South East Queensland Horse Riding Trail Network, Pilot of a Social Survey of Park Visitors.

SEBASTIAN ROSSI; CATHERINE PICKERING

Griffith University

Lugar: Brisbane; Año: 2010 p. 72

9781922216410

Over thirty six State Forests and other reserves are being converted to National Parks as part of the South East Queensland Forests Agreement. As part of this process, a network of 547 kilometres of horse riding trails was established within Forest Reserves. The Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has established a comprehensive 20-years scientific monitoring program to assess the social and biophysical impacts of horse riding. In conjunction with Griffith University and DERM, a survey instrument was developed that can be used to examine attitudes of visitors and the local community to the change in status of these areas and to different recreational activities including horse riding. It was designed to address current and likely future needs of DERM as part of their long term monitoring program. This report outlines the development of this survey instrument and its use in a pilot survey of visitors to part of the South East Queensland Horse Trail Network (SEQ HTN). Specifically it surveyed visitors using the Enoggera Forest Reserve adjacent to DAguilar National Park. It includes the original survey including questions regarding attitudes to the change in status of these areas, a shorter version of the survey used in the pilot study, results from the pilot survey, and a revised survey based on the results of the pilot survey. It also includes information on the time/costs of conducting the pilot survey.