Visitor management
Participation Plan for the Sigmaplan
The fact that more room will be given to water, means that the public will be more frequently confronted with water-related questions and challenges. This will give the ever-changing water issues a new dimension. In their turn, society and its citizens will confront water managers with different needs and ideas concerning water management. Participation is often a key word. On behalf of Waterwegen & Zeekanaal NV, a "Participation Plan" was developed for the Sigmaplan, in which the polders of Kruibeke are a part of.
Two cases of the Participation Plan have already been executed. The first was a training program for guides in estuarine nature areas, which has already proven to be a success. The second was the composition of an educational package for primary school students.
Broads Authority 'Widening Views'
The Broads Authority has been working with other members of the National Parks family on a project called Mosaic to increase visits to the Parks from under-represented groups of people, particularly ethnic minorities. On Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th October 2011 the Broads Authority will host an international conference called ‘Widening Views’ at Norwich City Football Ground. It will be a chance to share thinking with our STEP partners from the Netherlands and Belgium about ways of attracting new audiences to the countryside. Speakers will include those new to experiencing National Parks and other special areas. The event is being partly funded with money from the European Regional Development Fund through the STEP programme. It’s hoped that there will be attendance from other Mosaic teams within the English National Park network, local community champions, Broads tourism businesses and countryside management organisations.
Monitoring visitors Biesbosch
In 2008 the National Park organization, Recreation authority Hollandse Biesbosch and Staatsbosbeheer
have research carried out by an external agency. It was intended as a baseline measurement. The
monitoring was done using different methods. Read the Dutch report here.
The goals for this monitoring were:
- to know how the Biesbosch is used by visitors
- to know the quality of the Biesbosch for recreation
- to create a system of monitoring for recreational behavior
- to know how we can facilitate the guests as much as possible
Some of the results:
- The total number of visits (land and water recreation) is calculated at 3.1 million per year.
- Most of these visitors, about 85%, live in the region (< 30 km).
- The most imported motifs for visiting the Biesbosch are sociability and battery charging.
- There is a great repeat visit, especially for water recreation (10-50 times per year).
- the average time land and water visitors spend is just over 3 hours
- 28% of the visitors visited one of the two visitor centers.
Before 2015 the next monitoring will take place using the same methods.
Peer review meeting: Visitor Management
On September 16 & 17, 2010, the five partners gathered in Kruibeke, Belgium to think about various aspects of visitor management. They discussed the needs of different target groups, investigated the functions and necessity of a visitor centre and found out more about ICT tools for visitor management.
Read the report of the meeting here.
The Broads & Visitor Management
The Broads Authority has developed a number of interpretive tools using new technology balanced with more traditional methods of on-site interpretation in sensitive locations.
One example implemented through the STEP programme is an augmented reality application for use with smartphones. It uses GPS technology to identify parts of a site and provide educational information about it.
The site of Buttles Marsh in the Broads was chosen as an area where this type of interpretation could be used successfully. It consists of 42 hectares of arable land next to the How Hill National Nature Reserve. The land has been encouraged to revert to a wetland to attract bitterns and other rare, water-loving birds as part of a European Union LIFE project. Part of the story for this interpretation is how people have utilised the land throughout history for their own benefit, including reedcutters, farmers and millwrights.
The main target audiences are holiday makers and visitors, plus school children between the ages of 7 and 11 who attend courses at the How Hill Norfolk Broads Study Centre.
There are also plans for similar schemes at Whitlingham Country Park and the Trinity Broads.
Tree Plant Action for local children of Kruibeke
On March 16 and 17 2011 Waterways and Seecanal organised a Tree Plant Action in cooperation with the agency of Nature and Forestry. More than 300 children helped planting almost 1000 trees to compensate the loss of trees for the realisation of a flood control area. Local mascotte Xavier joined
the children in their fantastic labour. Enjoy the movie!
