A SHORT HISTORY OF PROTECTED AREAS
AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
The balancing of the tension between the resource and the user during the late nineteenth century and into the late 1960s was largely achieved by focusing research, planning and management efforts on the resource base in determining infrastructure and facilities in the park. Social and economic factors were not an integral component of park planning and management and little was known about the dimensions and nature of human use. In this respect, management did not have an understanding of the interdependent relationship between social and biophysical systems. There was no overall approach to the selection and management of visitor opportunities, and the effectiveness of services could not be measured with incorrect decisions often being made about the size and location of facilities with little public involvement in the development of park plans and often confusing information was given to the visitors (Graham, 1990; 276).
As we have seen so far in this book increasing recreational and tourism use of protected areas is generally accompanied by negative environmental and social impacts. These impacts have to be managed to conserve ecological and recreational values, numerous planning and management frameworks have been developed to assist managers in preventing, combating or minimizing the effects of recreation use on natural environments.