Abstract
This paper presents a Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS) application conducted in the Ebro Delta Natural Park, Spain. It aims to support decision-making and management activities. The application is based on an online PPGIS questionnaire using Google Maps API. Participants were asked about the spatial and temporal usage while visiting the Natural Park, about their landscape preferences, and appreciations. A set of eight pairs of bipolar adjectives related to landscape characteristics and experience, four items related to public use, and nine to leisure activities were used. In total, 204 valid answers and 3,969 georeferenced opinions were mapped by this case study. The results of this mapping give insights in the use, perception and appreciation of landscape naturalness and aesthetic beauty, accessibility, facilities, services, and signposting. Furthermore, this study discuss the outcomes of mapping the results and how they support the park management with regard to the identification of conflicts, and the need for action. Finally, this study discuss potentials and limitations of PPGIS as a tool for public participation to capture visitors' experiential knowledge in order to optimize and enhance the management of protected areas.
Highlights
This paper presents a Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS) application conducted in the Ebro Delta Natural Park, Spain
EUROPARC (2005) pinpoints five items relevant in public use: administrative management, facilities and amenities, visitor programmes, and visitors and activities regulations, whilst the IUCN stresses the relevance of visitation and sustainable tourism in protected areas planning and management (Eagles et al 2002)
We introduce a Public Participatory Geographic Information System (PPGIS) as a tool for gathering information on the opinions and behaviour of visitors to a protected area, and we demonstrate its benefits in management by providing concrete examples
Summary
This paper presents a Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS) application conducted in the Ebro Delta Natural Park, Spain It aims to support decision-making and management activities. 204 valid answers and 3,969 georeferenced opinions were mapped by this case study The results of this mapping give insights in the use, perception and appreciation of landscape naturalness and aesthetic beauty, accessibility, facilities, services, and signposting. Some protected areas have the statutory mandate to provide for public use, which in some cases may come into conflict with conservation objectives or biophysically-driven management criteria (Hornback and Eagles 1999, Blicharska et al 2016). A classification of the most common services enjoyed by users
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