A Brief Report on the Assessment of the Impacts
from Aircraft and other Factors on Visitor Use and Amenity at
Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island.
....................................................................................................................................
James Innes1 and Jayne Ormsby2
1 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 2 Consultant – Social
Scientist, c/- GBRMPA
his paper briefly presents the results of a research project
commissioned by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) to report upon the impact aircraft
and watercraft activity have upon the use and amenity values
visitors attribute to Whitehaven Beach. The final report from this
study will be available in January 2000. This report complements an
article that appeared in the previous edition of Reef Research
(Vol. 9, No. 2) by Hamilton and Innes that reported on a
sound-monitoring project undertaken at Whitehaven Beach in October
1998 (see also Hamilton 1999).
Whitehaven Beach is a dazzling six kilometre stretch of silica
sand located on the south-eastern side of Whitsunday Island, the
largest island in the Whitsundays group (figure
1). The beach is a
popular destination for visitors to the Whitsundays and locals
alike, with approximately 14 000 visitors travelling there each
year1. The need to protect the unique natural and cultural values of
the area combined with the pressure of high use presents a challenge
for management.
To address this challenge the GBRMPA, with the Queensland Parks
and Wildlife Service (QPWS), has developed a specific site plan for
the Whitehaven Bay and Beach area. In keeping with the Marine Park’s
philosophy of multiple use, the object of the site plan is to
protect the natural and cultural values of the area whilst providing
a range of users opportunity to access and enjoy the area.
The object of the research project was to provide specific
information to the Authority’s Planning Section to report on the
level of impact aircraft and watercraft activity had upon the values
visitors ascribed to Whitehaven Beach. The Authority commissioned
consultant social psychologists Jayne Ormsby and Scott Shafer to
undertake this project.
People mainly travel to Whitehaven Beach using services provided
by local Whitsundays tour operators2. The tour services provided
include a large cat ferry that can transport up to 250 people,
small- to medium-sized watercraft that carry 15 to 30 people, and
seaplanes and helicopters. Marine Parks managers recognise that the
variety of air and watercraft that provide people with the
opportunity to access Whitehaven Beach can also affect peoples’
use and amenity of the area as well as its natural values. The
challenge for the Authority and QPWS is to achieve a balance of use
at Whitehaven Beach that is acceptable to all users and other
stakeholders.
The Authority recognises the importance of incorporating
objective and accurate social science information into its planning
and management decisions (Williams 1996; Wachenfeld et al. 1998).
The current Whitehaven Beach research follows on from social
research undertaken at Whitehaven Beach by Gooch (1991) and a field
experiment conducted at Green Island in 1986 to measure the impact
of seaplanes on peoples’ enjoyment (Brown 1986). The Whitehaven
research is also built upon applied research that has been
undertaken by the Cooperative Research Centre for Ecologically
Sustainable Development of the Great Barrier Reef (CRC Reef Research
Centre) (Shafer et al. 1998). Similar work reporting on the impact
of aircraft sound on wilderness experiences has also been conducted
for the United States Parks Service (Tabachinick et al. 1992) and
other environmental resource management applications in the United
States (Shafer and Hammitt 1995; Tarrant et al. 1995).
Data for the Whitehaven research was obtained in three ways: 1)
visitor survey; 2) on-site observations; and 3) a local interest
group survey. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 583
day trip visitors on-board tourist boats during March and April 19993.
There was a 97% response rate to the questionnaire. Of the
sample, 56% were female and 44% were male, with 40% aged between 20–29
years of age. Fifty per cent were Australian visitors (4% local
residents) and 50% were international travellers, mostly from Great
Britain (41%), Europe (21%) and North America (21%). Twenty-two per
cent had previously visited the Whitsundays and 10% had visited
Whitehaven Beach before.
The presence of other people and their activities did not
generally affect visitors’ social amenity whilst at Whitehaven
Beach. Twelve per cent reported that they felt there were too many
people on the beach, whilst 85% indicated that the number of other
people did not concern them. There was no significant influence in
the activities of aircraft or vessels upon visitor use and amenity
at Whitehaven Beach. Ninety per cent of the people interviewed
indicated that the noise, distance and number of these craft did not
affect their enjoyment of Whitehaven Beach.
The majority of people interviewed (88%) indicated that they
would like Whitehaven Beach to remain in its present state –
natural and undeveloped. Eighty-nine per cent rated their Whitehaven
Beach visit as highly satisfying with 69% indicating they would
definitely like to return in the future.
