Visitor attitudes towards natural disturbance: the case of the bark beetle in Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
Type
book section
Date Issued
2008
Author(s)
Mueller, Martin
;
Job, Hubert
;
Mayer, Marius
;
Woltering, Manuel
Editor(s)
Raschi, Antonio
Abstract
Management authorities of protected areas have recently been faced with a considerable rise of natural disturbance such as fire or insect pests in ecosystems. Incorporating visitor experience of natural disturbance into management strategies is a crucial task. The present study uses multivariate statistical analysis to examine visitors' attitudes towards large-scale bark beetle infestation in the case of Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany. Findings indicate that visitors have a neutral attitude towards the bark beetle and slightly reject controlling the bark beetle in the national park. Expectations of a successful recovery of the affected areas (green-up) and low personal issue salience are the two strongest predictors for support of not controlling the bark beetle. Our findings suggest that it is well possible to position protected areas as refuges where nature is supposed to follow its course without intervention rather than as landscaped representations of cultural ideal types. In order to communicate this idea of wilderness to visitors, park management authorities should design educational measures to
Language
English
Keywords
perception
attitudes
natural disturbance
protected areas
tourism
bark beetles
HSG Classification
contribution to practical use / society
Refereed
Yes
Book title
Management for protection and sustainable development : the Fourth International Conference on Monitoring and Management of Visitor Flows in Recreational and Protected Areas, Montecatini Terme, Italy 14 - 19 October 2008; proceedings
Publisher
Regione Toscana
Publisher place
Firenze
Start page
347
End page
352
Pages
6
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
55875
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Müller_Mayer_Woltering_Job_MMV4_short paper-1.pdf
Size
262.98 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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