Botanical garden visitors' perceptions of local climate impacts: awareness, concern, and behavioral responses

Abstract

Impacts from localized changes in climate may influence the quality of a visitors' experience and, therefore, visitors' perceptions of climate impacts are a concern for resource professionals who manage nature-based leisure services. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationships between changes in local climate conditions at a community nature-based recreation area and the visitor experience. Researchers conducted a visitor use survey (N = 306) at the highly climate-impacted South Carolina Botanical Garden in the Fall of 2008. The researchers investigated the relationships between different types of visitors (e.g. local and non-local, repeat versus first-time) and their (1) awareness and concern for local climate change, (2) intentions to visit less in response to local climate impacts, (3) support for management alternatives (e.g. removing specific climate-intolerant plants), and (4) willingness to engage in civic action (e.g. donations or volunteering) in response to local climate change. The conclusions reveal implications for leisure service providers in nature-based settings (e.g. parks and protected areas and botanical gardens).

Keywords:

• park visitors
• leisure management
• climate change
• botanical gardens
• park management