Page 109 - A bird’s-eye view of recreation - Rogier Pouwels
P. 109

Providing simple and easy to understand knowledge and tools, backed by more complex scientific tools, increases salience and legitimacy. Salience is increased because simple knowledge and tools are easy to use in terms of skills, budgets and time. Legitimacy is increased as simple tools are often more transparent and easy to explain. Credibility will not decline as the simple tools are based on complex scientific methods that can be used when more complex assessments are needed.
6.2.3 Discussing algorithms and parameters helps to bring about agreement on the measures to be taken
In Chapter 5 I described how in the New Forest we adapted existing scientific tools to the local context in a decision-making process with managers and stakeholders. We combined generic scientific knowledge with local knowledge in a learning process and helped to mediate between the various views on the relationship between outdoor recreation and bird conservation. The process of discussing the algorithms and parameters in the scientific tools played a key role in finding a common approach to solving local conflicts between outdoor recreation and bird conservation.
Explaining the algorithms and parameters of the recreation model enabled recreation
stakeholders in the New Forest to argue that crowding is less relevant in the New
Forest than scientific research indicates (Arnberger and Brandenburg 2007). This
insight convinced the conservation managers that management measures such as the
temporary closure of car parks and redirecting visitors to alternative car parks would not
have a big impact on the visitor experience. Explaining the algorithms and parameters
of the habitat suitability model for bird species revealed that the highest priority
for conservation stakeholders was halting the decline of waders species. As these
species inhabit specific habitats, such as wet heathlands and mire systems, recreation 6 stakeholders could see that conflicts between recreational and conservation values are
only likely to occur in parts of the New Forest. This shared understanding increased the consensus between stakeholders on how conflicts should be addressed and what solutions might be explored. This insight corroborates the conclusions by Cash et al. (2003) and Berkes (2009) that this process of learning and joint problem solving is needed to develop new knowledge that is credible and salient as well as legitimate. My results also support previous findings indicating that adapting tools to the local situation with stakeholders fosters the building of trust between stakeholders, site managers and scientists (O'Brein et al. 2013, Voinov et al. 2016).
Synthesis
107
  



















































































   107   108   109   110   111