Technical Information

How many people visit state managed parks in South Australia? This document describes the sources of information, advice, methods, indicators and data processing procedures used to develop the reports. Reliability of data, as well as metadata attributes, are also described.

State NRM Plan Guiding Target: Maintain the productive capacity of our natural resources.

State NRM Plan Representative Measure: Number of tourists visiting regional SA and number of people that visit parks.

Data collection period: 1. Number of South Australians visiting state managed parks: 2012–16. 2. Visits to Flinders Chase and Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island: 2010–14. 3. Visits to Lincoln and Coffin Bay parks: 2010–14.

Expected frequency of reporting: Annual.

Data sources: 1. The percentage of residents visiting parks and the top ten parks were sourced from a number of Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) statewide survey that has been undertaken annually between 2012–16 (see methods below for more details).

2. Visits to Flinders Chase and Seal Bay were sourced from the Tourism Optimisation Management Model (TOMM) Visitor exit survey for the 2012/2013 financial year (Kangaroo Island NRM Regional Snapshot).

3. Estimates of visitors to Lincoln and Coffin Bay National Parks, provided by the Manager Public Lands-Eyre Peninsula, are based on vehicle traffic counts (2005–10) (Eyre Peninsula NRM Regional Snapshot).

Statements regarding the National and International Visitor Surveys by the Bureau of tourism Research was obtained as a special request from the tourism bureau. Indicators used: 1. The percentage of residents in each region who visited at least one state managed park in a 12 month period. 2. The percentage of visitors to Kangaroo Island who recorded visiting Flinders Chase and/or Seal Bay. 3. The number of visitors based on vehicle counts from Lincoln and Coffin Bay National Park. Methods of data collection and processing: Percentage of people that visit parks

The data were sourced from:

 South Australia’s Strategic Plan Household Survey 2012 conducted by Population Research and Outcome Studies, the University of Adelaide, on behalf of Department of Premier and Cabinet.  Results from the April 2013 Health Monitor. Conducted by Population Research and Outcome Studies, the University of Adelaide, on behalf of DEWNR.  Results from the April 2014 Health Monitor. Conducted by Population Research and Outcome Studies, the University of Adelaide, on behalf of DEWNR.  Parks Survey 2015. Conducted by McGregor Tan Research on behalf of DEWNR.  Parks Survey 2016. Conducted by McGregor Tan Research on behalf of DEWNR.

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. © Crown in right of the State of South Australia.

In 2013 and 2014, survey sampling areas were broken down by NRM regions. In the 2012 survey, the survey sampling areas were broken down by planning regions, which do not exactly aligned with NRM regions. The 2012 sampling areas and NRM regions were matched as follows:

2012 Survey sampling area Broadly aligned NRM Region Eastern Adelaide Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Northern Adelaide Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Southern Adelaide Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Western Adelaide Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Adelaide Hills Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Barossa Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, and Kangaroo Island Eyre and Western Eyre Peninsula Far North SA Arid Lands and Alinytjara Wilurara Limestone Coast South East Murray and Mallee SA Murray-Darling Basin Yorke and Mid North Northern and Yorke

Because the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island NRM regions and the SA Arid Lands and Alinytjara Wilurara NRM regions overlap in the break down of the 2012 results, only two year trends (2013–14 e.g. the years that the data is broken down by NRM region) have been calculated for these regions in the Regional Snapshot cards to maintain consistency. The 2012 data that best aligns with the NRM region has been provided for context in the Regional Snapshot trend graphs. For example, i n the Kangaroo Island NRM regional snapshot, the 2012 data for Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island is presented but not included in the trend calculation.

The number of people that were surveyed each year is summarised below:

Number of people surveyed NRM region 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, 793 809 (8) 3515 and Kangaroo Island Eyre Peninsula 522 62 57 SA Arid Lands and Alinytjara 23 24 470 Wilurara South East 498 54 55 SA Murray-Darling Basin 505 81 73 Northern and Yorke 514 56 66 Total (state) 6000 2000 1940 1069 1093 Note: The number of people surveyed in each region were broadly representative of the population in each region. No breakdown by NRM region are available for 2013 and 2014.

State trends were analysed as the percentage of change per year over the four year period for which data were available. Trends were classified as stable (less than 5% overall change), increasing/‘Getting better’ (greater than +5% change) or decreasing/’Getting worse’ (less than -5% change). As noted above, the differences in how sampling was broken down in the 2012 dataset to the following years may impact the trend results. As such, trends for all NRM regions only use four years of data to ensure consistency between regions. It is anticipated in 2017 and beyond, a five-year trend can then be calculated and maintained.

Where are we at classification for people visiting parks was based on categories where the >75 per cent = Good, 50-75 per cent = Fair, < 50 per cent = Poor.

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. © Crown in right of the State of South Australia.

Caveats:

There is concern that the vehicle counts for Lincoln National Park have been influenced by a faulty visitor counter. There was a significant unexplained drop in visitors (approx. 32,000 visits) between 2011–12.

