THE COAST AS A RECREATIONAL RESOURCE : AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND MANAGEMENT APPRAISAL OF COASTAL PARKS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The coastal parks of Singapore play an important role in satisfying the recreational needs of the population. The recreational use of the coastal parks has however resulted in the adverse impacts of conflicts between recreational activities and adverse environmental impacts. These adverse impacts and their management are examined by the study together with the users' perception and awareness of them. The adverse environmental impacts and conflicts between activities are related to the utilisation patterns of the coastal parks. The potential for and the severity of these impacts are greater in more intensively used areas. Thus, these impacts are concentrated in certain areas of the coastal parks. The situation is further worsened during periods of high use. These adverse impacts if unabated can impair the quality of the recreational environment and result in environmental degradation and detractions in the users' level of recreational satisfaction. These in turns detract from the important role played by the coastal parks and threaten their sustenance. Proper and effective management is thus necessary to reduce or prevent these impacts. The management strategies employed against these impacts can be classified under three categories: resources management, control of activities and user management. These strategies have been met with limited success due to their ineffectiveness and the lack of co-operation from the users. Most of the users do not perceive these adverse impacts to arise from the recreational use of the coastal parks. Many do not even know which government agencies manage which sector of the coastal parks. There is thus an urgent need to implement more effective management strategies to reduce or prevent these adverse impacts of recreational use. More imp01tantly is the need to raise the users' awareness of their recreational impacts and to modify their recreational behaviour from a depreciative nature to a more appreciative one through more effective user management measures, especially education. It is only when effective strategies, allied with the co-operation of the users can the coastal parks be properly utilised and managed to effect their continuance and sustenance