Since 1992, the WOMADelaide Foundation has had the privilege of hiring Botanic Park from the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide, which purchased the land for the park in 1866. The Park is a magnificent 34-hectare arboretum of several hundred trees, some of which are over a century old, vast lawns and endangered flora.
WOMADelaide takes great pride in doing as much as possible to protect the Park (extreme weather conditions notwithstanding) and to return Botanic Park back to the Gardens in near-perfect condition.
In 2013, WOMADelaide was proudly the Winner of the Partnerships Project in the Premier's Natural Resources Management Award for our relationship with Greening Australia.
Waste Minimisation
Sustainable waste management is an important part of the festival’s operating considerations with WOMADelaide’s waste management program being coordinated by Adelaide Green Clean, market leaders in the delivery of high quality and environmentally sustainable cleaning and waste management. Working in partnership with SITA and Jeffries, Adelaide Green Clean provides a ‘zero waste’ solution to WOMADelaide by diverting waste away from landfill and into a sustainable pathway.
Only compostable and recyclable wastes are produced by festival goers. All cups, plates, crockery, serviettes and any items sold in packaging at WOMADelaide are fully compostable and segmented recycling and organic waste bins will be present throughout the park.
All organic waste generated at WOMADelaide is mulched by Jeffries, treated for composting and delivered back to and used by the Botanic Gardens. Jeffries provides this mulch free of charge.
Importantly, Adelaide Green Clean are also helping to educate the WOMADelaide volunteer Green Team on our waste management pathways and reclamation efforts with guided tours of their processing facilities. The Green Team will then be on hand throughout the festival to help educate and direct patrons on WOMADelaide’s waste streams and recycling efforts.
Greening Australia | The WOMADelaide Forest
Australia's largest environmental organisation, Greening Australia works with WOMADelaide to offset the ecological footprint of the festival, with $2 from every WOMADelaide ticket purchased invested in native biodiverse tree plantings.
Greening Australia with the support of Canopy, has been growing the WOMADelaide Forest on land in regional South Australia, around 5km from Langhorne Creek, near the Coorong and Lower Lakes. The WOMADelaide Forest is home to many rare and threatened bird species including the Hooded Robin and Diamond Firetail. In 2008, 17 species of bird were recorded and by 2014 this number had grown to 70 species.
More than 70,000 native trees have been planted across 65 hectares, offsetting to date 16,250 tonnes of carbon emissions. The plantings include species of:
- Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)
- Wallowa (Acacia calamifolia)
- Sticky Hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa ssp. spatulata)
Photo point progression of the WOMADelaide forest site:
All species chosen are local provenance stock grown using locally sourced seed ensuring the genetic diversity of the site is maintained. Greening Australia provides ongoing management of the site to ensure the plants are maintained, and replacing any failing seedlings ensures the carbon offset is secure.
All plantings and revegetation use locally collected seed from remnant native mallee vegetation, thereby building biodiversity in the region. Planting is undertaken in accordance with the Interim Australian Standards for Carbon Accounting for Greenhouse Sinks – Afforestation and Reforestation AS 4978. Greening Australia’s plantings for this project are Kyoto Protocol compliant and are registered on the land title, further ensuring that the carbon offset will be permanently secure.
This site is located approximately 5 km from Langhorne Creek in the Coorong and Lower Lakes region of South Australia on private property. The property has previously been utilised for farming practices.
Ferries-McDonald Conservation Park is approximately 5 km to the north-east while the Bremer River flows into Lake Alexandrina 14.5 km to the south. The site will act as a ‘stepping-stone’ between Ferries-McDonald Conservation Park and the Bremer River, providing a bush corridor for native fauna and flora species.
We are all responsible for contributing to climate change, and you too can play a role in the solution ... offset some or all of the carbon dioxide produced by you or your organisation with plantings managed by Greening Australia.
To find out more about how you can reduce your ecological footprint visit www.greeningaustralia.org.au.
SunTrix Solar Lighting
WOMADelaide are proud to be working with SunTrix to provide a solar powered festoon lighting solution for festival goers this year. SunTrix are an awardwinning, South Australian owned company that operate nationally. SunTrix specialise in solar PV and LED lighting and provide solar systems and complimentary products for homes and businesses.
Bike Parking
WOMADelaide encourages patrons attending the event to ride a bike. The festival offers staffed bike parks at each of the main entrances to accommodate more than 700 bikes.
Don't Park Your Butt in the Park!
While we would prefer that patrons did not smoke at the festival, WOMADelaide has a number of designated Smoke Free areas including the main viewing areas in front of all stages, the Global Village, KidZone & Taste the World tents.
However, if you must smoke, please respect the crowd around you by doing so away from the defined Smoke Free Areas and disposing of your cigarette butts appropriately in the butt bins provided. KESAB has assisted WOMADelaide by providing cigarette ‘Butt Bins’ throughout the site which help keep the park free from cigarette butts. The festival also sells portable ashtrays by gold coin donation at the Info Booth & Cloakroom to further reduce waste and we will make regular stage announcements to remind people to keep the park free of butts.
Help Us Look After The Park
Botanic Park is the ‘green heart’ of Adelaide – 34 hectares of century old trees, vast lawns and endangered flora. WOMADelaide is in the enviable position of having the privilege to stage the festival on these grounds.
Please do not climb on the trees, hang anything from the branches or damage other flora.