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Recreational Carrying Capacity - OneCaribbean.org Flipbook PDF
What is Recreational Carrying Capacity? It’s not about fixing absolute numbers of . visitors/tourists that cannot be cha
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9th Annual Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Conference
Recreational Carrying Capacity Graham C Barrow
What is Recreational Carrying Capacity?
It’s not about fixing absolute numbers of visitors/tourists that cannot be changed The carrying capacity concept is essentially a decision-making framework, informed by the regular measurement of agreed indicators of quality
Crowded beaches
Car parks
Erosion of dunes
Footpath erosion
Damage to coral reefs
Disturbance to wildlife
Crowds at heritage sites
Crowded visitor centres
Situations where visitor numbers are an issue
Planning a new site to be opened to the public for the first time Managing a site which is showing signs of negative impact from visitors Designing the size of a critical new facility such as a car park or a visitor centre Increasing visitor numbers without causing damage or deterioration to the environment or the recreational experience
Carrying Capacity
Origins in ecology, animal grazing and agriculture. Balance between grazing animals and their food supply and the ability to sustain a population. Applied to recreation in the 1960s and 70s as recreational carrying capacity
Limits of acceptable change
Origins in US wild land management Aims to get a consensus between stakeholders concerning an acceptable quality of the environment Recognises that is possible to trade environmental quality against recreational use Requires agreed, measurable factors and thresholds to be identified
Carrying capacity, limits of acceptable change and sustainability indicators
There are quality standards that can be chosen and agreed upon There are factors that can be measured to indicate quality There must be a balance between costs of measuring things and the value of the answers
Difficulties with applying the theory
Any site is unlikely to be uniform in character Stakeholders will have a different view of what is “acceptable” and “quality” The visitors views are not going to be uniform either! The “recreational capacity” of a site or area can be changed through management and is a function of judgement and clear objectives Monitoring requires resources
Recreational Carrying Capacity Components
Physical capacity - (space) Psychological capacity - (overcrowding and interaction between visitors and their activities) Environmental capacity - (unacceptable change to flora, fauna, and habitat)
From theory to practice
The methodology is based on experience with
An upland and a dune nature reserve in Wales A popular beauty spot in the Lake District National Park in NW England Charles Darwin’s historic home and the surrounding countryside in the London Green belt The planning of a new visitor centre at a sensitive archaeological site The Milford Haven estuary in South West Wales
Background Issues 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Gaining acceptance of the need for a systematic approach Stakeholder participation and decision making structures Staff time and resources to follow a systematic planning and management approach Resources for regular data gathering Methodological issues regarding the assessment of "quality" Setting clear objectives is central to the process
Steps in the Process 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Forming a stakeholder group Defining the boundaries of the area Zoning the area Assessing quality (environment and recreation) Setting standards (thresholds) Considering different recreational activities Regular monitoring and decision making
Getting Started Jumping in at the deep end?
“At one time” capacity
Importance of peak time use Agreeing maximum acceptable numbers at a peak moment Relationship of “at one time capacity” to length of stay and peak day use
Steps in judging “at one time” capacity for a site, area or building Initially if there is no data on impacts or agreed quality standards Divide area into zones of broadly uniform character Agree acceptable at-one-time peak use for each zone (could use a consensus approach) Zones could be areas of land/water or spaces in a building
Factors to help make a judgement about “at-one-time” peak numbers
Physical size of recreational infrastructure Known impact of the present visitor levels on the environment Desired ambience of the site by the management organisation Any known attitudes of visitors Playing safe (the precautionary principle)
Allocating “at-one-time” capacity numbers
Footpaths - group per length of path Open grassland or beach - people per area Open woodland and heath - people per area Water – number of people or craft per area Rooms in buildings – people per room Focal points - allocate comfortable number at that point
20
10 60
3 per 50m
Daily and annual visitor calculations
Estimate the length of stay at the site on peak days Calculate the total numbers of visitors on a peak day based on the allocated at-one-time-capacity and the daily throughput. This gives likely peak day usage. Estimate the number of peak days per annum and the number of days at different percentages of the peak day. Base this on known distribution of daily, weekly and annual visitor patterns for the area/site.
Example At-one time capacity Length of stay (Average) Peak recreation day Total peak day visitors
100 1 hour
calculated from zones calculated from survey
7 hours 10.00 to 17.00 700
Example (contd.) 10 peak days at 700 per day
7,000
30 very busy days at 60% of peak (30 times 420) 50 busy days at 40% of peak
12,600 14,000
100 quiet days at 10% of peak
7,000
175 very quiet days at 2% of peak ANNUAL TOTAL
2,450 43,050
Management and Stakeholder Issues
Which stakeholders should be involved in making judgements about capacity? Conservation, recreation/tourism and local resident and business interests are all valid Need for all to agree monitoring system Need to all receive the survey information and make judgements together
Management and Stakeholder Issues (contd.)
Thresholds agreed by the stakeholder group The monitoring of recreational use and impacts should take place regularly What level of resources will be allocated to this monitoring? Capacity figures can be changed in the light of monitoring and management actions
Possible Decision Making Group
Site Manager Head-office representative Local community representatives Business interests Recreational user representatives Ecological and/or heritage interests Landowners Local authority
Regular Monitoring
Visitor Surveys
Quality of Recreation
Visitor numbers Length of stay on site Qualitative data from face-to-face questionnaires
Visitor Surveys
Number of repeat visits Length of travel time to site Satisfaction levels with the visit experience Reactions to use levels at interview time Reactions to the quality of the site
Measuring the quality of the environment Some indicators that could be measured
State of vegetation and habitat Presence of indicator species Water and air quality Noise levels
Measuring the quality of the environment
Breeding success of birds and mammals Amount of bare ground (erosion) Footpath widths and condition Litter (weight or number of items)
A simple visual estimate of environmental quality
Select at least three expert surveyors Visit the site together and fix quality scores for heavily impacted zone and pristine zone Visit all zones and give scores without conferring Average scores of the surveyors for each zone
Impact scoring example Zone
Surveyor 1
Surveyor 2 Surveyor 3 Averages
1
3
4
3
3.33
2
8
8
7
7.66
3
6
8
5
6.33
4
8
8
8
8
5
2
3
1
2
6
7
7
6
6.66
7
9
9
9
9
8
8
9
8
8.66
56
47
51.33 (6.42)
TOTAL 51
Related Issues
Resurvey at same time of year Possibly calculate an overall site index from averaging all zone scores Agree threshold scores which if exceeded will trigger management responses
Threshold examples Environmental
width of paths % of bare ground presence of a key (indicator) species breeding success of a bird species
Recreation
% of visitors feeling overcrowded number of complaints queuing times number of accidents
Crucial point Management responses to thresholds being reached or exceeded need to be discussed (and hopefully agreed) in advance
Management responses to thresholds being reached
Reduction of promotional activity Site/car park full signs at peak times Site closed at particular times to protect wildlife Timed tickets/advance booking only Price increases at peak times Closure of some paths or car parks at peak times Advance signing showing sites full Agreements on boat numbers Strengthening of key routes Increasing physical size of buildings/infrastructure Etc Etc
Conclusion Consensus between stakeholders Regular monitoring Threshold quality standards Agreed management responses
Thank You
Graham C Barrow TEAM Tourism Consulting and Heritage and Tourism International