Print/share |

Recreational and tourism value of healthy rivers, Extension B

The social, economic and cultural outcomes theme focused on better understanding the values of water for Basin communities.
MD-WERP
Science and research
Social and economic

 

MD-WERP theme Social, economic and cultural outcomes
MD-WERP research question What is the relationship between the condition of the riverine ecosystem and social, economic and cultural values? 
Project title The recreational and tourism value of healthy rivers 
Research lead Griffith University
Authors James Smart, Jeremy Harte, Margaret Cook, Alexandre Teixeira and Syezlin Hasan  
Date of publication February 2025 
Report full title Recreational and tourism value of healthy rivers, Extension B 
Keywords Recreation; tourism; Murray–Darling Basin; healthy rivers; eBird; Flickr; Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); inundation; visitation rates; count data regression; spatio-temporal variables; citizen science; environmental condition 
Summary of output
  • This MD-WERP project (‘eBird’) combined 3 different research approaches to address the following research questions:  
    • Can a quantified link be established between the ecological condition of birdwatching hotspots across the Murray–Darling Basin and birdwatcher visitation rates to those sites?  
    • If so, when paired with data on per-visit birdwatching-related expenditures, can the additional birdwatching-related economic activity that would follow from improving the ecological condition of birdwatching hotspot sites be estimated?
  • Three complementary research approaches were used to answer these questions, as follows:
    • Quantitative regression analysis of factors affecting monthly birdwatcher visitation to ten lake and wetland birdwatching hotspots across the Basin over 72 months from April 2013 to March 2019.  
    • An online survey of birdwatchers who are members of Birdlife Australia’s local birdwatching groups.
    • One-on-one interviews with individual birdwatchers which sought insights regarding factors that contribute to the enjoyment of birdwatching.

See also:
Key findings / recommendations
  • Findings from these three approaches in combination allowed the increase in birder visitation that would follow from a given increase in wet surface area at a hotspot site to be quantified (using linkages from regression results) and the consequent increase in birdwatching-related expenditures in the vicinity of the site to be estimated (using trip expenditure information and an ‘all birdwatchers’  extrapolation factor derived from the survey).  
  • Birdwatcher interviews provided qualitative support for the linkages identified in the regression analyses.  
  • Findings from the three research approaches provide convincing evidence that increased water area at wetland birdwatching hotspots across the Basin acts to increase birdwatcher visitation, which in turn increases economic expenditure in local economies. 
Target audience Australian Government, state governments, local governments, communities, conservation advocacy groups, water and environmental consultants, tourism industry, economists
Report
Publication title Published File type File size
In development

Published date: 19 May 2025