Page 110 - A bird’s-eye view of recreation - Rogier Pouwels
P. 110

 A bird's-eye view of recreation
6.2.4Different phases in the decision-making process may need different types of information
Pictures, figures and tables are commonly used to convey information, and information on the impacts of outdoor recreation is no exception. A picture may be ‘worth a thousand words’, but the way a conflict is visualized will influence how stakeholders view the decision-making process (Voinov et al. 2014, 2016). Using data from the Veluwe area (Fig. 3) I will demonstrate that the ways of visualizing the relationship between outdoor recreation and bird conservation differ in credibility, salience and legitimacy (Fig. 4) and discuss how these differences might be useful in the different phases of the decision-making process.
The decision-making process can be divided into different phases for which information is needed (Williams et al. 2007), such as defining the problem, setting objectives, identifying potential management actions, estimating the impact of these actions and deciding which actions to implement. Simple messages, like options 5 and 6 in Fig. 3, can be used during the problem definition phase as they show the severity of the impact of visitors on the conservation targets. Visualizing the impact in terms of values that stakeholders find important emphasizes legitimacy and this type of information is often needed to support the decision-making process itself. Providing information on current visitor densities and breeding bird densities in different parts of the area, as in option 1, might also be used during this phase. However, it does not show the severity of the problem and stakeholders might argue that in some highly used areas the densities of a species like the Woodlark can be high. My opinion is that option 1 maximizes credibility, but in this example it lacks salience and legitimacy as the variation in data points is difficult to interpret.
Information that relates visitor densities to population size or conservation targets, as in options 4 and 5, can be used during the phase of setting objectives. Both types of information give clear indications of which objectives might be feasible locally or regionally. This type of information increases salience as well as legitimacy. Information linking attributes that managers can control to population size or conservation targets, such as options 2, 3 and 4, can be used during the phase of identifying potential management actions and during the phase of estimating the impact of management actions. For instance, option 2 shows site managers that the impact of extra visitors is higher in suitable areas with low visitor densities compared to areas with high visitor densities. Managers and stakeholders can use this information to choose the areas
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