Mountain biking in peri-urban parks: Social factors influencing perceptions of conflicts in three popular National Parks in Australia

CATHERINE PICKERING; SEBASTIAN ROSSI

Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism

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Lugar: Wien; Año: 2016 p. 1 - 8

Mountain bikingisapopularrecreationalactivityincludinginprotectedareasclosetocities.Althoughthere hasbeenincreasedresearchfocusonthistopicincludingmountainbikers? characteristicssuchaswho, whenandwheretheyride,fewstudieshaveassessedwhytheyvisitperi-urbanparksandtheirenvironmentalvaluesandperceptionsaboutdifferentrecreationactivities.Weaddresstheseissuesbysurveyingmountainbikersinthreepopularperi-urbannationalparksinQueensland,Australia.Theri-ders wererelativelyhomogeneousinsocio-demographicfactors,valuesandperceptions.Theyweremainly universityeducatedmalesagedbetween25and55years,motivatedbythedesireforexercise,who engageinrecreationalactivitiesandfrequentlyvisittheparks.Basedonresponsestoasetofstandardized questionsrelatingtoenvironmentalvalues,nearlyallriderswouldbecharacterizedashavingecocentricvalues,particularlythosewhofrequentlyvisittheparks.Theytendedtohavestronglypositiveperceptionsaboutthethreemostpopularactivitiesduringthesurvey,i.e.mountainbiking(44%),hiking(14%)andrunning(8%).Overall,theyhadslightlypositiveperceptionsaboutotheractivitiessuch aspicnicking,horseridinganddogwalkingthatwereuncommonduringthesurvey,butwheremanyridershadinteractedwiththeseparkusersonpreviousvisits.Asaresult,bikersdemonstratelimited interpersonalorsocialvalueconflict witharangeofrecreationactivities.Expandingthesurveytoalso (1)assessawiderrangeofactivitiessuchastrailbikeridingandfour-wheeldriving,(2)askingotheruser groupsabouttheirvaluesandperceptions,and(3)assessotherlocationsandtimesmayidentifydifferent socialacceptabilitythresholdsamongparkvisitors.