Assessing visitor spatial behaviour in mountain protected areas with crowdsourced photos: Examples from Argentina and Australia

AGUSTINA BARROS; CHELSEY WALDEN SCHREINER; CATHERINE PICKERING; SEBASTIAN ROSSI; YU-FAI LEUNG

9th International Conference on Monitoring and Management of Visitors in Recreational and Protected Areas (MMV) - Place, Recreation and Local Development

Bordeaux Science Agro

Lugar: Bordeaux; Año: 2018; p. 81 - 83

Mountain summits, valleys, lakes, and glaciers are often desirable destinations for a range of nature based tourism activities. However, these ecosystems are particularly sensitive to visitor impacts due to factors such as cold temperatures and limited soil cover and low diversity, slowing recovery from disturbance (Barros et al. 2013; Leung et al. 2011). Effective management of prominent mountains including those conserved within protected areas requires information about the spatial and temporal patterns of visitor use, yet these data are often limited (Newsome et al. 2012). Data on visitors use can be collected using direct observation, trail counters, visitor passes, camping logbooks and personal tracking technology. However, due to constraints such as limited funding and staff, and the remote nature of many mountains, crowdsourced data is starting to be used to complement other sources of visitor data (Levin, et al. 2017). Crowdsourced data includes geotagged photos publicly shared through social media sites such as Flickr. Geotagged images can serve as proxies of visitor numbers, as well as reflect spatial and temporal variation in visitor use. This study explores how geotagged photos on Flickr can reveal spatial and temporal patterns of visitor use for managers of mountain protected areas.