Implications of climate change for visitation to ontario's provincial parks

Abstract

Parkprofessionals have recognized that global climate change could have significant implications for park conservation policy and management, but assessment of the implications for nature‐based tourism remains very limited. In the Province of Ontario, provincial parks are a major resource for nature‐based tourism, with more than 10 million person visits in 2003. This paper presents an empirical assessment of the potential impact of a changed climate on visitation in Ontario's provincial parks. Multiple regression analysis was used to develop a relationship between monthly park visits and climate for six high‐visitation parks selected to represent each of Ontario Park's administrative regions. The models were then used to examine the potential direct impact of changes in climate on the total annual number of visitors and the seasonal pattern of visitation to Ontario's parks using climate change scenarios for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s. Visitation was projected to increase between 11% and 27% system‐wide in the 2020s and between 15% and 56% in the 2050s. When climate change was combined with the potential effects of demographic change, annual visits for the mid‐2020s were projected to be even higher than that projected under climate change alone (23% to 41%). Management implications of the projected visitation increases are also discussed.