Progressing the Evaluation of Management Effectiveness for Protected Areas: Two Australian Case Studies

Abstract

Protected areas have long been of central interest to those concerned about the environment. Over recent decades, this interest has shifted from acquisitions and additions to the global protected area system, to concerns regarding their management and management effectiveness. This paper contributes to the growing interest among researchers and policy makers alike in developing and applying evaluation methods to report on the effectiveness of this management. We applied the recently developed World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) evaluation framework to two national parks in Australia to further contribute to our understanding both of the framework's usefulness and the effectiveness of visitor management. A specific focus on visitor management is a new addition to this framework, as is surveying both visitors and managers to provide evaluation data. The results showed that site management was effective in reducing visitor impacts. In contrast, the effectiveness of managing visitors themselves, specifically through providing information related to minimizing impacts, was less certain. The WCPA framework provides a practical basis for designing and undertaking evaluations of the effectiveness of visitor management, with such management being essential for the long-term sustainability of protected areas

Keywords:

• Effectiveness evaluation
• importance-satisfaction analysis
• management effectiveness
• protected areas
• visitor management
• WCPA framework

Acknowledgements

Funding for this research was provided by the WA DEC. The support of their staff, both logistically and as interviewees, is gratefully acknowledged. Marc Hockings’ comments on an early draft of this manuscript and discussions with Graeme Worboys provided useful insights.