Head of Parks Services, Auckland Council
Chair, New Zealand Recreation Association, New Zealand
Mark Bowater has over twenty years of experience in parks and recreation management. Currently, he is the Head of Parks Services for the Auckland Council. In this position, he manages 52 000ha of parks open space, including 4 000 local parks, 224 sports parks, 28 regional parks, and Auckland Botanic Gardens.
Mark is also a Board Director and currently, the Chair for the New Zealand Recreation Association and is a member of the World Urban Parks Healthy Parks Healthy Cities Committee. In 2018 Mark received the NZRA Fellow Award, which recognizes the outstanding and sustained contribution to the purpose, aims and work of the NZ Recreation Association.