Will woody plant encroachment impact the visitor experience and economy of conservation areas?

This study used visitor surveys and long-term mammal distribution data to investigate how an increase in tree density might affect the visibility of animals in a conservation area, which could reduce the satisfaction of visitors to the area. We found that apparent herd sizes and density of animals w...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Koedoe 2013-01, Vol.55 (1), p.1-1
Main Authors: Gray, Emma F, Bond, William J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity Conservation
Conservation
Ecology
Ecotourism
Environmental Sciences
Flowers & plants
Mammals
management
megafauna
savannas
Trees
vegetation change
visitor perceptions
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study used visitor surveys and long-term mammal distribution data to investigate how an increase in tree density might affect the visibility of animals in a conservation area, which could reduce the satisfaction of visitors to the area. We found that apparent herd sizes and density of animals were much reduced in woody areas, suggesting that visibility is negatively impacted. Visitor surveys determined that a large fraction (almost half) of potential future visitors to the park may be lost if animals became more difficult to see and that the majority of these would be the higher-spending visitors. Responses differed depending on the origin of visitors, with international visitors being more interested in seeing animals, whilst local visitors were more content with just being away from the city. The results suggest that woody plant encroachment may have significant impacts on visitor numbers to savanna conservation areas, whilst animal numbers and densities may also be significantly impacted.
ISSN:0075-6458
2071-0771
2071-0771
DOI:10.4102/koedoe.v55i1.1106