National Park Visitors Research Articles

Multifaceted interactions between urban humans and biodiversity-related concepts: A developing-country dataset

Abstract Urban humans and biodiversity-related concepts are interacting with each other in many negative and positive ways. The biodiversity provides a wide array of provision and cultural-ecological services to urban residents, but it is being overexploited to the point of crisis. The crisis is largely driven by the expanding illegal wildlife trade in developing countries with a high urbanization rate and biodiversity level like Vietnam. While supply-side measures are ineffective in reducing biodiversity loss, researchers have suggested demand-side measures as supplements, such as social marketing campaigns and law enforcement in urban areas. Moreover, urban residents are also potential visitors to urban public parks and national parks, which helps generate finance for biodiversity preservation and conservation in those places. Understanding how urban residents' perceptions towards biodiversity and biodiversity-related behaviors can help improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts and sustainable urban development. Thus, this article presents a dataset of 535 urban residents' wildlife consumption behaviors, multifaceted perceptions and interactions with biodiversity-related concepts, and nature-based recreation demand. The dataset is constructed with six major categories: 1) wildlife product consumption, 2) general biodiversity perceptions, 3) biodiversity at home and neighborhood, 4) public park visitation and motivations, 5) national park visitation and motivations, and 6) socio-demographic profiles. These resources are expected to support researchers in enriching the lax literature regarding the role of urban residents in biodiversity conservation and preservation, and help policymakers to find insights for building up an “eco-surplus culture” among urban residents through effective public communication and policymaking.

Assessing Impacts to National Park Visitation From COVID-19

Yosemite National Park is a popular tourist destination with high visitation levels that have increased throughout the summer season over the past several decades. Like with other protected areas, high visitation levels pose challenges for coordinating resources, infrastructural capacity, and visitor experiences. Use limits, including rationing vehicle entry at gates by reservation, are one possible strategy to manage visitation levels. After an initial full closure, the park chose to operationalize a multiphased permit system for day-use and overnight entry over the course of the pandemic in accordance with local and national guidelines for operational safety. While park closures and other entry restrictions have been common in recent years due to wildland fires and other natural hazards, the pandemic-related entry limits represent a nearly yearlong experiment. The prolonged entry ration along with restrictions to group activities has limited visitation and potentially reduced transmission of the novel coronavirus. We review the per capita COVID-19 case count in surrounding counties given the flow of tourism from outside the region, assess the changes in access to the park with the novel reservation system, compare monthly visitation during the 2020 use limits with prior decadal averages, detail how high visitation levels and crowding persist, and review the Park’s plans for an ongoing day-use permit system. We conclude with the ongoing challenges managers face in light of continued high visitation. Readers will be able to debate the efficacy of use limits and what may be a sustainable level of visitation for the park.

Do Situations Influence the Environmentally Responsible Behaviors of National Park Visitors? Survey from Shennongjia National Park, Hubei Province, China

Natural ecological protection in protected areas involves the restriction of land use patterns and their intensity. Typically, the goal of land use is to balance environmental protection with community development. Nature education and ecological experiences in protected areas encourage visitor environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) which supports the sustainable use of land in national parks and reduces the degradation of natural environments. The existing research literature has a focus on ways of facilitating ERB through rational and external influences. However, individual behaviors are contextual and specific situations affect behavior. This research used environmental knowledge as a rational factor and situations were viewed as a moderator in stimulating ERB based on situational cognition theory. A knowledge-situation-behavior latent variable moderator model was constructed and tested with visitor survey data from Shennongjia National Park, Hubei Province, China. The findings showed that situations had a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between environmental knowledge and ERB. Books, articles, authors and familiar people had a significant positive moderating effect on ERB, as did environmental interpretation and staff guidance. Precise measures to promote the ERB of national park visitors were proposed.

