Below are specific recommendations related to some key research needs. Advancing these would better inform the provision of more active and safer outdoor recreation.
Research Strategy
• A coordinated sector-wide approach to outdoor recreation research is still required. This was highlighted as a need almost 30 years ago by Aukerman & Davison (1980), and in scoping the available research material for informing this report, it is clear that the sector has made little progress since then. The recent cross-sector Outdoor Recreation Strategy developed by SPARC also highlights this need, and the creation of the Hillary Council for Recreation and Sport within SPARC provides a unique opportunity to address this need. Development of a comprehensive and long-term Outdoor Recreation Research Strategy would greatly progress actions to address all the other research recommendations raised here, and would provide the basis for increased research effort, collaboration, funding, outputs and value across the sector.
General Participation Trends
• Research results and numerous anecdotal accounts suggest that non-participation in physical activity in general, and outdoor recreation in particular, is growing among certain sectors of society. Focusing on these non-participating sectors and tracking changes in their proportions of the wider population can indirectly give some indication of directions for future outdoor recreation demand.
• This involves focusing on changes in age group and ethnicity in particular, and taking account of the wider societal changes affecting the population as a whole such as population size and structure, residential patterns, economic and technological factors, and changes in leisure related time-use, activities, attitudes and behaviors.
Active New Zealand
• Support expansion of SPARC’s Active New Zealand programme. This should include increasing the core sample size to allow more in-depth analyses, revising certain key questions, and considering the possibility of including some specific key outdoor recreation-related questions. An ongoing standardized monitor of participation is long overdue for recreation in New Zealand.
Activity-Specific Studies
• There has been almost no published research specifically addressing the characteristics, preferences, behaviour profiles and needs of specific outdoor recreation activity groups43 since the early work of Aukerman & Davison (1980). Any research results
related to specific activities has usually been indirect, undertaken from the perspective of one-off site user studies. The difficulty in developing good participation rate estimates for specific activities reflects the lack of good data on activity-specific user behaviours and use patterns. It may also be useful to undertake case-studies of particular activity types in areas with higher SAR and/or injury cases. One example could be the notable prevalence of SAR cases related mountain-biking around Wellington.
Wider Database Access
• When analyzing data on SAR and ACC claims in this study it was only possible to use summarized information. In many cases the differences in activity classification and the presence of large numbers of ‘unknown’ activity types made conclusive findings difficult to achieve.
• Having the opportunity to search original databases and to clarify inconsistencies would improve the value of the data. This could be the subject of future research work in more depth.
• Doing this would also allow consistent classifications to be applied for improved comparison and analysis opportunities. In the longer term consistency in data classifications/categories should be aimed for at the point of original data recording and database entry.
Pacific/Asian Fishing Drownings
• There was a notable over-representation of Asian and Pacific people among land-based drowning cases. The summary data available for this report did not allow analysis to determine what kind of fishing was involved, but it could be inferred from the data that coastal fishing of rocks was a major risk area. Further analysis of the database providing the summary data used here would enable more specific conclusions (if this has not already been done).
• Inconsistent coding of activity types made comparisons with other fishing information more difficult. Inferences about relative age-group risks in land-based fishing were also inhibited by inconsistent age-group and activity-type categories. Research into the best classification of fishing is required.
Mountain biking SAR cases
• A cluster of mountain biking SAR cases was evident in the hills around Wellington, and a more minor cluster around Nelson. This sort of clustering was not so strongly apparent for other activity types, apart from the obvious clustering of climbing around the main mountain areas. It may be useful to investigate these mountain biking cases further to identify any patterns or key factors about them (e.g. judgment, skill, experience, environment, equipment issues). Both may be related to the presence of rugged terrain close to major urban centres.
Tramping SAR cases
• There is some clustering of SAR cases around a few key areas in the North Island (e.g. Mt Egmont/Taranaki, Tongariro National Park, Ruahine Range, Tararua Range, Rimutaka Range) and in the more mountainous national parks in the South Island ( Kahurangi, Nelson Lakes, Arthurs Pass, Aoraki/Mount Cook, Mt Aspiring and valleys along the Haast Highway, Fiordland National park around the Kepler and Dusky Tracks).
• There is potential capability to look at these clusters in more detail to provide more specific case locations within clusters and analyses key factors (e.g. judgment, skill, experience, environment, equipment issues).
Hunting SAR cases
• These are widely dispersed across many very remote mountainous areas of New Zealand with little apparent clustering, apart from a general North Island concentration in the Central North Island around the Kaimanawa-Kaweka Ranges, Huiarau-Ikawhenua Ranges, the South Waikato Hills around Tokoroa, Mangakino and Te Kuiti, and in the Rotorua-Murupara area. Cases are generally widely dispersed elsewhere with only very small clusters in areas such as the western Tararua Range north of Wellington, the Richmond Range near Nelson, and the Longwood Range near Invercargill.
• These patterns could be investigated in more detail, looking for more specific location information and any patterns or key factors (e.g. judgment, skill, experience, environment, equipment issues).
Hunting participation levels
• The most robust participation estimate currently available for big game hunting (e.g. deer, pigs, thar, chamois) suggests that around 10,000 people went hunting such game at some point during a 12 month period in 2007-08 (e.g. SPARC 2009a). This is considerably lower than commonly quoted estimates of around 50,000 based on a 1988 study (e.g. Nugent 1992). It is anticipated that such a finding may prompt some debate, and a dedicated research task may be required to clarify the extent of hunting participation and provide a baseline for assessing trends into the future.
• Some data suggests growth in small game hunting (hunting license data), growth in NZDA membership, and growth in overall arms licenses. To what extent could these represent trends in wider hunter participation?
• What are the reasons given for wanting to get a firearms license? To what extent would an improved understanding of these help create further indicators for trends in wider hunter participation?
• These are key questions to address since as regular measures they represent potential sector indicators.
• A repeat of the work conducted in 1988 by Nugent (Nugent 1992) would seem very timely.
National Incident database
• Explore an identify options for data sharing, transfer and storage processes that enable different organizations to incorporate participation and incident data into the NID. • These is potential to undertake more in-depth analyses of incident features and patterns
as this resource builds
Growth in Outdoor Recreation Clubs
• One Mountain Bike Club reported very high membership numbers, rapid growth and high family membership. This warrants further exploration to try and identify key growth factors and to see if any lessons can be passed on to other clubs. Part of such an investigation should include a search for other club examples in other activities.
• It is possible to undertake more in-depth analyses of the extensive longitudinal records of membership for key organisations such as the Federated Mountain Clubs and the New Zealand Deer Stalkers Association. This could identify patterns of relative participation change over time.
Monitoring recreationist numbers
• Development of counters to distinguish mountain bikes from trampers would be and useful innovation and this feasibility should be explored.
• Case studies of local areas should be undertaken to test the feasibility of using visitor counter information to help calculate local incident rates, and to predict use trends.