Frank DR Final Paper

Urban Development and its Effects on the Environmental Values of Residents of the Wet Tropics

Frank J. Sicignano

Siena College

Loudonville, New York

United States

The School for Field Studies

Centre for Rainforest Studies,

Yungaburra, Queensland

Australia

Wet Semester 2015

Research Advisor: Dr. Justus Kithiia

Research Assistant: Carina Easley-Appleyard

K e y W o r d s : W o r l d H e r i t a g e A r e a , W e t T r o p i c s , U r b a n D e v e l o p m e n t , C o n n e c t i o n w i t h N a t u r e , P r o t e c t e d N a t u r a l

A r e a s

08 Fall

!

2015 URBAN DEVELOPMENT

2 Sicignano

Table of Contents

Title.....................................................................................................................................1

Keywords.............................................................................................................................1

List of Figures and Appendices...........................................................................................3

List of Abbreviations...........................................................................................................3

Declaration...........................................................................................................................3

Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................4

Abstract................................................................................................................................4

Introduction..........................................................................................................................5

Methodology........................................................................................................................7

Study Design................................................................................................................7

Participants...................................................................................................................9

Analytical Techniques...............................................................................................10

Ethical Considerations...............................................................................................10

Results................................................................................................................................10

Discussion..........................................................................................................................15

Lack of Infrastructure...............................................................................................16

Connection with Nature............................................................................................18

Conclusion.........................................................................................................................20

Limitations................................................................................................................20

Future Applications..................................................................................................21

Appendix............................................................................................................................22

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 2015

Sicignano 3

References..........................................................................................................................26

Figures and Appendices

Figure 1: Interview Sites......................................................................................................9

Figure 2: Values Associated with Protected Natural Areas in Wet Tropics......................11

Figure 3: Importance of Having a Sense of Connection with Nature................................12

Figure 4: Frequencies of Visits to Natural Protected Areas..............................................13

Figure 5: Positive Values Associated with Natural Protected areas between towns.........14

Figure 6: Importance of having a sense of connection with nature plotted with distance.14

Figure 7: Frequency of Visits to Natural Protected Areas plotted with average distance.15

Appendix A: Survey Regarding Peoples Values of the Rainforest...................................22

Appendix B: Personal Consent Forms...............................................................................24

Appendix C: Towns Average Distance from Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.............25

Appendix D: Population of Towns Visited........................................................................25

Abbreviations:

WTWHA: Wet Tropics World Heritage Area

WTMA: Wet Tropics Management Authority

FNQ: Far North Queensland

Declaration

The research embodied in this report is my own work. Where the ideas of other people

have been used, the sources have been duly acknowledged. No portion of the research

reported has been submitted for assessment/grading at the School for Field Studies or my

home institution, Siena College.

X


4 Sicignano

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr. Justus Kithiia for his help with planning and setting up

the interviews for this project. I would also like to thank our Socio-Econ Intern Carina

Easley-Appleyard for ensuring that we had proper accommodation in all of the towns as

well as her help with many other aspects of this project. A special thanks to my fellow

researchers: Alex Cohen, Olivia Coleman, Leena Glinski and Ryan O’Keefe for their

help in creating the survey, and making note of any interesting comments that might help

with this project. Finally, a special thanks to all of the participants of the surveys and

interviews for their time and cooperation.

Abstract

The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA), located in Far North

Queensland is a unique area where large centers of biodiversity and urban settlements

meet. It has been previously thought that people in urban areas did not have as great a

sense of connection with nature as those people living closer to protected wilderness

areas. However with the presence of both urban centers and protected natural areas in a

small geographic area residents of the region should feel more connected with nature

since they have greater access to these protected areas. Information regarding people’s

values of the rainforest was collected using a cross-sectional survey to interview over 350

residents from various towns and municipalities in the region. The study found that

residents who lived closer to these natural protected areas did not value them as much as


Sicignano 5

residents who lived further away from the WTWHA and closer to Urban Centers.

Residents who lived closer to the WHA visited these protected areas more and had a

greater sense of connection with nature. By determining the impact urban development

has on people’s environmental values and their sense of connection with nature, we can

find new ways to reduce the gap between people and nature. By getting people more

involved and educated we can hope to solve many of the environmental issues we face

today.

Introduction

Urbanization is the process of people moving from rural to urban areas, and the

change in lifestyle that results from leaving the rural countryside (Brunn, Hays-Mitchell,

& Zeigler, 2008). An area and a population do not become urban until its workforce and

economy are no longer strictly tied to agricultural practices (Brunn, Hays-Mitchell, &

Zeigler, 2008). As area and population become increasingly more urban the values people

place on various aspects of life also begin to change. In many large urban centers people

often fell a disconnect with nature or feel that having a sense of connection with nature is

not that important since many view the urban environment and the natural environment

as two completely separate entities (Benton-Short & Short, 2008). But is this case true in

areas where the urban environment and natural areas are within close proximity to each

other?

In Australia more than 90 percent of the population lives along the coast in large

urbanized areas (Benton-Short & Short, 2008). The reason for this is due to the

geographic landscape of the continent. Most of the inner continent is composed of large


6 Sicignano

deserts where both people and animals struggle to survive. As a result most of Australia’s

population and wildlife can be found within the coastal areas of the continent (Burnley,

1980). With such high, levels of biodiversity and population density concentrated around

the coast people might begin to feel more attached to their surrounding landscapes. Ones

proximity to nature might also increase how much one feels that they have a sense of

place within nature. If people are within close proximity to natural protected areas then it

would make sense that they would value those areas more because they would have

greater access to these areas (Kahn, 2007).

In Far North Queensland the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA)

protects the Rainforests of the wet tropics, one of the largest biodiversity centers in all of

Australia (Wet Tropics Management Authority, 2012). The area is also home to many

touristy cities such as Cairns, Port Douglas as well as many residential areas such as the

Atherton Tablelands. Therefore, this setting includes various levels of urban development

from large cities to very remote backwater villages such as Cape Tribulation, and the

Daintree, all of which are surrounded by large tracts of protected natural areas. Many

people see these protected areas as both a blessing and a curse. Some feel that these

protected areas will draw in more tourists to the region and help bolster the economy.

Others feel that these areas are more detrimental to the environment as well as limit the

amount of development allowed in the region, which only hurts both local residents and

the economy as a whole (Baur, Tynon, Ries, & Rosenberger, 2014).

Many environmentalists feel that the key to solving the world’s environmental

problems is to eliminate the disconnect between people and nature (Davison, 2008). As

the world’s population becomes increasingly urban, and as a result becoming even more


Sicignano 7

disconnected with nature, we must begin to find new ways to reduce this gap (Benton-

Short & Short, 2008). However we must first determine the effects that urban

development has on people’s environmental values. The aim of this study is to examine

residents’ proximity to protected natural areas and urban centers in relation to their

environmental values and sense of place. It was predicted that as residents’ proximity to

the WTWHA increases and distance to urban centers decreases, their connection to

nature decreases. By determining the present effects that urban development has on how

people connect with nature we can begin to develop new ways to mitigate this gap and

influence greater action for environmental issues.

Methodology

Study Design

This study focused on the effects that increased urbanization levels might have on

people’s sense of place within nature and their connection to nature within the Wet

Tropics region. In order to gain a better understanding of peoples overall perceptions of

the rainforest and the values that they attribute to it a short cross sectional survey was

used for in-person interviews. This survey asked people to rate the importance of various

ecological, economic and social factors within the Wet Tropics. The survey was

composed of several closed and open-ended questions, in order to acquire both

quantitative and qualitative responses, which will be used to generalize the general

populations value of the rainforest (Appendix A). This survey also measured the public’s

opinions on various uses of the rainforest and how those uses affect various aspects of

life within the region. Finally the survey measured peoples experience and knowledge


8 Sicignano

with environmental and conservation issues. The survey allowed us to collect information

on the same characteristics or variables about each respondent or case and then compare

the respondents based on their answers to certain questions. We can then generalize the

results to gain a general overview of these variables for entire populations (Miller &

Brewer, 2003).