Using Mobile Device Data to Track the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Spatiotemporal Patterns of National Park Visitation

Effective quantification of visitation is important for understanding many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on national parks and other protected areas. In this study, we mapped and analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of visitation for six national parks in the western U.S., taking advantage of large mobility records sampled from mobile devices and released by SafeGraph as part of their Social Distancing Metric dataset. Based on comparisons with visitation statistics released by the U.S. National Park Service, our results confirmed that mobility records from digital devices can effectively capture park visitation patterns but with much finer spatiotemporal granularity. In general, triggers of visitation changes corresponded well with the parks’ management responses to COVID-19, with all six parks showing dramatic decreases in the number of visitors (compared to 2019) beginning in March 2020 and continuing through April and May. As restrictions were eased to promote access to the parks and the benefits associated with outdoor recreation, visitation in 2020 approached or even passed that from 2019 by late summer or early autumn at most of the parks. The results also revealed that parks initially saw the greatest increases in visitation after reopening originating from nearby states, with visitorship coming from a broader range of states as time passed. Our study highlights the capability of mobility data for providing spatiotemporally explicit knowledge of place visitation.

Who visits U.S. national parks (and who doesn’t)? A national study of perceived constraints and vacation preferences across diverse populations

The mission of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) is increasingly challenged by underrepresentation of visitors from low-income and racial/ethnic minority backgrounds. To better understand attributes of Americans who do and do not visit national parks, we used data from a national general population survey (N = 4,103) to examine the sociodemographic characteristics, constraints to visitation, and vacation preferences among three groups of NPS visitors (recent visitors, past visitors, and non-visitors). Results revealed significant differences in constraints and preferences among the three groups. Black, Hispanic, and lower-income respondents were least likely to visit NPS sites. Compared to White respondents, they were also less aware of NPS units, more concerned about safety, and more likely to prefer alternative vacations such as sporting events, theme parks, and socially and culturally oriented destinations. Results underscore the need for the NPS to enhance relevancy and diversity by providing attractive and accessible recreation opportunities for historically marginalized groups.

Does a National Park Enhance the Environment-Friendliness of Tourists as an Ecotourism Destination?

Governments have designated national parks to protect the natural environment against ecosystem destruction and improve individuals’ emotional and recreational life. National parks enhance environment-friendly awareness by conducting ecotourism activities and individuals with environment-friendly awareness are inclined to continue to visit national parks as ecotourism destinations. The New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) is a widely used measure of environmental concern, suitable for measuring the environment-friendly attitude and revisit intention of visitors of national parks. Therefore, the study carried out structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationship between the NEP, national park conservation consciousness and environment-friendly behavioral intention. Based on the results, an implication is presented to induce national parks to cultivate individual environment-friendly awareness and for visitors to pursue sustainable, environment-friendly tourism behavior. The findings indicate that national parks are to expand educational programs and facilities for eco-tourists visiting national parks to maintain a balanced relationship between themselves and nature and have a strong environmental awareness to preserve the natural environment.

U.S. National Park visitor perceptions of bats and white-nose syndrome

Stakeholder perceptions are essential to creating effective conservation plans, especially when these efforts focus on taxa that have historically negative preconceptions, such as bats. In the U.S., one organization that has contributed to changing people's perceptions of bats is the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS offers a variety of educational programming on bats, including written educational material and ranger interpretive programs. These educational efforts about bats have increased with the discovery of white-nose syndrome (WNS), an invasive fungus that has killed millions of bats in North America. However, despite the NPS's efforts to educate the public and conserve bats, managers lack information on visitor perceptions and knowledge of bats and WNS. This study examined U.S. National Park visitors' attitudes towards bats, knowledge of bat ecology and human health risks, and knowledge of WNS to determine how these factors influenced their support of bat conservation efforts. In 2019, we collected 1365 surveys from visitors in eight NPS units with cave resources. Our results show visitors' support for bat conservation in national parks was influenced by their positive attitudes towards bats, perceptions of ecosystem services, and recognition of WNS. However, park differences in WNS recognition suggested that there are gaps in public outreach and educational efforts. As threats to bats motivate management changes over the coming decade, understanding visitor perceptions of bats and integrating this information into cave management plans will be critical for the NPS to achieve its management goals of enhancing recreation and conservation in environments shared by humans and bats.

