Identifying changes to public access is an important but often overlooked dimension of natural resource management. Our new study just published in the journal GeoHazards maps changes to public access and examines the nature of human responses in parks and reserves using case studies from Aoraki Mount Cook and Westland Tai Poutini national parks. These case studies trace the evolution of changes to historical access routes using high resolution digital elevation models (DEM) and satellite imagery from before and after extreme events with a focus on major flooding and erosion from heavy rainfall. The project is a collaboration between Aubrey Miller and Associate Professor Pascal Sirguey (MRC) and Dr Shane Orchard (UC). It combines some of our earlier work on changing landscapes under the Matariki project and contributes to our current ongoing work on public access and changing hazardscapes in the Hooker Valley.
Improved attention to the role of access is essential for effective climate change adaptation in parks and reserves. The paper highlights the varied nature of human responses to hazard events over temporary and longer-term term timelines and identifies key intersections with social factors including technology developments, public perceptions and popularisation trends. We also identify three essential principles for managing public access in changing landscapes which are becoming the norm in many areas due to climate change. These are: providing access that supports the core functions of protected areas; evaluating the impacts of both physical changes and human responses to them; and managing tensions between stakeholder preferences. Although these principles are especially evident in fast eroding landscapes where existing infrastructure is more frequently lost or damaged, they are widely transferable to all types of protected areas both in NZ and elsewhere.
Download a free copy of the paper HERE