The South Australian Parks Survey question regarding the percentage of visitors to parks was presented differently from 2014 to previous year’s surveys. All surveys identify a different range of parks depending on the postcode of the interviewee. 2012-14 survey identified 10 parks which included iconic parks in SA as well as some local parks to the NRM region and a query about other parks visited. The 2014–15 surveys identified 10 parks which are within the NRM Region and a query about other parks visited. This is likely to have reduced past errors in the survey caused by survey recipients either forgetting or not knowing the area was a prescribed park rather than council reserve. As a result the figures may be slightly higher compared with the previous years but they are likely to be more accurate. The results have been treated the same as previous years data but the aforementioned information should be taken into consideration when comparing results.

Future reporting measures: Future reporting could include information that is collected from gate fees and vehicle counters. However, this information is only available for some of the most visited parks and cannot readily be extrapolated to all parks in a region or the state. This information will be investigated in the future to assess its usefulness.

The following government agencies contributed to this report: DEWNR.

The following non-government agencies contributed to this report: None.

Key stakeholders: Park managers, state and regional tourism industry managers and investors.

Information reliability scoring: Information is scored for reliability based on average scores given for information currency and applicability, and its level of spatial representation (Tables 1–3).

Table 1. Information currency Reliability Criteria 5 Information up to 3 years old 4 Information up to 5 years old 3 Information up to 7 years old 2 Information up to 10 years old 1 Information >10 years old

Table 2. Applicability of the information Reliability Criteria 5 All data based on direct indicators of the measure 4 Most data based on direct indicators of the measure 3 Most data based on indirect indicators of the measure 2 All data based on indirect indicators of the measure 1 Data are based on expert opinion of the measure

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. © Crown in right of the State of South Australia.

Table 3. Spatial representation of information (sampling design) Reliability Criteria 5 Information is collected from across the whole region/state (or whole distribution of asset within the region/state) using a stratified sampling design 4 Information is collected from across the whole region/state (or whole distribution of asset within the region/state) using a sampling design that is not stratified 3 Information is collected from an area that represents less than half the spatial distribution of the asset within the region/state 2 Information is collected from an area that represents less than 25% the spatial distribution of the asset within the region/state 1 Information is collected from an area that represents less than 5% the spatial distribution of the asset within the region/state or spatial representation unknown

Based on Tables 1, 2 and 3 above, respectively, the information relating to number of visits to regional SA presented in this report has a reliability score of (5+5+3*)/3 = 4 (Very good).

*Note: Table 3 was allocated score 3 due to the following reasons: The survey covers representatives of all the NRM regions and age classes and gender in proportion to the ABS Census figures and is therefore stratified (score 5). The sample size is fairly small (1093 participants) and may under or overestimate the true visitation values across the state (score 1). The median value bet ween the two scores has therefore been allocated.

This report is linked to the following report cards/snapshots:

1. How many people visit regional South Australia? 2. How many volunteers are involved in natural resource management? Metadata description:

Project/dataset Name: Number of park visitors

The South Australia’s Strategic Plan Household Survey included responses from Abstract/description across SA in from 2012–16. It determined the proportion of people from each region who visit state managed parks.

Data types Numerical data from questionnaire surveys of people.

Organisation/DEWNR Survey conducted by Population Research and Outcome Studies, University of business area that Adelaide, on behalf of Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC). DPC owns the sponsors/holds/manages the data. data

Date Range 2012–16 (people were asked about their behaviour over a 12 month period)

Study Area All of South Australia (broken down into regions)

Data format Excel

Data distribution rules Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Is the dataset source data (raw), value-add data Value-add (analysed/summarised) or final indicator/score data?

Photo credit details: AMLR and State Photo Title: Cleland-284 (Cleland Conservation Park) AW title: DENR 1120 (Far West Coast) EP title: bjd_EP_09_07_0845_wpa-coast-063 (Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area) KI title: sealbay (Seal Bay Conservation Park) NY title: bjd jan-09 innes np 177 emus (Emus at Innes National Park) SAAL title: IMGP1177 (Flinders Ranges National Park) SAMDB: Murraymouth (1) (Coorong National Park) SE title: bjd-naracoorte WHA – i Alexandra – bf (Naracoorte Caves National Park)

Owner: DEWNR

Scientific literature referred to in the report: Putrill, J. 2013, ‘Our national parks prove a marketer’s nightmare’, Weekend Australian, 27 April, pp. 15–18. Muñoz, S.A. (2009) Children in the Outdoors a literature review. Sustainable Development Research Centre, Horizon Scotland. Nature Play Inc. (2014) Nature Play SA getting our kids outdoors. Website accessed November 2014. Population Research and Outcome Studies (2012) South Australia’s Strategic Plan (SASP) survey. Report prepared for the Department of Premier and Cabinet. The University of Adelaide, South Australia. Colmar Brunton, TOMM Kangaroo Island committee. Visitor exit survey 2012/13. September 2013. Prepared for the TOMM committee Kangaroo Island by Colmar Brunton. SMK 2016. South Australian Parks Visitation Survey 2016. DEWNR Technical note 2016/32, Government of South Australia, Department of Environment, Water and natural Resources, Adelaide.