Not in our park! Local community's perceptions of recreational activities in peri-urban national parks.

SEBASTIAN ROSSI; CATHERINE PICKERING; JASON BYRNE

Australasian Journal of Environmental Management

Taylor & Francis

Lugar: Melbourne; Año: 2016

1448-6563

Increased pressure to allow more recreational activities in peri-urban national parks may impact local communities. We surveyed residents living in local communities near six peri-urban national parks (IUCN Category II) in Queensland, Australia. We assessed their sense of place, their perceptions of different types of visitor´s activities, and interactions between attitudes and perceptions. Most respondents, including national park users and non-users, perceived non-motorized recreational activities as appropriate but perceived motorized activities negatively. Overall, negative perceptions were related to a respondent´s sense of place. Respondents with a stronger sense of place had more positive perceptions of non-motorized activities but more negative perceptions of motorized activities than respondents reporting a weaker sense of place. Results suggest that people identifying with their local national park may have a small ´latitude of acceptance´ for motorized activities. We found limited displacement due to recreational conflicts; most respondents still visited these parks. The methods used here, if applied to other peri-urban national parks, could help determine a local community´s recreational activity thresholds, offering park managers a way to potentially diminish conflict and enhance visitor´s experiences. ** Version final aceptada