Applying visitor monitoring methods in coastal and marine areas – some learnings and critical reflections from Sweden

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the lack of attention that so far has been given towards the challenges involved in applying visitor monitoring methods in open coastal and marine landscape settings. The topic is still largely overlooked in spite its importance for developing professionalized visitor monitoring procedures for coastal and marine areas. As a response, a monitoring case study from Kosterhavet National Park, Sweden, is introduced with a purpose to test and evaluate different applied visitor monitoring methods in a typical coastal and marine setting and with a special focus on reporting important challenges and experiences in this regard. Results are presented as three lessons that are discussed critically, including specific issues around sampling strategies and representativity of monitoring results, weather conditions in coastal and marine areas, and the need for a mixed-method strategy to acquire accurate results. Methodological contributions mainly concern how these challenges can be addressed and improved with the inclusion of new monitoring strategies based on different technological opportunities. Thoughts on management implications are also included. The paper serves as a central contribution to research discussions on applied visitor monitoring methods in coastal and marine areas as well as an important addition to existing visitor monitoring manuals.

KEYWORDS:

• Visitor monitoring
• coastal and marine areas
• open landscape
• applied methods
• Sweden

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the management team in Kosterhavet National Park for invaluable assistance and feedback throughout the process. Furthermore, thanks are also given to the Marine Graduate School at the University of Gothenburg for supporting the research, as well as the Sven Lovén Marine Lab for practical support during field work. Last, but not least, I am very grateful to Thomas Beery for proof-reading the manuscript and to the anonymous reviewers for constructive suggestions that have resulted in an improved manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.