Examining Drivers of Divergence in Recorded and Perceived Human-Carnivore Conflict Hotspots by Integrating Participatory and Ecological Data

Human-carnivore conflict is a global challenge with complex and context-specific causes and consequences. While spatial analyses can use ecological principles to predict patterns of conflict, solutions to mitigate conflict must also be locally adaptable, sustainable, and culturally-sensitive. In Nakuru County, Kenya, rapid development and land subdivision have exacerbated conflict by isolating wildlife in protected areas that are increasingly adjacent to human settlements. In an effort to understand local perspectives on carnivore conflict, and to apply this information toward locally-based conservations actions, we conducted gender-stratified interviews and participatory mapping sessions with 378 people in 16 villages near two ecologically isolated protected areas in Kenya: Lake Nakuru National Park and Soysambu Conservancy. Specifically, we developed a method for associating interview responses and demographic information with spatial participatory data to examine how local perceptions of conflict compared to spatially-explicit records of livestock depredation in the region from 2010 to 2018. We mapped kernel densities of recorded and perceived risk of human-carnivore conflict and then tested for potential social and ecological predictors of divergences found between the two datasets. Mismatched hotspots of observed and perceived risk of conflict were correlated with several ecological and socioeconomic factors. Regions with higher NDVI exhibited more perceived conflict, while the opposite held true for verified conflict. Road density was positively correlated with both types of conflict, and both types of conflict increased closer to protected areas. Livestock ownership, visitation to Lake Nakuru National Park, if the participant's child walked to school, and male gender identity were associated with more perceived conflict reports. Education level and national park visitation were associated with more positive attitudes toward carnivores. Our results show that while observed and perceived conflict may ultimately be equally important for understanding and managing human-carnivore conflict, they may be driven by markedly different social and ecological processes. We suggest that integrating the spatially explicit experiences and perspectives of local communities with more traditional ecological methods is critical to identifying lasting and socially just forms of conflict mitigation.

Thomas H. Kunz

Thomas H. Kunz

Exploring human-nature interactions in national parks with social media photographs and computer vision.

Understanding the activities and preferences of visitors is crucial for managing protected areas and planning conservation strategies. Conservation culturomics promotes the use of user-generated online content in conservation science. Geotagged social media content is a unique source of in situ information on human presence and activities in nature. Photographs posted on social media platforms are a promising source of information, but analyzing large volumes of photographs manually remains laborious. We examined the application of state-of-the-art computer-vision methods to studying human-nature interactions. We used semantic clustering, scene classification, and object detection to automatically analyze photographs taken in Finnish national parks by domestic and international visitors. Our results showed that human-nature interactions can be extracted from user-generated photographs with computer vision. The different methods complemented each other by revealing broad visual themes related to level of the data set, landscape photogeneity, and human activities. Geotagged photographs revealed distinct regional profiles for national parks (e.g., preferences in landscapes and activities), which are potentially useful in park management. Photographic content differed between domestic and international visitors, which indicates differences in activities and preferences. Information extracted automatically from photographs can help identify preferences among diverse visitor groups, which can be used to create profiles of national parks for conservation marketing and to support conservation strategies that rely on public acceptance. The application of computer-vision methods to automatic content analysis of photographs should be explored further in conservation culturomics, particularly in combination with rich metadata available on social media platforms.

미세먼지 위험지각이 국립공원 탐방객의 친환경 관광행동에 미치는 영향 - 확장된 계획행동이론을 적용 -

전 세계적으로 미세먼지에 대한 문제가 심각하게 부각되고 있다. 관광목적지의 날씨는 관광을 결정하는 중요한 요인이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 미세먼지 위험지각이 친환경 관광행동 의도에 미치는 영향관계를 규명하는 것이다. 이를 위해 계획행동이론에 미세먼지 위험지각을 확장하여 친환경관광활동의 의사결정과정을 분석하였다. 분석결과, 미세먼지 위험 지각은 친환경태도, 친환경 주관적 규범, 친환경 지각된 행동 통제에 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 친환경태도, 친환경 주관적 규범, 친환경 지각된 행동 통제는 친환경 관광행동 의도에 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과는 미세먼지의 위험지각은 친환경 관광활동을 유도하는데 중요한 역할을 한다는 것을 시사한다.

