Unspoiled Nature or Educational Playground

 How should wilderness be managed? Prepacked or left on its own?

Cairngorm

Who visit the National Parks? How are parks "consumed"? How should the parks be managed?

These important questions are currently on the agenda of eco-tourism research, sustainable tourism and wilderness management.

Model based on environmental values

One recent survey conducted in Scotland is particularly interesting as it gives an overview over different segmentation studies and a discussion on how they have been used. Further a new segmentation model is proposed, based on environmental values. The segmentation study was based on a questionnaire constructed to uncover the different environmental values which are uncontrolled in society.

This survey showed - as opposed to other studies of eco-tourists - that these fundamental values to a large extent belonged to the same segment, while other studies have shown remarkable differences in terms of motivations, behaviour, social values, benefits and activity preferences.

Why ecotourism?

In the text there are of course discerned four different segments. This is en vogue among social scientists since Bourdieau. The interesting fact is, however, that two of these, comprising 78 % were in general agreement about why they were interested in ecotourism. In ranked order they were both interested in bio-diversity, restrictions on energy-consumption, responsible lives, wellbeing of locals, to learn about and appreciate nature and finally the development of small scale and local government, which both segments found the least important.

Wildlife

Both parties were also in accordance with each other about what they found interesting, namely wildlife watching. They only differed with regards to gender and their more or less faith in their fellow human beings. Interestingly enough, the females had less faith in what is ordinarily called a "technological fix" to our environmental problems. The males were more confident. The study also showed that both groups were all in all very well-educated. The article therefore muses that any information provided should be specialised and concise.

Trekking

The rest - app. 20 % - differed in terms of their overall value system and their preferences. Half of this category was primarily there to do hill-walking and in the evening relax before the fire (with a whisky one presumes). The other 10 % belonged to a segment which in terms of values was not very consistent. They believed that human beings were distinctly superior, while they at the same time worried about the state of the planet. In terms of behaviour they were a group of bird-watchers in accordance with the majority.

Survey recommendations

The authors of this particular study conclude that something has to be done in order to engage those segments who are not generally attracted to Nature Parks. As a reflection of this they suggest that managers should step up their educational effort, regulating paths and presumably building visitor-centres.

Civilisation of Wilderness?

The overall question is whether this would be very wise. Should wilderness really be civilized in order to attract the less interested? Why not note the success that these parks and bits of wild nature apparently are so well marketed that 80 - 90 % of the visitors are attracted to them precisely for what they offer: the possibility of doing some innocent bird- and wild-watching?

Reference: The Environmental Values of Potential Ecotourists: A Segmentation Study. By Christos Zografosa and David Allcroft. In: Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 15, 1 pp 44-66