delivered by a dozen volunteer
tour guides and a two-day/week Council coordinator, with an average annual budget of $10,000.
“Recently our family had the privilege of going on ‘The Great Sea Turtle Adventure’ tour run by
Coffs Ambassadors. We had an amazing tour guide - Karla Gillies - who was extremely
knowledgeable and very passionate about the protection of turtles and coastal wildlife and has
inspired my two girls to spread the message of conservation.
We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope it will continue to run well into the future,
enabling others to see and appreciate the beauty that is Coffs Coast.” Vivienne, Feb 2015
Helping to achieve the 2030 Community Vision

2. PROGRAM OUTCOMES
Objective 1 Increase the awareness of residents and tourists of the
biodiversity values of the Coffs Harbour LGA
85% of tour participants LEARN about our local biodiversity
Objective 2 Increase the number of number of everyday actions
that residents and tourists take to protect the LGA’s biodiversity
Six in ten tour participants ADOPT biodiversity protection
BEHAVIOURS after coming on a tour (removing weeds from their
gardens, planting native species on their property and picking up
rubbish) *
Objective 3 Build a network of local residents sharing information
with other residents, about what actions they can take to protect
and improve their environment
50%* - 75% of tour participants INFLUENCE OTHERS to be more
environmentally aware and adopt biodiversity conservation behaviours
Each tour participant influences an average of 4.2 other people *
UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES
 92% of people rate their tour as very good to
excellent
 Council regularly receive great community
feedback about the tours
 Won two Local Government Excellence in the
Environment Awards in 2012
 One of three case studies on ‘engaging the
community in sustainability’ on LGNSW website
 Volunteer tour guides have contributed $66,000
of In-kind contributions since 2009
Since tours began in 2010,
18 volunteer ‘Coffs Ambassador’
Tour Guides have taken
2,500 people on free
interpretive tours of bushland
and beaches in the Coffs Harbour
LGA.
The multiplier or ripple effect
of these tours is that an
additional 10,500 people
(14% of the LGA) have been
encouraged to be more
environmentally aware and
adopt biodiversity conservation
behaviours.*
Thus Coffs Ambassadors Tours
has ENGAGED with a total of
13,000 people since 2010.
* Jetty Research Survey 2014