The Noordwaard is a recently realised high water floodplain near Dordrecht. The design plan of the Noordwaard is an answer to the increasing river discharge extremes, combining water safety, agriculture, recreation and nature management. However, in terms of governance a gap has emerged. The Department of Water management and Public Works (RWS) had been the main driver in this redevelopment project, being both landowner and project developer. However, there was no plan for the governance of the area after completion, while institutional settings are required to maintain the floodplain in an integrated way. The area has a high potential for the development of different ecosystem services, thus it has the potential to stimulate economic growth in the area. Which leads us to the following question: to what extent does the layout comply with the recreational wishes of the inhabitants and other stakeholders in the area?
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Human activity is omnipresent in our landscapes. Animals can perceive risk from humans similar to predation risk, which could affect their fitness. We assessed the influence of the relative intensity of recreational activities on the bodyweight and pregnancy rates of red deer (Cervus elaphus) between 1985 and 2015. We hypothesized that stress, as a result of recreational activities, affects the pregnancy rates of red deer directly and indirectly via a reduction in bodyweight. Furthermore, we expected non-motorized recreational activities to have a larger negative effect on both bodyweight and fecundity, compared to motorized recreational activities. The intensity of recreational activities was recorded through visual observations. We obtained pregnancy data from female red deer that were shot during the regular hunting season. Additionally, age and bodyweight were determined through a post-mortem examination. We used two Generalized-Linear-Mixed Models (GLMM) to test the effect of different types of recreation on (1) pregnancy rates and (2) bodyweight of red deer. Recreation had a direct negative correlation with the fecundity of red deer, with bodyweight, as a mediator as expected. Besides, we found a negative effect of non-motorized recreation on fecundity and bodyweight and no significant effect of motorized recreation. Our results support the concept of humans as an important stressor affecting wild animal populations at a population level and plead to regulate recreational activities in protected areas that are sensitive. The fear humans induce in large-bodied herbivores and its consequences for fitness may have strong implications for animal populations.Projectnummer: SVB/RAAK.PRO 02.048
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National forestry Commission (SBB) and National Park De Biesbosch. Subcontractor through NRITNational parks with large flows of visitors have to manage these flows carefully. Methods of data collection and analysis can be of help to support decision making. The case of the Biesbosch National Park is used to find innovative ways to figure flows of yachts, being the most important component of water traffic, and to create a model that allows the estimation of changes in yachting patterns resulting from policy measures. Recent policies oriented at building additional waterways, nature development areas and recreational concentrations in the park to manage the demands of recreation and nature conservation offer a good opportunity to apply this model. With a geographical information system (GIS), data obtained from aerial photographs and satellite images can be analyzed. The method of space syntax is used to determine and visualize characteristics of the network of leisure routes in the park and to evaluate impacts resulting from expected changes in the network that accompany the restructuring of waterways.
The objective of Waterrecreatie Nederland is to improve water recreation in the Netherlands. One of the focus points that the foundation focuses on is strengthening sustainable water recreation. With this study, Waterrecreatie Nederland wants to map the current CO2 emissions of recreational shipping (here: sailing and motor boats), in order to be able to report and communicate about this, and also as a baseline measurement for future monitoring in this area.Societal IssueShipping has a substantial impact on several environmental systems, amongst others through air and water pollution, and its contribution to climate change. The role of recreational shipping in these issues is not well known, as measurements are scarce and often partly based on assumptions. Benifit to societyThis project tries to strengthen the knowledge base on the carbon (CO2) emissions of recreational shipping in the Netherlands, and to provide detail on fuel use, fuel types, distances, etc. That knowledge can help in making more informed choices on the future development of recreational shipping, with a lower impact on climate change.
Het ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat (IenW), directie Duurzame Mobiliteit, heeft aan Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) verzocht om een onderzoek uit te voeren naar de CO2 voetafdruk – de zgn. carbon footprint - van de recreatieve mobiliteit in Nederland in 2023. Dit op basis van het nieuwe Nederlands Vrije-tijdsonderzoek (NVTO), wat een completer beeld over recreatieve bestemmingen moet geven dan eerder onderzoek op basis van de ‘Onderweg in Nederland’ (OdiN) dataset (Martensen et al., 2023). Het onderzoek moet de directie Duurzame Mobiliteit van IenW helpen bij de verduurzaming van recreatieve mobiliteit, als onderdeel van het behalen van klimaatdoelstellingen. Het uiteindelijk doel is om in beeld te brengen wat de carbon footprint van aan recreatie gerelateerde mobiliteit in Nederland is.De hoofdvraag luidt:“Hoe ziet de CO2-uitstoot van recreatieve reizen door de inwoners van Nederland eruit, voor verschillende recreatieve bestemmingen en reizigers(doel)groepen?”Societal IssueHet reduceren van CO2 uitstoot door personenmobiliteit is een van de werkzaamheden van de directie Duurzame Mobiliteit van IenW om aan de klimaatdoelstellingen te werken. Recreatieve mobiliteit – verplaatsingen van en naar een recreatieve bestemming door bezoekers van die recreatieve bestemming – is hier een onderdeel van. Een eerste stap in het krijgen van meer inzicht in de uitstoot van recreatieve mobiliteit vormde het rapport ‘CO2 uitstoot bij recreatieve verplaatsingen’ door het KiM (Martensen et al., 2023), op basis van de dataset ‘Onderweg in Nederland’ (OdiN). IenW wil op basis van de dataset van het NVTO extra inzicht verkrijgen in recreatief reizigersgedrag en bijbehorende uitstoot, om hiermee beleid beter te kunnen ontwikkelen en af te stemmen. IenW wil inzicht op welke manier Nederlanders, en verschillende groepen daarbinnen, naar recreatieve bestemmingen reizen en hoeveel CO2-uitstoot hiermee gepaard gaat. Benefit to societyCarbon footprint rapportages bieden bedrijven, organisaties en overheden de mogelijkheid om de consequenties van klimaatbeleid in te kunnen schatten, strategische beslissingen te nemen, en bijvoorbeeld producten en communicatie aan te passen.