Interpretation in the national parks of New Zealand: the evolution and development of a management practice : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in the Lincoln University

Abstract

This thesis describes the evolution and development of interpretation in the national parks of New Zealand. It illustrates the meanings and roles ascribed to interpretation by national park and environmental agency managers.

Naturalistic research methods were used to collect data. These included a series of 38 indepth interviews with former national park managers, and Department of Conservation staff. Archive searches and a literature review served to enrich these data. Cross referencing through interviews and archive documentation acted as verification of events.

Blumer's symbolic interactionism, founded on the premise that individuals act towards objects with respect to the meanings they ascribe to objects, forms the basis of analysis. Symbolic interactionism suggests that meanings are a social construction, and that the individual is important in creating these meanings. Accepting that meanings are created from social interaction, it is then important to establish a context in which such interaction occurs. This context has been described by defining the physical, social, and institutional settings in which managers make decisions.

Results indicate that interpretation has developed concomitant with park growth. It is seen to have developed as reactive to 'use' pressures on parks. Latterly interpretation has been applied in a pro-active way to gain support for park administration and conservation per se.

Initial policies placed the responsibility of interpretation onto the field staff. Interpretation development was, therefore, park specific and ad hoc, dependent upon the enthusiasm of the chief ranger and the resources at his disposal.

Interpretation was first provided as a service to enhance the park experience and aid visitor enjoyment. This visitor service remains the foundation for the provision of interpretation today. Interpretation also has applications as a management tool and a public relations medium. These roles are seen to assume a different emphasis which is dependent upon the place and responsibility of the individual in the management hierarchy.

As attitudes towards park and the environment changed, so did the messages presented by interpreters. Interpretation moved from being focused on the parks natural and cultural history, to presentation of global environmental issues, and a broader social focus on cultural history. As this progression occurred, interpretation came to be practiced outside national parks in aligned reserves, State forest parks, and urban communities.

The development of interpretation can be linked with availability of finances. Periods of significant growth or development of projects can be identified as correlating with periods of readily available funding. In this way, a number of major interpretive developments can be described as 'opportunistic'.

On the 1 April 1987 the Department of Conservation was formed as the sole New Zealand environmental management agency; its mandate, conservation advocacy. The department inherited a comprehensive interpretation infrastructure. The challenge to the department, therefore, is to continue to finance, maintain, and develop interpretive projects, and ensure that interpretation occurs in a sensitive and meaningful way; in order to fulfil its obligation to provide present and future generations of New Zealanders with the benefits and inspirations to be gained from the natural and cultural resources of New Zealand.