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

ABSTRACT

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 visitors’ activities, and interactions between attitudes and perceptions. Most respondents, including national park users and non-users, perceived non-motorised recreational activities as appropriate but perceived motorised 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-motorised activities but more negative perceptions of motorised 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 motorised 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 visitors’ experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Park non-users
• community perceptions
• sense of place
• conflict
• local visitors
• social judgement theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Jason Antony Byrne http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8733-0333

Notes

²To assess the social and environmental impacts of different types of visitor activities in these parks, the Queensland Government established a long-term monitoring program (DERM 2011). The current study is part of this broader visitor monitoring program, and provided an opportunity to assess residents’ perceptions about their local park and its use for different recreational activities (Rossi et al. 2013).

1. For this study people's latitudes of acceptance, rejection or non-commitment were not measured. Rather, the social judgement theory was used to understand how people's sense of place can influence their perceptions about different recreational activities.

2. To assess the social and environmental impacts of different types of visitor activities in these parks, the Queensland Government established a long term monitoring program (DERM 2011). The current study is part of this broader visitor monitoring program, and provided an opportunity to assess residents' perceptions about their local park and its use for different recreational activities (Rossi et al. 2013).