News & Events >> March 2011
New Independent Chair of the Board of Directors
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The Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute has appointed Emeritus Professor Dexter Dunphy chair of its board of directors.
Professor Dunphy (left) comes from a distinguished family of conservationists who have had a profound influence on the development of the state’s national parks system and the community’s understanding of Australia’s unique natural heritage. |
Myles Dunphy, Professor Dunphy’s father, started lobbying for wilderness protection in 1910, exploring and mapping the rugged reaches of the Blue Mountains. Myles also helped form bushwalking clubs and the National Parks and Primitive Areas Council, which lobbied for the establishment of a professional parks service.
Myles’ son Milo, Professor Dunphy’s brother, was an activist who campaigned on several fronts, including through the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Colong Foundation for Wilderness, the Nature Conservation Council, and the Total Environment Centre, which he helped found.
Professor Dunphy has had a long career as an academic and consultant, specialising in corporate sustainability, the management of organisational change and human resource management. He is currently Emeritus Professor in the School of Management at the University of Technology, Sydney, where he previously held the position of Distinguished Professor. His research is published in more than 90 articles and 23 books and he has consulted to more than 160 private and public sector organisations in Australia and abroad.
At the Institute’s last board meeting Executive Director Dr Rosalie Chapple thanked the retiring chair, Dr Don Stammer, and welcomed Professor Dunphy’s management experience and deep knowledge of sustainability.
“Dr Stammer was an invaluable asset during his time as chair, instigating changes to revitalise and enhance operations,” Dr Chapple said. “Professor Dunphy will help us continue that work and focus our activities on new flagship programs that will be unveiled soon.”
Professor Dunphy said he was delighted to accept the position and to continue his family’s contribution to preserving our natural heritage, particularly with regard to the one million hectares of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
"Sydney is a unique city as on the coast it is bordered by some of the most beautiful beaches and coastline in the world and elsewhere is surrounded by great national parks,’’ Professor Dunphy said.
"In particular, the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area area supplies most of Sydney’s water and purifies Sydney’s air.
It is a tourist destination of international reputation, a place of great beauty and a wonderful amenity for active forms of recreation such as bushwalking.
The World Heritage Area is an integral part of the ecology of the Sydney basin and vital for all our futures.
The great vision shown by those who worked to create and preserve the area is now threatened by climate change and population growth.
Therefore it is imperative that the Institute receive more support to develop the collaborative research needed to provide effective management strategies to preserve the area as it faces a new threat to its biodiversity and ecological health.
The Institute also needs to continue to involve the area’s key stakeholders, particularly those who live and work there, in working actively for its preservation.
I am confident that the sound basis for the Institute’s work consolidated under Dr Stammer’s chairmanship provides a platform for greater public awareness and environmental understanding that will preserve and enhance this great natural resource."