Equitable sharing of benefits from tiger conservation: Beneficiaries’ willingness to pay to offset the costs of tiger conservation

Costs of large predator conservation may not be equitably distributed among stakeholders; these include farming communities, tourism business owners and visitors. Financial redistribution mechanisms based on accrued benefits and costs of conservation require relevant data unavailable in many locations. To address this, a contingent valuation method identified willingness to pay (WTP) among national park visitors and connected tourism business owners. Both groups derive benefit from government-funded conservation policies. The study was conducted in Bardia and Chitwan National Parks, Nepal 2017–2018; two locations world-renowned for tiger conservation. Local and international park visitors (N = 387) provided WTP for ongoing conservation via additional park entry fees. Tourism business owners (TBOs; N = 74) proximate to the parks stated their WTP for compensation funding provided directly to farmers. The majority (65%) of park visitors were willing to pay extra to support conservation (sample mean US$ 20) while 85 percent of TBOs supported their payment of funds for compensating farming communities (sample mean annual contribution being US$ 156). Valid WTP regression modelling found that visitor WTP was predicted by international travel costsand environmental organization affiliation. For TBOs indicating WTP, the amount to pay was predicted by annual net income from the tourism business. Application of study data indicates US$ 25 average increase to visitor park fees would maximise revenue and contribute a further US$ 495,000 available for conservation activities. Similarly, a flat-rate tariff on TBOs at the mean WTP amount would contribute more than double the annual budget available for farmer compensation (providing approximately US$ 43,000). More generally, the study findings are informative for policy-makers seeking equitable conservation outcomes while maintaining viable populations of critically endangered wild tigers. They should however be interpreted with caution given limitations of the sampling frame and method of data elicitation. Regardless, any policy decision effects require careful scrutiny to ensure desired outcomes are realized.

Motives for visiting the national parks of Serbia

This paper explores motives for visiting national parks in Serbia. The results were obtained from the responses of 840 visitors who were surveyed while they were staying in Serbia’s national parks during June 2020. The aim of the paper is to examine whether the motives for visiting the parks correlate with visitors’ sociodemographic characteristics: gender, age, educational level and employment status. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences in motives to visit national parks in relation to gender, while among other sociodemographic characteristics such as employment status, education and age, the correlation is negligible. The scientific contribution of the paper lies in the possibility of applying the research results elsewhere, to help understand visitors’ motives, as well as create attractive tourist offers in national parks based on sustainable development.

Motives for visiting the national parks of Serbia

This paper explores motives for visiting national parks in Serbia. The results were obtained from the responses of 840 visitors who were surveyed while they were staying in Serbia’s national parks during June 2020. The aim of the paper is to examine whether the motives for visiting the parks correlate with visitors’ sociodemographic characteristics: gender, age, educational level and employment status. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences in motives to visit national parks in relation to gender, while among other sociodemographic characteristics such as employment status, education and age, the correlation is negligible. The scientific contribution of the paper lies in the possibility of applying the research results elsewhere, to help understand visitors’ motives, as well as create attractive tourist offers in national parks based on sustainable development.

Environmental perception and learning experience in nature trail of national park visitors

Environmental perception and learning experience in nature trail of national park visitors

Water Quality Estimation and Population’s Attitudes: A Multi-Disciplinary Perspective of Environmental Implications in Tara National Park (Serbia)

The paper analyzes the water quality of hydrological resources in the wider area of Tara National Park (NP Tara) in Serbia and the opinions of the local community and the national park visitors about the grade of the possible damage. The pollution level of the Drina River at the Bajina Bašta hydrological station was analyzed using the Water Pollution Index. The results showed that water quality corresponded to classes II (clean water) or III (moderately polluted water) and revealed the presence of organic pollution. In addition, using a survey combined with field research, the perceptions of local inhabitants and national park visitors related to environmental pollution were analyzed. The community believed that tourism does not cause significant damage to the environment. However, the older and more educated groups of residents and visitors had a more critical perception of the environmental impact of tourism. The results also indicated that the perceptions of visitors were mostly in agreement with measured water quality in the Drina River. The findings of this study have important implications for the management of protected areas and future policies related to national parks.

