Investigation of a recreation monitoring programme for Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora

Abstract

Large natural resource features (e.g., lakes) often have multiple demands placed on them by users. Maintenance of the quality of these resources may involve multiple parties who require data on the nature of use and demand. Where those features have multiple access points and no restriction on access obtaining reliable data on use, especially of unregulated recreation and tourism, is especially difficult to assess. There has been limited research on how to measure and monitor use by such visitors. Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora is a 20,000ha intermittently closed and opened lagoonal lake (ICOLL) with multiple unregulated public access points available within an hour’s drive of Christchurch city, New Zealand. It is a nationally significant waterbody, especially for its bird habitat values, and a taonga (treasure) of the indigenous Maōri and has multiple local, national, Maōri and community bodies with management interests. A lack of knowledge of recreational use has been identified as a management issue for over two decades, but no concerted effort has been made to address this issue due to a lack of a sense of how to robustly measure and monitor such use. The research described in this report assesses a range of methods and their potential to be implemented in the specific context of this lake and provides recommendations as to how best to proceed.