Beach carrying capacity and protected areas: management issues in Arrábida Natural Park, Portugal

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pereira da Silva, C.; Nogueira Mendes, R..; Moutinho, G.; Mota, V. and Fonseca, C., 2016. Beach carrying capacity and protected areas: management issues in Arrabida Natural Park, Portugal. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 680–684. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Arrabida Natural Park (Portugal) comprises beaches with high natural and scenic values under huge demand during peak season. Understanding patterns of beach use and the perceptions of users is essential for carrying capacity management. This paper discusses the use intensity and dynamic in two beaches, using data from onsite counting, time-lapse photos and a traffic counter. Users' perceptions regarding general aspects of the beaches and perceived crowding obtained through questionnaires are also presented. The number of users recorded in this study never r...