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Conservation Management Plans and Conservation Management Strategies are the key documents that guide the management of the New Zealand wilderness resource. These are statutory documents that direct the use and management of particular areas of conservation land. (The relevant plans and strategies for Fiordland National Park are discussed in detail in Chapter Five). There are also two national documents which, although they have no statutory basis, provide crucial guidance for the management of New Zealand wilderness, and to which extensive reference is made in the Management Plans and Management Strategies. The documents are the New Zealand Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (Taylor 1993) and the Visitor Strategy (DOC 1996).

2.5.1 Recreation Opportunity Spectrum

The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) is a management tool which describes and maps recreation opportunities. A recreation opportunity comprises a combination of an activity, a setting and an experience (DOC 1996). ROS can be used to define where different types of recreation experiences are to be found (i.e. to inventory existing recreation opportunities) and how areas will need to be managed to maintain those experiences (Taylor 1993). It can also be used as a predictive tool, to show what opportunities would exist under different management

scenarios – for example what would happen to the recreation opportunities in an area if a new tramping track was created through the middle of it.

Recreation opportunities are classified along a continuum of settings from urban to wilderness, and each of the opportunities is defined and described in terms of experience characteristics, activity characteristics, physical, social and managerial characteristics. These characteristics vary with progression along the continuum, as do the types of activities that might be expected. For example, the range of activities at the urban-end of the spectrum is much more diverse than in a wilderness setting and the standard of facilities and services is much higher. A key assumption of ROS is that the experience characteristics described in the spectrum are those of experienced participants. This is because a person visiting a particular type of area for the first time will perceive things very differently to someone who is more familiar with the setting.

Figure 2.3: The New Zealand Recreation Opportunity Spectrum settings

BACK COUNTRY

URBAN URBAN FRINGE

RURAL DRIVE IN 4x4 DRIVE IN

WALK IN REMOTE WILDERNESS

Modified from Taylor 1993 p. 10 The New Zealand ROS identifies eight major types of land-based recreation opportunity (Figure 2.3). Remote and Wilderness recreation opportunities are two of these classes. Wilderness is the only setting that is recognised in legislation (DOC 2006a). Although ‘Remote’ and ‘Wilderness’ are defined as two distinct classes, the actual boundaries between the two often merge (Taylor 1993). Section 5.3.2 of the ROS guidelines states that, although the Wilderness Policy 1985 applies when mapping for ROS-related opportunities, some wilderness experiences, as defined by ROS, may not always meet the requirements of designated wilderness. This serves to highlight the fact that the New Zealand wilderness resource extends far beyond the boundaries of legally designated wilderness areas. The main characteristics of and Wilderness settings in New Zealand (as defined by ROS) are outlined in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Characteristics of Remote and Wilderness recreation opportunities

Remote Wilderness

Experience Characteristics

− High probability of experiencing isolation from the sights and sounds of humans and experiencing a closeness to nature

− Outdoor skills, challenge and risk are important, but some reliance can still be placed on human modification (e.g. tracks and huts)

− Extremely high probability of experiencing complete isolation from the sights, sounds and activities of humans

− Extremely high probability of no interaction with other user groups

− Users will be totally reliant on their outdoor skills

− Very likely that there will be a high degree of closeness to nature, with a sense of discovery, solitude and freedom

Activity

Characteristics

− Big game hunting, tramping

− Rock climbing & caving

− Mountaineering, ice and snowcraft

− Nature tours, nature study

− Kayaking, rafting, fishing

− Flight seeing/flying

− Big game hunting, tramping

− Mountaineering − Nature tours − Kayaking − Rafting − Fishing Physical Setting

− Highly natural landscape

− Minimal apparent modification

− Few facilities, limited to light tracks, with occasional bridges, huts and signs

− Non-motorised access only

− Access facilitated by light tracks and bridges, but often weather dependent

− Minimum distance 1km or ½ day walk from motorised access

− No minimum size, but generally greater than 1000ha

− Usually follow ridge lines or natural boundaries

− Highly natural landscape

− No apparent modification

− No huts, tracks, bridges, signs or other facilities

− Non-motorised access only

− Minimum distance ½ to1 day’s walk from motorised access

− Foot access totally dependent upon the environment and resources and skill of the visitor

− Minimum size 2000 ha. At least 2 days walk to traverse

− Boundaries clearly defined by topography, usually ridge lines Social Setting − Group size usually small

