Faculty of Development & Society Postgraduate Programme Postgraduate Course in Sustainable Communities and Environments Dissertation An Investigation into Perceptions of Coasteering in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Amongst Participants in Other Forms of Recreation. Submitted by: Anthony Rogers Supervisor: Suzanne Leckie In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Sustainable Communities and Environments May 2011 Statement of Authorship I certify that this Dissertation is my own unaided work and that all sources of references have been acknowledged. Signed Anthony Rogers 2 Table of Contents List of Figures ..................................................................................................... 4 List of Tables....................................................................................................... 5 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. 6 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 7 Literature Review .............................................................................................. 11 Methodology ..................................................................................................... 21 Results and Discussion ..................................................................................... 39 Conclusion and Recommendations .................................................................. 80 Reference List ................................................................................................... 87 Appendix 1 ........................................................................................................ 94 Appendix 2 ........................................................................................................ 95 Appendix 3 ...................................................................................................... 101 Appendix 4 ...................................................................................................... 105 Appendix 5 ...................................................................................................... 127 3 List of Figures Figure 1. Images of Coasteering on the Pembrokeshire Coast. ......................... 8 Figure 2. Summary Diagram of the Study Design. ........................................... 21 Figure 3. Site Location Map. ............................................................................ 24 Figure 4. Images of the Three Study Sites. ...................................................... 25 Figure 5. Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response to Perception of the Impact of Coasteering on Respondent’s Recreational Experience. ............ 41 Figure 6. Representative Stills from the Video Images. ................................... 48 Figure 7. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Behaviour Type (Images 1, 2, 3 & 5). ............................................................... 51 Figure 8. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Aggregated Education Code. ............................................................................ 52 Figure 9. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Factors Influencing Time of Arrival Code. ......................................................... 54 Figure 10. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Frequency of Encounter. ................................................................................... 56 Figure 11. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Group Size (Images 1 & 4). .............................................................................. 58 Figure 12. Frequency Distribution for Comparative Response Categories to Perception of Unsupervised vs Supervised Coasteering Groups...................... 59 Figure 13. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Respondent’s Main Activity Code. .................................................................... 62 Figure 14. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Site. ................................................................................................................... 64 Figure 15. Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response to Perception of the Impacts of Tombstoning on Respondent’s Recreational Experience. ..... 66 Figure 16. Frequency Distribution for Tombstoning / Coasteering Median Summed Likert Response Differential. .............................................................. 67 Figure 17. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Aggregated Valued Attributes Code. ................................................................. 69 Figure 18. Median and Frequency Distribution for Summed Likert Response by Weekday / Weekend. ........................................................................................ 71 Figure 19. Median and Frequency Distribution for Valued Site Attributes Score by Site. .............................................................................................................. 73 4 List of Tables Table 1. Summary Statistics for Summed Likert Response to Perception of the Impact of Coasteering on the Recreational Experience of the Respondent. ..... 41 Table 2. Summary of Themes in Free Text Responses to Images of Coasteering – Number of Occurrences By Image Number. .............................. 42 Table 3. Quantitative Results by Variable (significant results in red text). ........ 46 Table 4. Frequency Table and Summary Statistics for Comparative Response Categories to Perception of Unsupervised vs Supervised Coasteering Groups. .......................................................................................................................... 59 Table 5. Summary of Themes in Free Text Responses to Unsupervised Coasteering Groups Relative to Supervised Groups. ....................................... 60 Table 6. Summary Statistics for Summed Likert Response to Perception of the Impacts of Tombstoning on the Respondent’s Recreational Experience. ......... 66 Table 7. Summary Statistics for Tombstoning / Coasteering Median Summed Likert Response Differential. ............................................................................. 67 Table 8. Summary of Themes in Free Text Responses to Encounters with Tombstoning Groups. ....................................................................................... 68 Table 9. Summary of Themes in Free Text Responses to the Question ‘What qualities of this site are important for your chosen activity today?' (Valued Site Attributes). ........................................................................................................ 70 Table 10. Factor analysis. ................................................................................ 74 Table 11. Arrivals, Respondents, Refusals and Sampling Efficiency by Site. ... 76 5 Abstract The novel sport of coasteering is promoted in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park as an opportunity to discover areas of coast inaccessible by normal means, seek adventure and ‘commune with nature’. However, the resulting increase in recreational use of the intertidal zone has the potential to conflict with more established uses. A mixed methods approach was adopted to investigate the potential for encounters with coasteering groups to impact on the quality of other site users’ recreational experience. Researcher administered questionnaires were utilised at three coasteering venues in August and October 2010. Respondents were shown a series of video images of coasteering groups and asked to rate how an encounter with the groups depicted would affect their own recreational experience, using a five point Likert scale. Expressed perceptions were supported by responses to open-ended questions probing which factors respondents considered important in forming their perceptions, along with contextual information. The quantitative data were subjected to appropriate tests of significance and association to identify variables significant in the formation of respondent’s expressed perceptions. Qualitative data were scrutinised for recurring themes to triangulate the quantitative results. It was found that 62.1% (n=164) of respondents perceived that encounters with coasteerers would impact positively upon their recreational experience, often adding interest to their visit. However, 30.3% (n=80) of respondents felt that such encounters would detract from the quality of their experience, highlighting the potential for recreational conflict. The proximity, type and frequency of encounters, respondent’s level of educational qualification and the respondent’s choice of main activity were the most significant variables affecting the formation of a perception of negative impacts. The findings are discussed with reference to the management of recreation in the National Park. Word Count: 16,223 Acknowledgements My thanks go to my wife, Ro for her support throughout; to Suzanne Leckie and Bridie Evans for their encouragement and advice; to Andrew Tuddenham for his valuable comments and to all stakeholders who engaged in the early stages of this study to identify appropriate variables and their ranges – particularly TYF Adventure for facilitating