Castle Hill rock climbing: a case study of a recreation versus preservation conflict

Abstract

Castle Hill basin is a unique area of limestone tors in the Broken River catchment of Canterbury. The limestone provides specialised habitats for a number of plants in the area, some of which are endemic to the basin. The area also has important cultural values in both Maori and European History. The remarkable limestone tors and setting of Castle Hill has become a focus for recreationists. One recreational activity, rock climbing, has become particularly popular. Castle Hill provides unique recreation experiences for rock climbers that are not paralleled in other climbing areas of Canterbury. Rock climbing has associated biophysical and social impacts that are likely to escalate in magnitude without appropriate management. As a consequence, the biological and social values of the area may be degraded. These impacts are outlined and discussed in the context of the resource values. This is the recreation versus preservation conflict. The aim of this report is to highlight the important values that are jeopardized by rock climbing and to identify some means to resolve the conflict. An important step towards resolving the conflict is to investigate climbers' needs, and to establish their perceptions of impacts. A survey of 52 rock climbers was conducted at Castle Hill and their views on impacts and climbing at Castle Hill were investigated by means of a verbal questionnaire. Education of the climbing community has potential to encourage climbers to minimise their impact. Measures to provide information to climbers were established, and some possible courses of management action to minimise the resource degradation have been made.