25 November 2015OPERAs User Board Meeting, Edinburgh

Visitor survey on benefits provided by the Pentland

Hills Regional ParkActivities in 2014 and results

Katja Schmidt, René Sachse, Ariane Walz

University of Potsdam, Germany

User survey in the Pentland HillsGetting in touch and setting up the study

First scoping in Edinburgh, Dec 2013Our questions:

Who is visiting, what has changed since previous visitor surveys?

Which benefits do visitors appreciate most?

Where are hotspots of appreciation?

How do visitors want the Pentland Hills to be like in 10-15 years?

•?

n=466 n=110

Online survey, Jul-Oct 2014Visitor survey, Jun-Jul 2014

User survey in the Pentland HillsInterview locations

User survey in the Pentland HillsQuestionnaire design

Food and biomass provision

They provide agricultural products, food, wool

Carbon storage They support climate regulation as a carbon sink

Mediation of pollutants

They clean and renew air, water and soils

Education They enable to learn about the environment

Physical exercise They provide a nat.env. that can be used for phys. activities

Experiencing nature

They enable to experience nature

Habitat/biodiversity

They provide habitat for a wild plants and animals

Natural and cultural history

They hold places and things of natural and human history (e.g. landscape, farming traditions)

Inspiration They provide inspiration and convey a sense of place

List of ecosystem services in the Pentland Hills

Information about visitorOrigin, gender, age, frequency of visit, type trips, activities in PH, Company, motivations to visit, important areas, interest in land management, extension of RPPreferred spots „Within this map, please identify up to 3 places that you personally benefit from. (…)“Rating„Please rate the following benefits provided by the Pentland Hills regarding their importance (personal/shared) on a scale from not important at all to very important. (1-5). …“Weighting /allocation of points„Imagine you could allocate 100 points to ensure that the Pentland Hills keep their existing benefits…“Preferences under trade-offs „Ideally, which combination of benefits will be provided by the PHRP in the next 10-15 years?“

User survey in the Pentland HillsLand management preferences based on trade-offs

Information about the visitorsORIGIN

Information about the visitorsCompared to the 1998 and 2006 surveys

Information about the visitorsActivities

Information about the visitorsCompany, Motivation to visit the Park, Important areas

Information about the visitorsInterest in land management, Extension of the Regional Park

Information about the visitorsUsed routes by interview location

Visitor hotspots in the Pentland HillsUp to three spots that visitors personally benefit from

Survey: „Within this map, please identify up to 3 places that you personally benefit from. (…) “

Points placed by interviewees Kernel analysis (points per sq. km)

Rating of benefitsImportance of benefits on scale 1-5

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Physical exercise

Education

Natural history Food

Med. of pollutants

Carbon storage

Habitat/BiodiversityInspiration

Experiencing nature

Weighting of benefitsAllocation of 100 points across benefits

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Trade-off based landscape preferences

environmentalists

rat. multifunctionalists insp. multifunctionalists

nature lovers

active recreation seekers

Results landscape preferences

13% 16% 48% 15% 9%

13% 16% 48% 15% 9%

Summary of our findings

Highlight non-monetary values of Pentlands Results reflect visitors‘ preferences Generally homogenous visitor profiles

Main landscape preferences traditional „nature lovers“

Future managment guidance:support for nature enhancement open to more intense use for climate change mitigation

or recreation

THANK YOU!!