Wilderness tourism and strategic system thinking for Marine Protected areas organizations. The Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo Scuba diving case study Pathways to Success 2010 Sect. III - People, wildlife, and protected areas: international perspectives on conflict and collaborative conservation Federico Niccolini University of Macerata Augusto Navone Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park. Colorado - September 30, 2010 1
Augusto Navone Some References Director of Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo MPA Federico Niccolini Organizational Science Researcher- University of Macerata Teacher in protected areas management for some master or post graduated courses (i.e. University of Camerino, Scuola Superiore Sant Anna) Italian Protected Areas consultant (i.e. Migliarino - San Rossore Massaciuccoli Regional Park ; Abruzzo National Park; Sasso-Simone e Simoncello Regional Park; Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo MPA; Asinara National Park) Foreign Protected Ares consultant (i.e. US National Park Service, 2001-2005 Member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN) 2
The methodology: The research structure - Main disciplines: social and organizational (public sector) sciences - Main purpose: collecting information for managerial implications - Integrated Qualitative and quantitative analysis - Semi-structured interviews using different types (one for every stakeholder category) of long (from 20 to 33 questions) questionnaires conducted in person (a), participant observation (b) and study of statistical documents (c) Many questions - 3 + 1 key: 1.Which role can play a PA authority for better conservation of wilderness and environment, and in a wider perspective for the human well-being (society) of an area? 2.Which are the key interactions between stakeholders and the environment? 3.Which is the value/role of symbol species in a PA. And more specifically, which is the role of groupers (Epinephelus Marginatus) in the MPA studied? 3
The research structure Broader question: in a organizational point of view, what could means integrating human dimensions into fish and wildlife management? Two presuppositions: α) A MPA organization, with enough resources, competences, power and a shared Responsible Development (after RD) vision can, not only manage effectively wildlife and ecosystems, but also improve the social, economical and cultural future of an area (Q. 1) β) The strategic system thinking approach is useful to interpret the answers to the main research questions: it is useful to understand the role of symbol species (in this case groupers) (Q. 3), the behavior of key stakeholders categories (including scuba and other tourists behaviors) (Q. 2), as well as to guide the MPA organization in reaching the RD vision (Q. 1) Two phases: - 1) The wide perspective (multi key stakeholder analysis): 2005-2) The focalization on groupers (using scuba sector analysis): 2007; 2009 4
1 st phase (2005): The overview: multi-key stakeholder analysis University of Macerata Key entrepreneurs (30 to 33 questions) N R of Interv. Fisherman 9 Scuba diving 9 Boat Renting 8 Hotel and restaurants 23 Commerce and services 26 Key informants (27 questions) 13 interviews to people that deeply know (and presumably appreciate ) the MPA and that have not any specific economic interest in the path of the development, such as long-term volunteers, teachers, artists, MPA founders Total 75 Key tourists (20 questions) Short interviews Long interviews Common (beach) tourists 2595 184 Scuba - divers 73 60 Sailors 166 46 Total 2834 290 5
1 st phase (2005): A complex panel of indicators and measure to represent a complex situation The system of indicators (65) Measures Units > 100 Society (24 ) (Demography, education, employment, drug consumption, criminality, environmental education.. General (13) (income, act. composition, entrepreneurship, MPA culture diffusion, sustainable development culture... Economy (41) Key activities (28) (relevance in the economy ) Tourism (18) (official and perceived seasonality, customer satisfaction, Knowledge of MPA.. Fishing (6) (Understanding of MPA benfits, MPA collaborative orientation Building ind. (4) (Pressure on MPA, ) 6
The 2 nd phase: the grouper focalization. The scuba-diving sector investigation. Number of interviews Diving (entrepreneurs) (Total Population = 18) Divers (tourists) 2007 16 (87%) 30 2009 9 (50%) 248 7
The case study Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo MPA The Context 8
The case study Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo MPA The Context REGIONE AUTONOMA DELLA SARDEGNA AGENZIA GOVERNATIVA REGIONALE SARDEGNA PROMO ZIONE The evolution: -1982: identification of the MPA: many risks for a precious environment - 1997: Institution of the MPA - 2004: Creation of the MPA organization (a consortium of the 3 municipalities) Before 1997: mainly non conservative use of the landscape and of the wildlife Few groupers into the parks 9
