A social representation approach to facilitating adaptive co-management in mountain destinations managed for conservation and recreation

Abstract

Mountain destinations are often managed not only to support tourism and recreation but also to maintain a range of sensitive ecological processes and services. Resource use and management activities in mountain destinations are manifestations of various representations of mountain landscapes that may contribute to tension and conflicts, or collaboration and learning between stakeholders of mountain destinations. Adaptive co-management (ACM) that adopts a social learning model to forge collaborative natural resource management provides one approach to managing complex and dynamic social-ecological systems in mountain destinations. Social representations (SR) theory, as a theory of social knowledge and social change, offers one theoretical lens with which to gain insights into the representations that different stakeholders ascribe to mountain landscapes and to assist in developing functioning ACM. The utility of SR theory for ACM arrangements is examined using a case study that explores the representations of the mountain landscape within Yushan National Park (YNP) in Taiwan from the perspectives of three resource user groups: committed mountaineers, professional guides, and mountain tourists. The study findings are used to demonstrate how the processes of representations and dialogical antinomies embedded in representations can impede or facilitate stakeholder interactions in ACM.

一个促进山区目的地保护和娱乐适应性共同管理的社会模式表现方法摘要

山区目的地管理通常不仅要支持旅游和休闲，也维持了一系列敏感的生态过程和服务。山地目的地资源利用和活动管理是山川景色的多种体现，这可能促成紧张和冲突，或者高山目的地的利益相关者之间的协作和学习。自适应共同管理（ACM）采用了社会学习模式来开拓协同自然资源管理，提供了一种山区目的地管理复杂和动态的社会生态系统的方法。作为社会知识和社会变革的理论，社会表现（SR）理论提供了根据山岳景观洞察不同利益相关者的表现和发展运行ACM的理论视角。SR理论在ACM安排中的使用旨在用一个案例研究从登山者、专业导游和游客三个资源用户的群体探索台湾玉山国家公园（YNP）内的山地景观的表现。研究结果用于演示表现过程和嵌在交涉过程中对话的矛盾是如何阻碍或促进利益相关者的ACM互动。

Keywords:

• adaptive co-management
• social representation theory
• mountain tourism
• mountaineering
• mountain destinations

关键词:

• 自适应共同管理
• 社会表现理论
• 山地旅游业
• 登山
• 山区目的地

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan [grant number NSC 99-2410H-259-070].

Notes on contributors

Po-Hsin Lai

Po-Hsin Lai is a lecturer in Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research interests focus on human dimensions of natural resources applying to tourism and outdoor recreation.

Yi-Chung Hsu

Yi-Chung Hsu is a professor in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Leisure Studies at National Dong Hwa University. His research interests include leisure, recreation resource management, national parks and protection management.

Stephen Wearing

Stephen Wearing is an associate professor in the School of Leisure Sport and Tourism at the University of Technology Sydney. His research falls into the social sciences areas with a specialization in ecotourism, community based and volunteer tourism, and protected areas management.