An Investigation Into the Concept of and Factors Leading to Impact Creep and Its Management
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AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CONCEPT OF AND FACTORS LEADING TO IMPACT CREEP AND ITS MANAGEMENT Amanda J. Smith and David Newsome CONCEPT OF AND FACTORS LEADING TO IMPACT CREEP AND ITS MANAGEMENT TECHNICAL REPORTS The technical report series present data and its analysis, meta-studies and conceptual studies and are considered to be of value to industry, government and researchers. Unlike the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre’s Monograph series, these reports have not been subjected to an external peer review process. As such, the scientific accuracy and merit of the research reported here is the responsibility of the authors, who should be contacted for clarifications of any content. Author contact details are at the back of this report. EDITORS Prof Chris Cooper University of Queensland Editor-in-Chief Prof Terry De Lacy Sustainable Tourism CRC Chief Executive Prof Leo Jago Sustainable Tourism CRC Director of Research National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication Data Smith, A. J. An investigation into the concept of and factors leading to impact creep and its management. Bibliography. ISBN 1 920704 89 2 (pdf). 1. Ecotourism - Western Australia - Case studies. 2. Ecotourism - Western Australia - Monkey Mia. 3. Ecotourism - Western Australia - Walpole-Nornalup National Park. 4. Tourists - Western Australia - Attitudes. I. Newsome, David . II. Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism. III. Title. 338.4791941 Copyright © CRC for Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd 2006 All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. Any enquiries should be directed to Brad Cox, Communications Manager ([email protected]) or Trish O’Connor, Publishing Manager ([email protected]). Acknowledgements The Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, an Australian Government initiative, funded this research. Support was also provided by CALM and the researchers would like to particularly thank Kieron McNamara. The researchers would also like to thank and make special mention of certain staff and management in CALM. In particular, we would like to make special thanks to Colin Ingram, Wayne Schmidt and Tracy Churchill for their guidance in conducting this research. Further we would like to thank David Charles, Ian Anderson and the staff at Monkey Mia, Trevor Burslem and Cliff Winfield for giving their time to be interviewed and assist in collating information about the study area under their management. Finally, we would like to thank Melissa Robinson for creating the maps used in this report. ii CONCEPT OF AND FACTORS LEADING TO IMPACT CREEP AND ITS MANAGEMENT CONTENTS ABSTRACT____________________________________________________________________________ VI SUMMARY ___________________________________________________________________________ VII CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ___________________________________________________________ 1 TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE ____________________________________________________________ 1 PROFILE OF NATURAL AREA TOURISTS___________________________________________________ 3 THE CONCEPT OF IMPACT CREEP ________________________________________________________ 4 DEFINING IMPACT CREEP _______________________________________________________________ 4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY _____________________________________________________________ 5 CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY ___________________________________________________________ 7 OVERVIEW _____________________________________________________________________________ 7 SELECTION OF STUDY SITES_____________________________________________________________ 7 MANAGEMENT INTERVIEWS ____________________________________________________________ 7 MONKEY MIA VISITOR SURVEY__________________________________________________________ 8 CHAPTER 3 CASE STUDY 1: MONKEY MIA RESERVE ___________________________________ 10 HISTORICAL RECREATION USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF MONKEY MIA _____________________ 11 RECREATION OPPORTUNITIES AND FACILITIES __________________________________________ 18 CURRENT RECREATION USE AND MANAGEMENT ________________________________________ 21 MONKEY MIA VISITOR SURVEY RESULTS________________________________________________ 24 Visit and Visitor Characteristics __________________________________________________________ 25 Activities and Facilities _________________________________________________________________ 31 Reasons for Visiting ___________________________________________________________________ 31 Preferred Natural Area Experience, Access and Encounters_____________________________________ 33 Existing Conditions ____________________________________________________________________ 33 Expectations _________________________________________________________________________ 35 Potential Management Actions ___________________________________________________________ 36 CHAPTER 4 CASE STUDY 2: VALLEY OF THE GIANTS - TREE TOP WALK ________________ 38 HISTORICAL RECREATION USE OF THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS __________________________ 39 RECREATION OPPORTUNITIES AND FACILITIES __________________________________________ 41 CURRENT RECREATION USE AND MANAGEMENT ________________________________________ 45 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUDING PERSPECTIVES _____________________________________________ 51 WHAT THE CASE STUDIES FROM WESTERN AUSTRALIA TELL US ABOUT IMPACT CREEP ____ 51 MANAGEMENT OF IMPACT CREEP ______________________________________________________ 52 Maintain at the Current Level ____________________________________________________________ 53 Dispersal of Activities__________________________________________________________________ 54 Designated Impact Creep Sites ___________________________________________________________ 54 Limits on Use ________________________________________________________________________ 54 CHAPTER 6 GENERAL CONCLUSION___________________________________________________ 56 TO DEFINE AND EXPLORE THE NATURE OF IMPACT CREEP _______________________________ 56 TO UNDERSTAND IMPACT CREEP IN THE CONTEXT OF TWO CONTRASTING CASE STUDIES__ 56 TO PROVIDE A MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE ON IMPACT CREEP___________________________ 56 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ________________________________________________ 56 APPENDIX A: LIST OF INTERVIEWEES _________________________________________________ 58 APPENDIX B: MANAGEMENT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS __________________________________ 59 APPENDIX C: MONKEY MIA VISITOR SURVEY __________________________________________ 60 APPENDIX D: FLORA OF MONKEY MIA_________________________________________________ 63 REFERENCES _________________________________________________________________________ 64 AUTHORS_____________________________________________________________________________ 70 iii CONCEPT OF AND FACTORS LEADING TO IMPACT CREEP AND ITS MANAGEMENT LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Theoretical framework of impact creep and subsequent development___________________________ 5 Figure 2: Location of study sites, Monkey Mia and Tree Top Walk ____________________________________ 7 Figure 3: Monkey Mia showing Denham, Monkey Mia Road, Shark Bay Marine Park and Francois Peron National Park ______________________________________________________________________ 11 Figure 4: Timeline of development, tenure and recreation use at Monkey Mia___________________________ 12 Figure 5: Monkey Mia prior to development of resort (1987) and sealing of Denham-Monkey Mia Road including dolphin interaction area, visitor centre and caravan park _____________________________ 12 Figure 6: Monkey Mia redevelopment and sealing of Denham-Monkey Mia Road including dolphin interaction area, new visitor centre and Monkey Mia Resort and caravan park ____________________ 13 Figure 7: Dolphin interaction at Monkey Mia in 1987/88 prior to development of resort___________________ 13 Figure 8: Monkey Mia Dolphin Lodge and backpacker units developed in 2003 _________________________ 15 Figure 9: Monkey Mia Dolphin Information Centre in 1987_________________________________________ 15 Figure 10: Monkey Mia Visitor Centre and Resort in 2003 __________________________________________ 15 Figure 11: Monkey Mia Visitor Centre in 2003 showing amphitheatre, fish preparation room and static and interactive displays __________________________________________________________________ 16 Figure 12: (a) Nicky, provisioned dolphin at Monkey Mia; (b) Nicky and Yadgalah in dolphin interaction area _ 16 Figure 13: Monkey Mia showing location of Monkey Mia Resort, Monkey Mia Visitor Centre, facilities and Dolphin Interaction Area _____________________________________________________________ 18 Figure 14: Hamelin Pool interpretive displays and boardwalks at stromatolites __________________________ 19 Figure 15: Peron Homestead in Francois Peron National Park including visitor centre and artesian bore hot tub_ 20 Figure 16: Boardwalks and viewing platforms at Skipjack Point in Francois Peron National Park ____________ 20 Figure 17: Boardwalks, viewing platforms and car parking area at Eagle Bluff___________________________ 20 Figure 18: Annual visits to Monkey Mia Reserve (1975 to 2003) _____________________________________ 21 Figure 19: Annual visits to the Gascoyne Region (1998 to 2002) _____________________________________ 22 Figure 20 Average monthly visits to Monkey Mia Reserve (2000-2002)________________________________ 22 Figure 21: (a & b) Representative portrayal of dolphin feeding situation occurring