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Society for Conservation Biology 16th
Annual Meeting July 14-July 19 2002
co-hosted by DICE and the British Ecological Society
Abstracts for Ecotourism and Conservation
Tuesday 16th July, 13.30 - 15.00, Eliot
Lecture Theatre 2
Chair: Arlyne Johnson
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timetable
(BLOCK CAPITALS indicate the presenting author)
13.30 - 13.45
GUERRERO, PABLO, and Edgar Muñoz, Galapagos National Park Service, Avenida
Charles Darwin s/n, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, Galapagos. pguerrero@spng.org.ec
ECOTOURISM TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, A WORLD HERITAGE SITE
The Galapagos National Park Service is the Ecuadorian state institution responsible
for the protection, conservation, control and sustainable use of the terrestrial
and marine insular ecosystems.
The touristic activity in this protected area is organised using tools such as the
existing law and management plans whose general objectives are the sustainable use
of the resources. This is achieved through environmental education, interpretation,
data gathering and control.
There exists an ongoing process of touristic development at a local level through
eco tourism and, on the basis the law for the Marine Reserve passed in 1998, lines
of action have been formulated for marine visitor sites in the Reserve.
13.45 - 14.00
TAYLOR, AUDREY R., and Richard L. Knight. Department of Fishery and Wildlife
Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 <ataylor@cnr.colostate.edu>
WILDLIFE RESPONSES TO RECREATION AND ASSOCIATED VISITOR PERCEPTIONS AT ANTELOPE ISLAND
STATE PARK, UTAH
Little is known about wildlife responses to hiking versus mountain biking, the area
of influence of recreational activities, or the perceptions that public lands visitors
have regarding their impacts on wildlife. We examined the responses of bison, mule
deer, and pronghorn antelope to hikers and mountain bikers at Antelope Island State
Park, Utah. Wildlife did not respond differently to biking versus hiking, but there
was a negative relationship between wildlife body size and response. We determined
the area of influence along trails and off-trail transects by examining animals'
probability of flushing as perpendicular distance increased. Each species exhibited
a 70% probability of flushing within 100 m from on-trail recreationists. Mule deer
showed a 70% probability of flushing within 390 m from off-trail recreationists.
We surveyed 640 trail users on Antelope Island to investigate their perceptions of
the effects of recreation on wildlife. Survey respondents perceived that it was acceptable
to approach wildlife more closely than our empirical data showed wildlife would allow.
Recreationists also tended to blame other user groups for stress to wildlife rather
than holding themselves responsible. These results have implications for the management
of public lands where the coexistence of wildlife and recreation is a primary goal.
14.00 - 14.15
SALTZ, DAVID, Noam Raanan, Regev Manor, Uzi Motro, and Yehoshua Shkedy Mitrani.
Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben Gurion
University, Israel, <dsaltz@bgumail.bgu.ac.il>
(DS, RM) , Department of Ecology Systematics and Evolution, Hebrew University of
Jerusale, Jerusalem, Israel (NR, UM), Science Division, Israel Nature and Parks Authority,
Jerusalem (DS, YS).
IMPACT OF HUMAN NUISANCE DISTURBANCE ON VIGILANCE AND GROUP SIZE IN TWO SPECIES OF
SOCIAL UNGULATES
In social ungulates the proportion of time devoted to vigilance is a function of
group size (known as the group size effect). We studied how this function changes
in different areas subject to various levels of human nuisance disturbance (hikers
and vehicles) in two ungulates species: the Nubian ibex, Ibex nubiana - a
desert cliff dweller, and mountain gazelle, Gazella gazella - a cursorial
ungulate inhabiting open Mediterranean terrain. As expected, vigilance was a declining
function of group size in both species and in all areas, but the function flattened
(i.e. the slope became less steep) as disturbance increased. In gazelles the function
flattened due to increased vigilance in the larger groups while vigilance in small
groups remained unchanged and high. In ibex the function flattened due to decreased
vigilance in the smaller groups (habituation) with vigilance in the larger groups
remaining unchanged and low. We attribute the difference to different strategies
of risk avoidance. In contrast to gazelles that run and disengage themselves from
the threat, ibex use shelter (cliffs) and can study the perceived risk at close range
and learn how much of the perceived risk is real.
14.15 - 14.30
KERBIRIOU, CHRISTIAN, Romain Julliard, Isabelle Le Viol, and Françoise
Gourmelon. Centre d’Etude du Milieu d’Ouessant 29242n Ouessant, France & Centre
de Recherche sur la Biologie des Population d’Oiseaux - Museum National d’Histoire
Naturelle 55 rue Buffon 75005, Paris, France, <christian.kerbiriou@netcourrier.com>
(CK), Centre de Reherche sur la Biologie des Population d’oiseaux - Museum National
d’Histoire Naturelle 55 rue Buffon 75005, Paris, France (RJ), Parc Naturel Régional
d’Armorique 29242 Ouessant, France (ILV), Geosystem – CNRS Institut Universitaire
Européen de la Mer 29400, Plouzané, France (FG).