Factors influencing perceived appropriateness of concessioner activity in Grand Teton National Park

Concessioner-provided services are integral to the national park visitor experience, and date back to the origins of the National Park Service (NPS). With visitation across NPS units growing steadily over time, services provided by these public–private partnerships will likely only increase in importance. Despite the critical role of concessioners, concerns exist regarding the presence of for-profit entities within national parks. While private businesses may be more responsive to consumer wants and needs, their presence raises questions regarding equity, resource protection, and over-commercialization, while potentially eroding public perceptions of ownership and investment in these protected areas. With this in mind, the purpose of the present study was to assess factors that may influence visitors’ perceptions of appropriateness regarding current and future concessioner activities, using data from visitors to Grand Teton National Park (GRTE). Regression analysis found no significant predictors of perceived appropriateness of current concessioner activity. Several significant predictors of anticipated appropriateness of future concessions activities emerged, however. Respondents who believed that there would be more concessioner activity in the future felt that such an increase would lead to an inappropriately high amount of commercial activity at GRTE. In addition, social liberalism, economic conservatism, and place identity were also related to a belief that there would be inappropriately high levels of concessioner activity in the future. Place dependence, knowledge regarding the role of concessioners at GRTE, and trust in GRTE were not significant predictors. Implications for future research, as well as for decisionmakers, are discussed.

Discursive constructions of night sky experiences: Imagination and imaginaries in national park visitor narratives

Communities and protected areas worldwide have initiated programs to protect and promote dark night skies. Yet, limited research has explored how and why night skies become of interest or meaningful to people. Because night skies are literally beyond human reach, we focus on how visitors to a U.S. national park imagine night skies and invoke imaginaries that make night skies meaningful. Drawing from interviews, we examine how visitors use symbolic language, narrative, and other discursive practices to develop the social, cultural, and spatial contexts of their night sky experiences. Findings inform our understanding of imagination and imaginaries in tourism and recreation research, while offering new approaches to night skies research.

Understanding sentiment of national park visitors from social media data

Abstract National parks are key for conserving biodiversity and supporting people's well‐being. However, anthropogenic pressures challenge the existence of national parks and their conservation effectiveness. Therefore, it is crucial to assess how people perceive national parks in order to enhance socio‐political support for conservation. User‐generated data shared by visitors on social media provide opportunities to understand how people perceive (e.g. preferences, feelings, opinions) national parks during nature‐based recreational experiences. In this study, we applied methods from automated natural language processing to assess visitors' sentiment when describing experiences in Instagram posts geolocated inside four national parks in South Africa. We found that visitors' sentiment was positive, and mostly included emotions such as joy, anticipation, trust and surprise, with only a small occurrence of posts with negative feelings. Appreciation of nature, in association with a diverse set of other aspects, such as activities, geographical features and tourist attractions, was used to describe experiences related to nature, wilderness, travelling, holidays and adventures. The type of nature‐based experience described by visitors was park specific, revealing different profiles of parks providing wildlife or scenery experiences. Findings support and highlight the societal role of national parks in providing visitors with opportunities to develop positive connections with nature. Social media data may be used to understand visitors' perceptions, and how the image of national parks is constructed by users in the virtual social environment. This may help inform management for promoting a high‐quality tourism experience, as well as conservation marketing aimed at fostering socio‐political support for national parks and their long‐term conservation effectiveness. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Segmenting Western Australian national park visitors by perceived benefits: A factor‐item mixed approach

AbstractNational park visitors are a significant tourist market that demonstrates heterogeneous visitation behaviors. Segmentation studies employing relevant criterion variables with reference to visitor behavior variables prove to be an effective way to better understand this tourist market. Employing a factor‐item mixed segmentation approach, this study aims to segment Western Australian national park visitors by perceived benefits with reference to visitors' overall satisfaction, willingness to recommend, and pro‐environmental behavior. Based on a sample of 324 on‐site visitor survey responses, two perceived benefit factors, Nature Appreciation and Relaxation, and Learning, were identified. Subsequent cluster analysis using 12 original perceived benefit items identified two clusters: “moderate nature experiencers” (MNE) and “high nature appreciators and learners” (HNAL). No differences were found between the two clusters in visitor demographics and trip characteristics. However, HNAL members consistently exhibited higher levels of overall satisfaction, willingness to recommend, and pro‐environmental behavior tendencies than members of MNE. Based on the findings, Australian national park managers should advocate both the nature and learning benefits in their future market communication and product development strategies.