Introduction - The MPA authority action Many outputs: one of the most significant is the increasie of number and size of groupers into the protected area: (see the Visual census analysis output) 3.0 Density (no. ind. 125 m 2 ) 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 Zones (level of protection) A B C The grouper became a symbol of ecological restoration and seems to drive a different touristic philosophy: the scuba sector grew (almost 10.000 official scuba each year) and become more regulated and organized 3-4 dicembre 2009 Geovillage, Hotel Melià - Olbia 10
The rule of big groupers.. very important 11% According with the 89% of scuba-diving (entrepreneurs), tourist prefer locations populated by big groupers Yes No 89% Do you believe that scuba prefer to visit sites where they can see big groupers? 11
The rule of big groupers.. very important Most demanded scuba-sites are the ones in which is possible to see big groupers (total range = 20 sites) Sites where is possible to see big groupers Most preferred scuba sites 160 140 140 120 100 80 60 40 20-150 125 125 119 97 96 115 Co-graduation index = 98% 120 100 80 60 40 20-119 118 58 59 45 45 53 12
Q. 2 - The tourists and the environment. The satisfaction: some key outputs University of Macerata Appreciation of the MPA functions and of the wide eco-systemic aspects Alternative Sand tourists Vote (max10) Answer rate Scuba - divers Vote (max 10) Answer rate Water quality 8,75 100% 9,03 100% Landscape 8,68 100% 8,97 100% Air quality 8,32 100% 8,73 100% Coast/beach 8,02 100% 8,31 98% Hospitality/Kindness 7,64 100% 8,07 98% Green 7,23 98% 7,80 100% Leisure 7,26 83% 7,42 87% Security 6,57 90% 6,79 93% Villages 6,70 99% 6,75 98% Traffic 5,93 100% 6,35 95% Crowding 5,48 93% 5,75 92% Education of jet-skiers, windsurfer.. 5,84 91% 5,37 98% Prices 4,84 100% 5,15 98% 13
University The tourists of Macerata and the Tavolara environment: Punta Coda Cavallo Marine some Protected key Area, outputs Italy Eco and wilderness tourism orientation If you should win a vacation: which location would you choose? Scuba-divers Sand tourists DESCRIPTION Answer Answer Tot. % rate rate USTICA (MPA) 21 33% 31 15,3% LAVEZZI (MPA) 16 25% 54 26,7% ISOLA DI MONTECRISTO 11 17% 31 15,3% (STRICT NATURE RESERVE) 100% 76% PORTO CERVO 10 16% 52 25,7% PORT-CROS (MPA) 4 6% 12 5,9% RIMINI 1 2% 5 2,5% NIZZA 1 2% 17 8,4% 14
The tourists behavior: some key outputs University of Macerata Eco and wilderness tourism orientation INTERPRETATION Scuba-divers Sand tourists Total % Total % MPA Eco-tourism 41 64,0% 97 48,0% Strict Wilderness tourism 11 17,2% 31 15,3% Luxury Tourism 11 17,2% 69 34,2% Mass-tourism 1 1,6% 5 2,5% 15
Q. 3. The role of the MPA An holistic role An output of the research: a grouper and scuba-diving sector SWOT Main challenges and opportunities for groupers and scuba divers Treats and weakness High seasonality in the scuba and in the whole tourism sector Overcrowding(including few scuba-sites) in the 2 peak months(2 weeks for scuba-sites) High prices for related services(lodging, meals..) Very low level of foreign tourists, including eco-tourists Opportunities and Strengths High appreciation of environmental characteristics of the tourists(including wildlife for scuba) High level of availability of scuba diver to have more regulation to improve conservation standards High level of fidelity of scuba Highlevelofknowledgeofscubaaboutthepresenceofthebiggroupers High percentage of scuba that have observed groupers Good capacity of dialogue between MPA Authority and diving centers 16
Conclusions Big groupers/scuba tourism and MPA Big groupers are relevant attractors for the scuba-tourism Big groupers are evaluated mainly in the interactions and in the ties with a complex and well conserved ecosystem Most of the tourists show a systemic and holistic approach to their experience The output of the research are coherent with the theoretical framework. The systemic approach interpret not only wildlife and ecosystem elements dynamics, but also to tourists and scuba behaviors, other socio-economical components and to the MPA organization and strategy 17
The enlarged systemic perspective - The role of Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo (TPCC) MPA as Responsible development Public Authority TPCC MPA can become a laboratory, a dynamic space where to experiment tools, techniques and grow knowledge and values of conservation, environmental education, responsible tourism and sustainable development to be applied in other integrated zones of sea, coasts and lands of all the Sardinia Island From this: To this: 18
Conclusions Organizational studies and HDoW For a protected area authority - in a organizational point of view - Integrating Human dimensions into Fish and Wildlife management could mean use a strategic holistic/systemic thinking approach, that considerate: ECOLOGY Integrating HDoW from an organizational point of view ECONOMY SOCIETY (Picture recreated by: Niccolini F., Responsabilità Sociale e Competenze organizzative distintive, ETS, Pisa, 2008: par 2.5) 19
Thanks for your attention 20