Seeking Spirituality: respecting the social value of coastal recreation resources in England and Wales.

Social value is understood by individuals but is itself a contested concept, although community and participation are key associated terms. Arguably social value of protected areas can be viewed as primarily recreational and aesthetic. Perhaps as a result, social value is often much less considered when compared to environmental and economic aspects when planning the establishment and management of protected areas in coastal locations. Understanding how society values these areas could therefore make a significant difference to optimising management direction and outcomes. Furthermore, understanding non-monetary values could help evaluate trade-offs which can be made between scenarios such as alternative development, management and conservation. Literature on social value touches on many topics including the emotional appreciation of wilderness and theory of visitor management. Ironically, in future, climate change may raise social value at the coast given a public fascination with dramatic storms and sensational rapid change as a result of coastal processes. In order to identify social value, evaluate how it has been applied, and suggest better future integration, research focussing on selected coastal protected areas in England and Wales has taken an inductive grounded theory approach. A combination of practitioner and public interviews were undertaken to inform the design of a normative statement and model of social value. To understand social values at an operational level a detailed ‘zoning chart’ exercise in conjunction with an expert scoring system was applied to four case studies This work has resulted in validating social value criteria and has highlighted the complexities of measuring social value, particularly using a scoring system to rate the criteria. Tranquility, for example, is typically subjective. Zoning charts proved to be a productive data collection tool, allowing visualisation of the criteria. All the data collection phases demonstrated that criteria in the ‘spirituality and natural environment’ theme provided the most social value to the public. Criteria in this theme include areas where it is possible to get away from other people in order to experience tranquillity, isolation and remoteness: experiences of views and open coastline: inspirational opportunities for art, poetry and photography: and an outdoor experience in a place where people want to be

Social Value of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas in England and Wales.

The U.K. government is committed to establishing a coherent network of marine protected areas by 2012 and the recentMarine and Coastal Access Act, 2009 will designate marine conservation zones and provide wider access rights to the coast. To fulfill these goals, this article argues the need for a clearer, shared understanding of the social value of protected areas in creating new designations and managing existing ones. Although marine and coastal environments attract many people and are vitally important in terms of realized and potential social value, the majority of the public in the United Kingdom lacks understanding and awareness regarding them. Combined with this, the social value of marine and coastal protected areas (MCPAs) have been largely ignored relative to conservation and economics, with the latter invariably taking precedence in environmental policymaking. Social value reflects the complex, individual responses that people experience in a given place. Many reasons determine why one area is valued above another, and this research investigates the social value of MCPAs from a practitioner’s perspective through a series of interviews. Understanding why we “socially” value MCPAs will ultimately equip managers with an informed understanding of these spaces, influence management decisions, and, potentially, policymaking. This article defines social value in the context of MCPAs in England and Wales from a practitioner perspective, explores key concepts, and suggests possible improvements in decision-making

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park plan First review and policies for 1982-1987

0.30SIGLELD:f82/2005. / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Caravan and tent survey

0.50SIGLEAvailable from British Library Lending Division - LD:OP-LG/1449 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail User Survey 1996-97; summary of results

English/Welsh text on inverted pagesAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:6419.080(1996/97/S) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail User Survey 1996-1997

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:6419.080(1996/97) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Pembrokeshire visitor survey 1980 Pembrokeshire visitor survey 1980, and changes in holiday numbers and holiday accomodation 1974-1980

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:OP/LG-1452 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo