Page 162 - A bird’s-eye view of recreation - Rogier Pouwels

A bird's-eye view of recreation
Where managers engage stakeholders in management decisions, tools and knowledge should be able to support the deliberation and negotiation processes. In Chapter 5 I present a case study of the New Forest, UK in which scientific tools were applied in a collaborative effort to find a balance between providing access to hikers and the conservation of wader species. Together with stakeholders and managers I used site- specific data and local knowledge to adapt existing recreation and bird population tools to the local context of the New Forest. In this process managers and stakeholders were able to explain how they perceived the relationship between outdoor recreation and bird conservation. Based on this research I proposed four criteria for scientific tools to improve their salience and legitimacy. First, scientific tools should use site-specific data and be able to include local knowledge. Often scientific tools are specific for one particular site only or are too general. Being able to adapt the tools to the local area context in collaboration with local experts will increase their salience and legitimacy and is crucial for their acceptance by local stakeholders. Second, tools should link the impact of management actions to both recreation and conservation targets. Stakeholders will then see that their values are being taken into account. Third, tools should generate spatial output that identifies conflict areas as well as locations for opportunities for recreational development. This increases the salience of the tools as it helps managers and stakeholders to develop alternative solutions and create negotiation space. Finally, the design of the tools should structure discussions and help stakeholders to explain their view of the local context. These discussions lead to a co-learning process between recreation stakeholders, conservation stakeholders, managers and scientists.
The integration of site-specific data and local knowledge into scientific methods and tools contributes towards the salience and legitimacy of that knowledge and those tools. In this research I made knowledge and tools context specific for the different study areas and I related local measures to the regional conservation targets of those areas. The fact that the integrated tools have been used by site managers to discuss their plans with stakeholders could be interpreted as an indication that the integrated tools are perceived to be credible, salient and legitimate. However, integration of data and knowledge does not automatically result in adequate levels of credibility, salience and legitimacy because there are trade-offs between these attributes. From the four studies I gained four key insights:
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