Effects of Recreational Camping on the Environmental Values of National Parks in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Camping is a popular activity in the contemporary nature-based tourism domain and rapidly gaining momentum as a key recreational activity in Sri Lanka’s national parks (NPs). Recreational uses such as camping in natural areas can induce significant and often localised resource impacts that can affect soil, vegetation, wildlife and water, with the severity of such impacts varying according to the intensity of use. Hence, monitoring of the biophysical conditions of campsites has become an important component in the reserve management agenda in many places, especially in developed countries. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the biophysical impacts associated with the recreation ecology of camping in Sri Lanka. Ten campsites from three dry zone NPs were selected to assess biophysical impacts of camping activities. Field measurements were based on the fixed radial transect method. Gathered data included the total area of the campsite, erosion potential measured as the area of exposed soil (devoid of vegetation or organic litter), number of exposed roots and human damage to trees, number of fireplaces/ fire scars on the ground, visual counts of litter, soil compaction measured by penetrometer, loss of woody debris. This study reports significant levels of environmental degradation related to all the indictors of biophysical impacts at both high and low use campsites. There was no evidence for any difference in the level of environmental degradation associated with high and low use campsites. The loss of natural values associated with campsites negatively impacted visitors’ nature-based experience. These findings highlight the importance of managing biophysical impacts in campsites to provide a high-quality visitor experience, while sustainably managing tourism activities in NPs.

Profiling of Shelter Campers, Their Attitudes, and Perceptions towards Environmental Impacts of Campsite Use and Management: Evidence from National Parks of Sri Lanka

“…However, only shelter camping is predominantly allowed inside NPs and therefore, shelter campers were the focal group of this study. The campsites in Sri Lanka's NPs can be categorized as 'developed' and 'undeveloped', based on the type of development and infrastructure facilities available at campsites [15]. Undeveloped campsites are those with basic facilities, including an area devoid of vegetation purposefully cleared by park management, with a toilet provided.…”

“…Concurrent with the growing demand for nature-based tourism, the demand for liminal experiences in nature and alternative accommodation options is also rising [8][9][10][11]. In the context of outdoor pursuits, camping has become a significant component of the nature-based tourism domain [12][13][14][15].…”

“…At the same time, camping activities can induce significant and often localized environmental impacts that can affect soil (compaction and erosion, ground exposure, changes to the hydrology of site), vegetation (loss of ground vegetation and seedlings, trampling, change in species composition, spread of invasive plants), wildlife (habitat alteration, disturbance to wildlife), and water quality (increased turbidity, contamination with human fecal matter). The severity of such impacts is also variable depending on the level of use [3,15,[32][33][34][35][36]. The size of a user party can also influence the area of damage, with larger parties often causing a disproportionate amount of damage [33].…”

“…Total campsite bookings in NPs have shown a 28.5% growth within the same period [46]. Camping in Sri Lanka's NPs provides unique and exciting opportunities for close interactions with nature and wildlife [15]. This has positioned Sri Lanka's NPs and natural areas in a favorable position to exploit the growing demand for camping in natural areas and alternative accommodations [11].…”

Introducing Management Actions to Unmanaged Campsites in Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan: A Discussion Based on a Reservation System in Taiwan’s National Parks

“…Meanwhile, the formation of a complex informal trail network resulting from campers' movement (e.g., to expand their camping footprints by moving between nearby sites; or to search for toilets) is a major problem in undeveloped camping areas [7][8][9][10][11]. Particularly, the quality of users' camping experience is usually influenced by the existence of such impacts at sites with high-level use [12][13][14][15]. The containment strategy has been widely adopted on campgrounds in American national parks.…”