Approach
Idealized conditions of the natural environment on social media and websites can often mislead visitors about environmental conditions at a site. This practice stands to be increasingly undermined by climate change since conditions of the past can no longer be reasonably expected to persist into the future. Providing interpretive information that shows the changing and variable conditions in a location, and how this differs from historical conditions, can be helpful for visitors to understand the conditions they may face in their visit may be different than anticipated. Interpretive information can be used to not only convey risks to visitors, but also to describe the risks to natural and cultural resources that are caused by a changing climate.
Tactics
- Employ representations of changing and variable, sometimes degraded conditions, as opposed to idealized portraits of stable, pristine, and favorable natural environments.
- Represent and interpret the environmental changes that parks, forests, and other public spaces are experiencing with historic photographs and other elements that display the non-static nature of parks and recreational opportunities.
Strategy
Strategy Text
Although many forms of recreation can provide numerous health and cultural benefits, climate change can threaten the health and safety of visitors and staff and also lead to a loss of cultural identity. Conditions have become more favorable for several human health hazards, including the spread of vector-borne diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks, the proliferation of noxious plants, such as poison ivy, risks to campgrounds and other infrastructure, such as flooding, hazard trees, and wildfires, increased risks of avalanches given projected rain-on-snow occurrences, heat-induced illnesses, such as dehydration and heat stroke, a prolonged pollen season and associated respiratory illnesses such as asthma, and poor air quality from both natural and anthropogenic sources. This strategy aims to reduce the risks themselves but also to reduce the exposure of visitors and staff to those risks. This can be achieved through open communication, environmental education, and interpreting the changes that are occurring so that visitors’ expectations and preparedness align with actual conditions that they are likely to encounter while recreating. In addition to the physical risks, the risks to cultural identity when a recreation activity is no longer feasible are also very real and may need to be communicated in a way that is sensitive to a community’s sense of place.
O’Toole, D.; Brandt, L.A.; Janowiak, M.K.; Schmitt, K.M.; Shannon, P.D.; Leopold, P.R.; Handler, S.D.; Ontl, T.A.; Swanston, C.W. Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Approaches for Outdoor Recreation. Sustainability 2019, 11, 7030.