Monitoring and managing outdoor recreation – methods across different
disciplines
Session Type: Oral presentation
Session Organiser: Andreas S.
andreas.hansen@geography.gu.se
Hansen,
University
of
Gothenburg,
Sweden.
In order to discuss the challenges managers of protected areas (PAs) face when monitoring and
managing outdoor recreation, the primary and overall aim of the session is to discuss the
general interdisciplinary nature of monitoring studies and to discuss current knowledge as well
as future research possibilities. This includes special attention on methods and means of
monitoring outdoor recreation activities in protected areas alongside overarching goals such as
environmental quality and recreational opportunities.
This session invites researchers and specialists within environmental disciplines and
management to discuss interdisciplinary methods on outdoor recreation monitoring alongside
nature conservation as an essential part of natural resource management (especially protected
areas). The importance behind this session lies in the fact that human activity poses an
increasing challenge for protected areas around the world in the form of environmental
impacts from recreational and touristic activities. As a result, there is a growing need to
monitor visitors and visitor activities in order to counter impacts on the environment. For a long
time now, protected areas have therefore received increased attention within the natural and
social sciences with a focus on how to balance goals for nature conservation and protection
alongside offering quality recreational experiences to visitors. However, this is not an easy task
to solve, and the two goals often interfering with each other. This emphasises the need for
interdisciplinary monitoring tools and methods that can supply managers with important
information and knowledge.
Outdoor recreation monitoring is an essential part of any PA management, while also being the
focus of a multitude of studies within various disciplines. These range from classic monitoring
studies within environmental management to more specialized studies within ecology and
geography, such as recreation ecology, behavioural studies or certain types of visitor studies.
Characteristic is the often interdisciplinary nature of monitoring studies owing to the shared
interest from within both the natural- and social sciences, and the utilization of both
quantitative and qualitative approaches in the monitoring process. However, combined
monitoring studies have been few over the years. The main aim of this session is then to create
an interdisciplinary scientific basis and discussion to improve monitoring efforts by focusing
questions on new monitoring strategies that can assist managers and researchers across
different disciplines.
Questions that can be raised
Is there such a thing as interdisciplinary monitoring studies?
What is meant by outdoor recreation monitoring seen from a natural science point of view (e.g.
impacts studies) and a social science point of view (e.g. visitor studies)? And how can those two
understandings meet?
Where does outdoor recreation and nature protection/conservation meet in terms of
monitoring efforts?
How can nature conservation benefit from monitoring studies of outdoor recreation? How can
management benefit from monitoring studies of outdoor recreation? And where do the two
traditions meet?
How can methods on monitoring outdoor recreation from within natural and social sciences be
better integrated (such as impact studies and visitor studies)?