A relational exploration of tourists’ environmental values and their perception of restrictions in protected nature

Abstract

In the face of the present ecological crisis, a relational understanding of human-nature relationships is increasingly critical, especially in protected nature areas. This understanding encompasses not only the values assigned to nature but also the environmental values that individuals hold and their impact on sense-making. We apply the Two Major Environmental Value scale, which allows for the classification of individuals into four environmental value groups along a broader spectrum. For the first time, we examine the scales’ explanatory power in the context of nature-based tourism in a protected area. Specifically, we explore the dynamic between different environmental value groups and their sense-making of the restrictions limiting access to nature in a Swedish nature reserve. Findings reveal significant differences in how visitors with varying environmental values perceive these restrictions. We introduce a newly identified value-based visitor group, i.e. the dualcentric environmental value group. Its perception of restrictions is found to be located between those of the biocentric and the anthropocentric group. Implications for how management should work towards creating transformative nature-based tourist experiences based on human-nature relationships are discussed along with an agenda for future research.