− Visit duration invariably overnight; usually several nights

− Interaction with other groups unlikely but not totally unexpected

− Group size small

− Visit duration of at least one night, usually several nights

− Generally interaction with other groups is unexpected

Managerial Setting

− Likely to be little regulation and regimentation, although management will be visible

− Some facilities provided (e.g. tracks, bridges, huts)

− Operations to service and manage facilities may occasionally be present

− Should be no discernable management presence

(exceptions: search and rescue operations)

− The wilderness policy applies

2.5.2 The Visitor Strategy (DOC 1996)

The Visitor Strategy (DOC 1996) was written in order to manage the goals of protected natural areas with the demands of recreation and tourism (Boyes 1998). It is regarded as the most important piece of Department of Conservation policy relating to visitor management, and it contains detailed information about the kinds of people who are believed to visit remote and wilderness areas. The strategy has five major goals: 1) protection; 2) fostering visits; 3) managing tourism concessions on protected lands; 4) informing and educating visitors and 5) Visitor safety.

Based on the ROS assessment of recreational opportunities, the Visitor Strategy identifies seven distinct groups who visit New Zealand conservation lands (Figure 2.4) and defines and describes each group in terms of activity, setting and experience characteristics. Visitors are classified along a continuum which is closely aligned with ROS. However, there is not a perfect correlation between visitor group and recreation setting because most types of visitor tend to use more than one ROS class (Taylor 1993). The seven visitor groups range from ‘Short Stop Travellers’ who seek brief recreation experiences in accessible, partly-modified environments with a high standard of facilities and services, through to ‘Remoteness Seekers’ who demand experiences of a long duration in a natural, remote and challenging environment with few or no facilities and services:

Figure 2.4: The seven visitor groups in the DOC Visitor Strategy

− Short Stop Travellers (SST)

− Day Visitors (DV)

− Overnighters (ON)

− Back Country Comfort Seekers (BCC)

− Back Country Adventurers (BCA)

− Remoteness Seekers (RS)

− Thrill Seekers (TS)21

Using these visitor group descriptions, the Department of Conservation attempts to manage areas for particular visitor groups. For example, an accessible back country22 track with serviced huts23 would be managed primarily for back country comfort seekers, whereas an inaccessible wilderness area with no facilities or services would be managed largely for Remoteness Seekers.

21

‘Thrill Seekers’ do not fit neatly onto the continuum, as the activities that they undertake (such as bungee jumping, back country skiing and jet boating) can take place in a variety of settings.

22

‘Back country’ is a setting on the New Zealand Recreation Opportunity Spectrum. It is used by the Department of Conservation to describe areas which are relatively accessible and suitable for visitors of an intermediate skill level (Joyce & Sutton 2009). More detail on this visitor setting can be found in Taylor 1993.

23

‘Huts’ are structures on New Zealand conservation land which provide shelter (and/or accommodation) for day and overnight visitors. They range from small shelters to large, serviced, 40 bunk huts (e.g. on the Great Walks).

The group which is most relevant to the current study is ‘Remoteness Seekers’. The characteristics of this visitor group are outlined in Table 2.3. Primarily because of the difficulties associated with contacting ‘Remoteness Seekers’, there was (and still is) limited data available about this visitor group. However, this still remains the most comprehensive and detailed description of users of the wilderness resource that the Department of

Conservation has published to date. The accuracy of this data (in relation to findings from the current study) is discussed in Chapter Eleven.

Table 2.3: Remoteness Seekers visitor group characteristics

Setting and accessibility − Natural setting (Remote or Wilderness). Contains few or no facilities. Access is largely on foot, except where air or boat access is permitted. Foot access to the edge of

remote/wilderness areas is usually by tramping track or route Nature of visit and

activities undertaken

− Visits range from 3 to 7 days (or longer). The main activities are tramping, hunting, mountaineering, cross-country skiing, rafting. All require the highest degree of self-reliance Experience

sought/degree of risk

− Seeking a wilderness experience with limited interaction with other parties. Seek the challenge and complete sense of freedom that comes from prolonged contact with wild nature. Because of their high skill level and experience, this group accepts the higher level of risk associated with travelling through remote/wilderness areas

Facilities/services sought − Seek no facilities once in remote country. Seek pre-visit information to help plan their trips, including maps, snow/weather conditions and route guides

Make-up of visitors and visitor numbers

− This group is made up of fit, experienced, predominantly male New Zealanders. In comparison with other visitor groups, remoteness seekers numbers are very low

Projected use − Numbers are expected to increase slowly. Although remote

experience has international appeal, it is difficult to assess the growth of overseas visitors seeking remoteness

Source: DOC 1996, p. 30