Good morning all, I hope this email finds you all well and that your part of
the world is starting to look as though it may be moving away from the
lockdowns and restrictions of the last two years, as is the case here in the UK.
Unfortunately because of the pandemic we did take the decision just before
Christmas to not run a face to face conference again in 2022, we simply felt
that there was too much uncertainty to put anyone through the process and
potential costs of preparing a conference that then may be cancelled or at best
poorly attended. I am sorry to bring this bad news t the group again but I am
hopeful that with things moving as they are we will be able to get together
next year.
For those of you that have attended the conferences in the past you will know
that we have some fantastic presentations by invited speakers who sit on the
periphery of the zoo world, perhaps in research / universities, often suppliers
of everything from fencing to water purification systems, I’m sure many of use
will never forget the Plocher system that we saw (in Goldau if I remember
right) with its almost magical effects at keeping their water clear! and of
course plants with visits to some amazing nurseries. On top of all of this
there is, for me at least, the most important part of these conferences which
is meeting with colleagues from across Europe to present some of our own work
and take the opportunities to discuss our thoughts & ideas, what has gone well,
what has not and discover that others have the same issues to deal with as we
do. We often forget that when we are hard at it in our own little part of the
world trying to resolve a problem. We must also not forget that our hosts set
up some incredible evening entertainment and incredible feasts for us to enjoy,
relax, discuss less formally and sometimes debate who is going to come where in
the Eurovision Song Contest if the dates fall in line! 😊
For those of you reading this that have not attended in the past, I’m sure you
can see that it there is a lot going on, of course not every item on the agenda
over the 3 days will be as valuable to you as others but it is a great
opportunity to learn something new (I always have), build on ideas and have the
opportunity to have sensible, relaxed discussions around this very specialist
little area of horticulture that we work in and join our very friendly little
‘family’ group for a while.
In the meantime, do not forget that we do have access to all of that knowledge
and assistance from each other on this email group, we are all here to share
with, and learn from each other with the goals of improving our guests
experience, but most importantly our animal’s welfare. So if you have a
question to ask, a problem to share or you would just like to show us what you
have been doing at your park, then please do take a few minutes to post
something here.
Best wishes for now and good luck with your preparations for the season ahead!
David Sutton Mhort(RHS), Cert.Ed.
Horticulture Director
01227 723927 / 07734 869565
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