Indicators (completion 2002)

Indicators of Acceptable Environmental Change for Tourism

TRREC, in conjunction with Landcare Crown Research Institute (NZ), Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner Ltd., have been awarded the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FoRST) contract to develop a set of indicators of acceptable environmental change for tourism in New Zealand.

This three-year study, due for completion in June 2002, combines the tourism research strength of Lincoln University and Landcare Research with the implementation expertise of Beca, a multinational engineering and planning consultancy firm. Dr. Ken Hughey, the director of the research programme, explains the benefits of the study: “We will develop pragmatic guidelines which will enable the measurement, management and mitigation of tourism effect on the environment”.

A tourism industry liaison group will direct key stakeholder inputs via workshops, which run throughout the course of the programme. Updates on progress will be made available through a series of articles and newsletters in addition to workshops with industry and tangata whenua.

As part of the project a case study in West Coast will seek to test draft guidelines for better management of nature-based tourism. The programme has an integrated approach and involves the identification of indicators that are relevant to the management of tourism at national, regional, and local level. This approach will also link the impact of tourist activities on natural assets. Sophisticated tourist flow models will allow characterisation of tourist types and volumes. Landcare Research will provide additional expertise on modelling the biophysical impacts of tourism.

Also available on-line is Environmental Indicators: a searchable bibliography.

Outputs from the Environmental indicators programme has also been incorporated into the Tourism Planning Toolkit, Performance Indicators Toolbox.