Visit impacts and canyon management in the Blue Mountains, Australia: canyoners’ perspectives and wilderness management

<p>Recreation in natural areas has been promoted for numerous reasons (e.g., health, nature appreciation,education, financial gain) and leisure time spent in protected areas has increased substantiallyin popularity in recent decades. However, upkeep of such protected areas represents considerablefinancial outlay and to recoup these costs, tourism potentially provides a self-financing mechanismfor ecological sustainability. In Australia, the adventure sport of canyoning has increased in popularityin the Blue Mountains National Park (Australia), part of a recently declared World Heritage Area,in parallel with an overall increase in wilderness recreation. This study sought canyoners’ perceptionsof visit impacts, together with their attitudes to potential management of these unique areas.It also compares findings with American wilderness research outcomes. The results identify thatthe current level of traffic through the canyons was not considered to be detrimental to canyonvisit enjoyment. While the findings were broadly similar, even at much lower visitation levelsthan American wilderness recreationists tolerate, Australian canyoners avoid heavily traffickedcanyons. Although perceptions and attitudes differed with level of experience, overall, the conclusionis that the visitors encountered were tolerant of other canyoners and the discarded debrisof past excursions. In this context, it is not surprising that most canyoners did not see an immediateneed to implement further management restrictions.</p>