The outdoor Pursuits Centre of New Zealand: its role and effectiveness in generating a change in students' image of the outdoors and conservation

Abstract

It is believed that many outdoor pursuits have potentially damaging influences on the environment. With increasing numbers of people taking part in outdoor pursuits, it is considered necessary to integrate the various elements of conservation education with the practical skills individuals need to make the best use of the environment, in both the short and long term. It is recognized by, for example Jackson 1987, that different forms of outdoor recreation demand different amounts and qualities of resources. Furthermore, outdoor pursuits differ in the levels and types of environmental impacts they cause, as well as varying in the extent to which they conflict with the enjoyment of the same resources by other receationists. The Outdoor Pursuits Centre of New Zealand (O.P.C.) aims to communicate certain ideas, skills and values relating to the outdoor environment to its course members, including: * a heightened appreciation of the outdoors; * an understanding of preserving and conserving environmental resources. The aim of the research, using an adapted form of work done on consumer image, is to assess the O.P.C.'s effectiveness in transmitting these two aims to the course members on the School General Activities Course with respect to both the short and the long term. Four School General Activities Courses were attended during the months of April, May and June 1989, to observe first -hand how an appreciation of the outdoors and an understanding of conservation is conveyed. At the same time questionnaires were given to course members before and after the course, to identify any short term changes. The long term effect of the Schools General Activities Course was measured by means of a questionnaire given to the pupils from the same school, who attended the course in 1988. The questionnaires were used to identify the images held by the course members with respect to "the outdoors" and "conservation". Image research has shown that the image of a particular concept held by individuals, will determine their subsequent behaviour (James, Durrand & Dreves 1976; Martineau 1958; Wyckham 1967) and, therefore, in this case will affect individual attitudes towards "the outdoors" and "conservation". The results showed that the Outdoor Pursuits Centre of New Zealand fulfils its aims of communicating an appreciation of the outdoors and conveying an understanding of conservation.