Both visitors to the Whitsundays interviewed and members of local
interest groups were of the opinion that Whitehaven Beach was most
valuable for its natural and ecological processes, conservation,
recreation and educational opportunities. The values associated with
economic opportunities and spiritual meaning were of least
importance to respondents. The most popular words that people used
to describe Whitehaven Beach were ‘beautiful’, ‘relaxing and
calming’, ‘quiet’ and ‘tranquil’. The ‘clean beach’,
‘pure white sand’, ‘clear water’ and ‘unspoilt natural
environment’ were also Whitehaven Beach reflected in many peoples’
responses.
The three experiences the majority of respondents were seeking
related to participating in water-based activities such as swimming
and snorkelling, enjoying the beach and water, and relaxing and
sunbathing.
The natural and scenic qualities of Whitehaven Beach were
attributes that visitors enjoyed the most. The area was not valued
highly as a physically or socially active place.
The Whitehaven Beach study has highlighted that a number of
experiential preferences and conditions can be developed as social
indicators to monitor changes in social amenity for particular
locations in the Marine Park. The results of the Whitehaven study
are also consistent with the more general findings of Gooch’s 1991
research. The findings also demonstrate that current management
strategies being applied to Whitehaven Beach and Bay area by both
the Authority and QPWS are providing opportunity for balanced
multiple use of the area in line with the site plan and the
settings-based structure of the Whitsundays Plan of Management.
Ormsby and Shafer’s Whitehaven study provides one source of
information to inform GBRMPA and QPWS planning decisions. The
long-term benefit of such social science information is realised
when it compounds in value when developed into a time series data
set. The social science tools developed for the Whitehaven study
provide GBRMPA with the capacity to regularly acquire information on
usage and amenity values for specific locations with the Marine
Park.
During 2000 the Authority, with the CRC Reef Research
Centre,
will examine the development of social science monitoring programs
based upon the Whitehaven research and other relevant social
research. Like the long-term monitoring of the biophysical aspects
of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, the development of
social science monitoring programs to regularly report on a social
indicators will add to the Authority’s capacity to fairly balance
competing uses of the Marine Park whilst protecting the area’s
unique natural and cultural values.
 |
| Figure 1. Whitsunday Island and adjoining mainland,
Queensland, Australia (insert showing Whitehaven Beach). |
..................................................
References
Brown, A. C. 1986, Seaplanes at Green Island, Unpublished report
to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville.
Gooch, G. 1991, Recreational patterns and visitor experiences in
the Whitsundays, Unpublished report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority, Townsville.
Hamilton, M. 1999, Aircraft activity levels and sound impacts in
the recreation opportunity spectrum along Whitehaven Beach,
Whitsundays Islands region of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park,
Unpublished report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority,
Townsville.
Shafer, S. C. and Hammitt. W. E. 1995, Congruency among
experience dimensions, condition indicators and coping behaviours in
wilderness, Leisure Sciences, 17: 263–279.
Shafer, S. C., Inglis, G. J., Johnson, V. Y. and Marshall, N. A.
1998, Visitor Experiences and Perceived Conditions on Day Trips
to the Great Barrier Reef, CRC Reef Research Technical Report
21, CRC Reef Research Centre, Townsville.
Tabachinick, B., Howe, R.R. and Fidell, S. 1992, Estimation of
Aircraft Overflight Exposure in the National Parks and Forest
Service Wilderness, National Park Service Report, USDI, Report
No. 9201, Denver.
Tarrant, M. A., Haas, G. and Manfredo, M. 1995, Factors affecting
evaluation of aircraft overflights of wilderness areas, Society
and Natural Resources, 8: 351–360.
Wachenfeld, D. R., Oliver, J. K., and Morrissey, J. I. (eds)
1998, State of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area 1998,
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville.
Williams, D. R. 1996, Managing tourism use in Australia’s Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park, in Proceedings of Planning Sustainable
Tourism Seminar 1996, Bandung, Indonesia.
1 This figure is sourced from Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Authority Environmental Management Charge returns and is based upon
the number of visitors who access the site through the services of
Whitsunday tour operators, sail yourself yacht charters (bareboat),
seaplanes and helicopters. Visitors aboard private vessels also
access the beach but the exact numbers of this type of visitor are
not known.
2 Logistical support for the Whitehaven project was provided
by Fantasea Cruises, Hamilton Island Aviation, Operators of Baby J
and Ocean Rafting, On the Edge and QPWS Marine Parks.
3 Volunteers from the QPWS Whitsundays Volunteers provided
research assistance to the consultants by administering interviews
to visitors on-board commercial tour vessels.
