Recreational Disturbance Study Durwyn Liley Today Defining - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Recreational Disturbance Study

Durwyn Liley

Today

• Defining disturbance
• Fieldwork results
• Implications

Pop Impact?

Stress Avoidance

• f

Suitable habitat Behavioural response Direct mortality

Disturbance

Fieldwork

• Observation of people and wildlife (spring and

winter): range of survey locations; 3 visits in each season, each visit recording for 1hr 30 minutes.

• Systematic recording of activities, birds and

responses of birds

• Visitor surveys at 5 locations, involving 2 days

counting people and interviews

• Visits not at random, but to some extent targeted

(tide/weather)

Survey areas

Summer: levels human activity

• 218 events from diaries:

6.9 events per hour

• Dog walking most frequent

activity (55 dogs walkers with dogs off-lead, 10 on- lead) (1:6)

• Snatchems busiest

location.

176 Potential Disturbance Events:

• East Plain v. quiet
• Most major flights at Snatchems
• Most birds undertaking major flight

at Walney

• Walney, low levels access but

multiple impacts from single events

• Greyhounds running extensively

across mud near Chapel Island

• Range of disturbance to Little Terns

and breeding waders at South Walney

• At Plover Scar nesting Oystercatcher

and Ringed Plovers were repeatedly flushed from nest by people on seawall

• Jetskis causing some flushing at
• Snatchems. On one visit 11 different

jetskis

Response by Activity

Winter: levels human activity

• 308 events from diaries
• Dog walking most

frequent activity (157 dogs walkers with dogs

• ff-lead, 37 on-lead) (1:4)
• Morecambe seafront

busiest location.

Counts of Birds & People: winter

Events Total birds present

6000 4500 3000 1500 48 36 24 12 600 450 300 150 48 36 24 12 80 60 40 20 Wader Wildfowl Other

19 Inner Foulney 4 Foulney 6 West Plain 7 East Plain 9 Hest Bank 1 Biggar 10 Morecambe Seafront 11 Snatchems 12 Heysham, Heliport 13 Red Nab 15 Potts Corner 16 Plover Scar 17 Bolton Le Sands 18 Hilpsford scar

Many low bird counts when low levels disturbance, reflects range of factors affecting distribution and abundance of birds. but no high counts of birds where access high

Winter: activities

• 72% of observed disturbance was attributed to dogs and dog walkers.
• Air-borne craft, jet skis and small fast boats were activities particularly likely to

cause disturbance, but relatively low level compared to dog walking. These kinds of activities are ones where marked increases in the levels/occurrence could have particular implications.

Where activity takes place

West Plain, Bolton Le Sands, Hest Bank, Inner Foulney, Red Nab, Biggar All 25% + access on intertidal

Wide variation between sites in numbers of birds, habitats, types of activities, behaviour

Limitations

• Snapshot
• Limited survey effort
• Bird use and recreation use vary with tide,

weather, time of year etc. Range of factors influence both recreation and birds.

Data in total involved 14,949 potential disturbance events and the responses of 470,769 individual birds. 5 studies, 9 SPAs

Visitor Surveys

Site

• No. Interviews (%)

1 Biggar 36 (22) 9 Hest Bank 52 (32) 11 Aldcliffe 28 (17) 15 Potts Corner 26 (16) 16 Plover Scar 22 (13) Total 164

16 hours at each site, evenly split weekend and weekday and spread over daylight

Some headline figures

• 85% on short trip/day trip and visiting from home
• 5% on short trip/day trip and staying with

friends/family

• 9% holiday makers staying away from home
• 59% dog walking (most common activity at 3 sites)
• 45% of visits an hour or less
• 71% arrived by car
• 51% visit at least weekly
• 10% on first visit

Reasons for Site Choice

Median distance (all): 3.95km Median (dog walkers, from home): 3.04km

Routes

Average = 3.3km

Things people like best…..

And least….

Any changes that would improve your visit….

Our thoughts

• Currently relatively little infrastructure
• People not aware they are visiting somewhere

that’s important for wildlife – doesn’t feel or seem like a nature reserve

• Pressures steadily growing: increasing pop
• Large open shoreline, wide range of

stakeholders

• Piecemeal changes at individual sites unlikely

to work

• All needs ‘joining up’

Bay-wide approach allows for forums, central communication Spreads resources (e.g. ranger time) Official branding (e.g. on signs) Can ensure consistency (messages to users)

Aerial imagery sourced from channel coast observatory

What the solutions might look like

Lower images from biotope website

Paths & people on the intertidal

Pembrokeshire National Park

• Interactive maps on website
• Marine code
• Outdoor charter
• Groups and providers sign-up to code

• Interactive map

provides live information on sites where dogs are welcomed

Implementation

Different threads:

• IPENS
• Mitigation linked to new

development

• Tourism
• Recreation user groups
• Recreation providers
• Landowners
• Funding streams: HLF?