Think globally, act globally: nature knows no national boundaries. Cleveland Metroparks partners with overseas parks to better worldwide conservation

No one can accuse Cleveland Metroparks of provincialism. At a time when some parks are still struggling to work with their closest neighbors, the organization has had intercontinental partners for years. The result: Mutual learning and a global approach to conservation.

Cleveland Metroparks was approached in 1993 by a newly formed parks district in the state of Victoria, Australia. Local and national parks, and national and historic landmarks once under separate management, were being consolidated under one agency called Parks Victoria. The change in Parks Victoria's management brought a new focus on achieving a high-quality park district dedicated to providing a rewarding experience for visitors while preserving habitats for wildlife.

Parks Victoria management selected several top park districts in the U.S. to visit that were considered to have developed best practices in conservation and park management, among them Cleveland Metroparks. During mutual visits between Cleveland Metroparks and Parks Victoria, Cleveland Metroparks helped Parks Victoria develop benchmarks for the total inventory of park management practices, including maintenance, conservation, park operations, marketing and program development.

A few years later, this relationship evolved into a staff exchange between the two park districts. In 1997, Parks Victoria sent two staff members to Cleveland Metroparks for three months. The Australians helped with Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's newest exhibit, Australian Adventure, providing research, background and voices for the audio tour through the exhibit. In return, they learned proven funding strategies and long-term land management policies.

In 1998, Cleveland Metroparks reciprocated with a staff exchange to Parks Victoria. During their three months in Australia, two Cleveland Metroparks employees helped Parks Victoria expand their education programs and park planning strategies. In return, they took advantage of Parks Victoria's expertise in developing marketing strategies and business plans.

From Down Under to South of the Border

On the opposite side of the world, in a tiny office in Merida, Venezuela, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is making a big impact on international research and conservation. In an ongoing relationship with the Chorros de Milla Zoo in Merida, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo provides assistance with animal care and enrichment, signage and marketing efforts. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo staff also helped teach a training workshop for keepers in Venezuela that was attended by staff from zoos in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

The project started in 1995 with a cooperative program involving Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland State University and the University of the Andes in Merida. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Coordinator of Scientific Research developed a university level course, "Field Research in Tropical Ecology and Conservation Biology." The course took ten Cleveland State students to Venezuela for three weeks of intensive field research in a highly endangered ecosystem--the tropical dry forest. The research was conducted at Caparo Forestry Reserve, a protected area managed by the University of the Andes.

Because of the course's success, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was approached by the University of the Andes to develop a formal relationship, which includes offering the educational and research experience annually. Knowledge gained by studying species in their native habitat assists Cleveland Metroparks and the Chorros de Milla Zoo in future captive management and conservation efforts.

Another of Cleveland Metroparks' Venezuelan initiatives is to assist Bioandina, a conservation organization, with reintroducing the Andean condor. The condors, declared extinct in Venezuela in the 1960s because of over hunting, will be reintroduced to the high Andes ecoregion. In addition to the release of the birds, Cleveland Metroparks is helping with an extensive public education program on them in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, in Central America

Cleveland Metroparks forged another international partnership in Panama. After years of study on migratory songbirds conducted by the Smithsonian Institution in Cleveland, Cleveland Metroparks Chief of Natural Resources Tom Stanley was invited to visit Panama in 1996 to observe and participate in the Smithsonian's field work on the birds. The work in Panama parallels the work conducted in Cleveland Metroparks--examining the impacts of forest fragmentation on Neotropical birds and working to maintain refuges for the migratory birds the two areas share.

On his trip to Panama, Stanley met board members and staff of the relatively new Parque Natural Metropolitano de Panama, which was once the military training grounds of deposed ruler Manuel Noriega. As used to be the case with Cleveland Metroparks, Metropolitano is struggling with funding to support its need for basic facilities and infrastructure. Cleveland Metroparks helped Parque Metropolitano formulate plans to overcome the financial hurdles that typically challenge all new park districts. Cleveland Metroparks also shared general information on every facet of park operations, helped develop a big-picture approach concerning conservation and education, and assisted the Panamanians to establish a mission statement.

A fundraising project for Parque Metropolitano is also underway. Both park districts will be selling molas, native Panamanian Indian quilted pictures of migratory songbirds common to both parks. Not only will this drive raise much-needed funds for Parque Metropolitano, but will also make park visitors in both countries aware that loss of both parkland and rain forests affects them personally.

Cleveland Metroparks is helping to round out the services provided by Parque Metropolitano by bolstering the commission's environmental educational offerings. Armed with programs on topics like ants and songbirds, Wendy Weirich, a Cleveland Metroparks outdoor education manager, went to Parque Metropolitano to evaluate and strengthen its educational programs. Weirich discovered that Parque Metropolitano officials were interested not in a micro view of nature, such as classes on specific animals, but in grand-scale presentations on topics such as tropical rain forests. Weirich subsequently introduced a new curriculum and developed new ways for Parque Metropolitano to teach tropical rain forest ecology using aids such as simulations and games for a lesson on survival.

Another cultural difference Weirich discovered was the Panamanians' reluctance to being outside in the rain. So an ecology program to be taught indoors was developed to reduce downtime on rainy days.

Cleveland Metroparks plans to work with other park districts worldwide. Ironically perhaps, the more that they broaden their view to encompass international environmental concerns, the more that Cleveland Metroparks staff realize how much every park district has in common and how the challenges of conservation and preservation transcends international boundaries.

RELATED ARTICLE: Canal connections.

Over the years, Cleveland Metroparks and Parque Metropolitano, in Panama, have created joint projects to reinforce their intercontinental partnership. One such project involves thematically linking Cleveland Metroparks' newest reservation, the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation, with Panama's world-famous canal, Twin exhibits showing migration patterns of migratory songbirds from the Panama Canal to the Ohio & Erie Canal will be erected in both parks to emphasize biological connections among the world's green spaces.

Marjorie Thomas is a marketing specialist for Cleveland Metroparks, in Cleveland, Ohio. To learn more about Cleveland Metroparks' international partnerships, write her at met@clevelandmetroparks.com.

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