TOURISM IMPACT ON AN ENDANGERED COASTAL CHOUGH POPULATION
Currently, Brittany holds one of the smallest and isolated Western European chough,
Pyrhocorax pyrhocorax, population. The core population (12 pairs) breed on
Ouessant island, a multi-protected area (Man And Biosphere Reserve, Natural Park).
Nevertheless, this population appears to be threatened by increasing mass-tourist
disturbance of habitats used by birds during summer. Chough presence and activity
was recorded, together with number of tourists in the area during seven years (>80,000
records). Biomass availability was estimated for each month in each type of coastal
habitat (2,760 samples). Tourism presence leads to a reduction of available foraging
habitat and a decrease of foraging behaviour. Choughs are then found exclusively
on quiet cliffs covered by short heathland, even though such habitat appears to have
poor biomass of chough preys. Tourism’s perturbation occurs at one of the most critical
periods of the chough’s annual cycle: the beginning of fledging. This could explain
why young mortality in summer (estimated by resighting colour-marked individuals)
differs between Ouessant and Scotland. Two scenarios for conservation management
allowing better young survival on Ouessant are considered: spatial or temporal restricted
access to the coast or creation of suitable habitat in some quiet area.
14.30 - 14.45
JOHNSON, ARLYNE and Michael Hedemark. Wildlife Conservation Society, Box 6712,
Vientiane, Lao PDR, <ajohnson@WCS.org>.
EVALUATING ECOTOURISM AS A TOOL FOR REDUCING WILDLIFE OVERHARVEST AND TRADE IN PAPUA
NEW GUINEA AND LAO PDR
Ecotourism is frequently applied as a strategy to reduce unsustainable harvest and
trade of wildlife, assuming that those who benefit from the enterprise will sustainably
use the resource upon which it depends. To help managers evaluate the association
between tourism benefits and wildlife harvest and trade, feasible but effective monitoring
systems are essential. We describe monitoring and adaptive management methods being
used in two protected areas with tourism strategies in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and
Lao PDR. In PNG, monitoring of sixteen landholding groups in the protected area revealed
that wildlife trade was negatively correlated with the proportion of households that
received tourism income but not with the proportion of income from tourism. Preliminary
results suggest that tourism alone may not be sufficient, or suitably targeted, to
reduce capture and trade of wildlife and that additional indicators of conservation
success are needed to better evaluate tourism impact. In Lao PDR, a number of indicators
of wildlife abundance and harvest are monitored in villages that receive varying
tourism benefits. We contrast conditions between the two sites and the potential
of ecotourism as a tool for reducing wildlife over harvest and trade under these
conditions.
14.45 - 15.00
OWUSU, ERASMUS HENAKU, Nigel Leader-Williams and Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu. Ghana Wildlife
Society, P. O. Box 13252, Accra, wildsoc@ighmail.com
(EHO), Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent at Canterbury,
Canterbury CT2 7NS, UK, N.Leader-Williams@ukc.ac.uk
(EHO, NLW), WWF International, Avenue du Mont Blanc, 1196 CH Gland, Switzerland,
yntiamoa@wwfint.org (YNB).
BENEFITS AND OPPORTUNITY COSTS OF ECOTOURISM FOR LOCAL PEOPLE AROUND MT. AFADJATO
AND AGUMATSA RANGE, GHANA.
Nature tourism is being increasingly promoted as a means to combat the historic trends
of inequality and dependency in rural areas. Furthermore, ecotourism as a subset
of nature tourism, has emerged as a potential mechanism for involving rural communities
in the management of their natural resources, and returning benefits from conservation
to such communities. This paper presents the results of a study undertaken within
three traditional areas around the Mt. Afadjato and Agumatsa Range in Ghana. We examined
the status of biodiversity and local peoples' perceptions on whether the costs of
conservation can be offset against the potential benefits. Local people in all traditional
areas see ecotourism as more of an opportunity to develop the area than as a conservation
tool. However, the status of biodiversity, and the range of potential opportunities
and costs, suggest that local people could benefit more from conservation and ecotourism,
if they are prepared to the bear the costs. Equally, this will only be possible with
the adoption of an holistic strategy that embraces the conservation of the whole
of the Mt. Afadjato and Agumatsa Range, rather than the piecemeal approach currently
being promoted by different traditional areas.
The SCB2002 pages are maintained by Christine Eagle
email: C.M.Eagle@ukc.ac.uk
Conference email: scb2002@ukc.ac.uk
Last updated: 30.06.02