PART III - CASE STUDY 5.1
Tourist camping impacts in Warren National Park, Western Australia
Warren National Park covers an area of some 3,000ha in the south-west of the state of Western Australia. The park straddles a section of the Warren River and contains significant tracts of established eucalyptus forest that draw in excess of 120,000 visitors per annum from both domestic Australian and international tourism markets. The focus of visitor activities is upon informal outdoor recreations in which the enjoyment of the natural environment is a dominant motive and alongside popular recreations such as walking and picnicking there is provision for overnight camping in three formal and nine informal camp sites. The formal sites generally offer easy access via gravelled tracks and contain cleared ground on which to pitch tents together with basic infrastructure such as tables, benches and toilet facilities. In contrast, the informal sites are only accessible by use of off-road vehicles and tents are pitched on ground that has already been trampled or cleared by previous users. There is no other infrastructure.
A key part of this study was to examine the nature and extent of biophysical impacts on the environment of camping activity, considering both types of sites and with comparisons with a third (control) location on land that was unused. The research concluded that even at the low levels of visitor use that were encountered in some of the informal sites, the activity of campers introduced significant changes to the environment in the vicinity of all sites. The principal findings were that:
Source: Smith, A.J. and Newsome, D. (2002) ‘An integrated approach to assessing, managing and monitoring campsite impacts in Warren National Park, Western Australia’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 10 (4): 343–59.
Tourist camping impacts in Warren National Park, Western Australia
Warren National Park covers an area of some 3,000ha in the south-west of the state of Western Australia. The park straddles a section of the Warren River and contains significant tracts of established eucalyptus forest that draw in excess of 120,000 visitors per annum from both domestic Australian and international tourism markets. The focus of visitor activities is upon informal outdoor recreations in which the enjoyment of the natural environment is a dominant motive and alongside popular recreations such as walking and picnicking there is provision for overnight camping in three formal and nine informal camp sites. The formal sites generally offer easy access via gravelled tracks and contain cleared ground on which to pitch tents together with basic infrastructure such as tables, benches and toilet facilities. In contrast, the informal sites are only accessible by use of off-road vehicles and tents are pitched on ground that has already been trampled or cleared by previous users. There is no other infrastructure.
A key part of this study was to examine the nature and extent of biophysical impacts on the environment of camping activity, considering both types of sites and with comparisons with a third (control) location on land that was unused. The research concluded that even at the low levels of visitor use that were encountered in some of the informal sites, the activity of campers introduced significant changes to the environment in the vicinity of all sites. The principal findings were that:
- all sites showed significant increases in the level of compaction of the soil (which increased on average by 304 per cent at formal sites and 172 per cent at informal sites);
- soil compaction was further adjudged to be responsible for higher levels of surface run-off of rainfall creating areas of gullying and exposure of tree roots, especially along riverbanks;
- there was significant loss of native vegetation cover (61 per cent at formal sites and 51 per cent at informal sites) and a commensurate increase in either bare ground or ground occupied by weeds;
- due to campers collecting firewood (even when wood was provided at managed sites), there was a general absence of woody debris on the ground (which affects habitats for some species of insect) and a higher level of damage to trees;
- campsites adjacent to the Warren River revealed degradation of riverbanks (including root exposure and bank collapse) as well as changes in the species composition of riverbank plants arising from trampling.
Source: Smith, A.J. and Newsome, D. (2002) ‘An integrated approach to assessing, managing and monitoring campsite impacts in Warren National Park, Western Australia’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 10 (4): 343–59.