Community Mapping of Park Experiences & Environmental Impacts in South West Victoria. A PPGIS Study By Greg Brown & Delene Weber October 2012 Table of Contents f Contents 1 Summary ..................................................................................................... i 1.1 Objectives of Study ................................................................................ ii 1.2 Methodology ........................................................................................... ii 1.3 Key Results ........................................................................................... iii 2 Introduction ................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Background ............................................................................................ 6 2.2 Overview of the Process ........................................................................ 7 3 Methods ...................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Study Location – The South West Planning Region ............................. 10 3.2 Survey Procedure ................................................................................. 10 3.3 Sampling and recruitment .................................................................... 13 3.4 Data analysis ........................................................................................ 15 4 Results ..................................................................................................... 17 4.1 Overview of Results ............................................................................. 18 4.2 Distribution of Markers in the SW Parks Study Region ........................ 18 4.2.1 Distribution of mapped attributes by park unit .................................. 20 5 Spatial Distribution of Experiences, Impacts, and Facilities ...................... 37 5.1 Distribution by Grouping Category ....................................................... 38 6 Overview of Respondents ........................................................................ 51 6.1 Overview of Respondents .................................................................... 52 6.2 Respondent Characteristics ................................................................. 52 6.2.1 Knowledge of national and reserves in south west Victoria ............. 52 6.2.2 Knowledge of the natural environment ............................................. 53 6.2.3 Knowledge of culture and heritage ................................................... 53 6.2.4 Number of times visited and primary motivation............................... 54 6.2.5 Motivation for visits ........................................................................... 56 6.2.6 Frequency of visits to SW parks ....................................................... 58 6.2.7 Gender of study participants ............................................................ 58 6.2.8 Age of study participants .................................................................. 59 6.2.9 Lifecycle category. ........................................................................... 59 6.2.10 Level of formal education of study participants ................................ 60 6.2.11 Employment classification of study participants ............................... 60 6.2.12 Household income of study participants ........................................... 62 6.2.13 Further comments provided by participants ..................................... 63 6.2.14 Relationship(s) between park visitor “type” and the attributes mapped in PPGIS ..................................................................................................... 64 Conclusions & Recommendations .................................................................... 69 6.1 Conclusions & Recommendations ........................................................... 70 References ........................................................................................................ 75 Appendices ....................................................................................................... 77 Authors ........................................................................................................... 107 List of Figures Figure 1: The South West Planning Region ...................................................... 11 Figure 2: Screen image of SW parks interface.................................................. 13 Figure 3: Percentage of total markers (top 25) by park unit in the SW parks region ................................................................................................................ 24 Figure 4: Radar charts showing the distribution of experience and activity markers by park units in the SW Parks Region ................................................. 26 Figure 5: Map showing key camping locations.................................................. 39 Figure 6: Map of important locations for nature/culture appreciation ................ 40 Figure 7: Map of important locations for social activities ................................... 41 Figure 8: Map of important locations for physical activities ............................... 42 Figure 9: Map of important locations for motorized activities ............................ 43 Figure 10: Map of important locations for adventure activities .......................... 44 Figure 11: Map of important locations for watercraft activities .......................... 45 Figure 12: Map of important locations for collecting activities ........................... 46 Figure 13: Map of important locations for resting/relaxing/hobbies ................... 47 Figure 14: Map of park impacts ......................................................................... 48 Figure 15: Map of park values ........................................................................... 49 Figure 16: Map of Park Problems ..................................................................... 50 Figure 17: Mean marker counts by visitor type ................................................. 66 List of Tables Table 1: Variables (attributes) that respondents could map on the PPGIS website 12 Table 2: Frequency of mapped attributes inside of SW Parks study region ...... 19 Table 3: Regrouping of spatial variables & frequency distribution inside parks 20 Table 4: Distribution of marker types by number and percentage by park unit . 21 Table 5: Mapped attributes expressed as a percent of total attributes ........ 22 Table 6: Distribution of markers for park impacts and problems by park unit .... 30 Table 7: Similar park units Similar park units based on same dominant experience and significant rank correlation (++) ............................................... 32 Table 8: Diagnostic Indices of Experiences by Park. Bold/underlined indicates the largest value for the index. ................................................................................ 35 Table 9: Self-identified knowledge of parks and reserves in south west Victoria52 Table 10: Self-identified knowledge of natural environment .............................. 53 Table 11: Self-identified knowledge of culture and heritage .............................. 53 Table 12: Number of visits to SW parks ........................................................... 54 Table 13: Primary motivation for park visits ..................................................... 57 Table 14: Frequency of visits to SW parks during the previous 12 months ...... 58 Table 15: Gender of study participants by sampling group .............................. 58 Table 16: Average age of respondents ........................................................... 59 Table 17: Breakdown of sample by lifecycle category (n=449) ........................ 59 Table 18: Self-identified highest level of formal education ................................ 60 Table 19: Employment category of respondents. .............................................. 60 Table 20:Household income of respondents ..................................................... 62 Table 21: Differences in mapped attributes by general park visitor type ........... 65 List of Appendices Appendix 1: Article published in Journal of Public Opinion Research 2012 ...... 78 Appendix 2: List of parks and reserves in the planning area ............................. 94 Appendix 3: Online survey (proceeded by mapping exercise) .......................... 96 Appendix 4: Comments provided by respondents ........................................... 101 1 Summary Summary - i Summary This report is part of the preparation of ‘Ngootyoong Gunditj, Ngootyoong Mara’, the South West Management Plan. The project was undertaken to provide public input into the development of a new Management plan. A total of 545 respondents provided information about their experiences, values and impacts they had observed through an interactive, web-based public participatory geographic information system (PPGIS). 1.1 Objectives of Study 1. Increase knowledge and understanding about what perceived experiences and park resource impacts can be reasonably mapped in a PPGIS. 2. Increase knowledge about the participation rates that can be expected from different visitor groups to the SW area. 3. Increase knowledge about the spatial context of Visitor Segments in the South West Landscape. 4. Increase knowledge about the relationships between perceived visitors impacts and experiences and South West Landscape features. 5. Assess the