We chose to conduct personal interviews with residents of several towns within

the WTWHA for multiple reasons. First personal interviews have the effect of physically

increasing overall rate of participation and reduce the number of individual questions that

are left unanswered. The presence of interviewer can also allow for the inclusion of more

complex questions to be included in the questionnaire design (Miller & Brewer, 2003).

Personal Interviews allow for greater flexibility in questioning process and also gives the

interviewer greater control over the respondent. This ensures that the respondent will

answer questions in the appropriate sequence. Finally by using personal interviews to

conduct the survey we can collect supplementary information about the respondent either

through additional comments they make throughout the interview or through spontaneous

reactions that the respondent might have when asked a particular question. These

spontaneous reactions can also prove to be useful in the data analysis state (Frankfort-

Nachmias & Nachmias, 2007).

The data was then collected and compiled and broken down to become stratified

purposeful data. Stratified purposeful data breaks up the study population into strata that

have some theoretical importance to the study objectives. These strata are typically based

on illustrative characteristics of particular subgroups of interest. This stratified data is


Sicignano 9

often used to facilitate comparisons between the different subgroups and to find any

significant trends between the subgroups (Guest, Mitchell, & Namey, 2013).

Participants

The participants of this study were composed of 376 residents from ten towns

across the Wet Tropics region. Interview sites included Atherton, Cape Tribulation,

Daintree Village, Innisfail, Kuranda, Malanda, Mission Beach, Mossman, Port Douglas

and Yungaburra (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Interview Sites

Analytical Techniques

The collected data was then compiled into spreadsheets using Microsoft Excel.

Several graphs were produced to show how the residents of different towns value

different aspects of the rainforest. These values were then studied to see how they change

as distance to the WTWHA increase. In order to determine the distances to the WTWHA


10 Sicignano

maps of the interviews were created using Google Earth software. In order to measure

proximity 4 transects out from each town point on the map. Each transect will follow the

four cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west) and extended to the closest

boundary. The four measurements from each town were then averaged out to determine

the average distance to the WTWHA.

Ethical Considerations

All surveys were conducted under the strictest confidentiality. No names or

personal information besides the basic demographic questions of age, occupation and,

town where they hold residency were attached or recorded to any of the surveys. All

participants in this study were informed about the purpose of this survey prior to their

participation and personal consent forms were made available to those who wanted them

(Appendix B).

Results

Out of a sample size of 376 respondents 88.83 percent of people responded that

they greatly valued natural protected areas while the remaining 11.17 percent either

didn’t value these natural protected areas or had no strong feelings on the subject. Most

of the respondents who greatly valued natural protected areas came from the towns of

Port Douglas, Mission Beach, and Kuranda (Figure 2).


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Figure 2 Values associated with natural protected areas in the Wet Tropics

Out of a sample size of 261 respondents 80.74 percent of people surveyed felt that

it was important to have a sense of connection with nature while 17.04 percent of people

felt that having a sense of connection with nature was not that important or were neutral

on the issue. The towns of Yungaburra, Malanda, and Cape Tribulation were the three

towns that felt that it was very important to have a sense of connection with nature

(Figure 3).

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

Percent of People Interviewed

Survey Locations

Not Important

Neutral

Important


12 Sicignano

Figure 3 Importance of having a sense of connection with nature

When determining the frequency of visitation to protected natural areas we found

that the residents of Yungaburra, Atherton, and Cape Tribulation visited these sites the

most (Figure 4). The towns that had the highest percentage of residents who either rarely

visited natural protected areas or didn’t visit these areas at all were the towns of Innisfail

and Mossman.

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%


Survey Locations

Not Important

Neutral

Important


Sicignano 13

Figure 4 Frequencies of Visits to Protected Natural Areas

Finally several trends emerged when analyzing the town’s proximity to the

WTWHA in comparison to resident’s values of these protected natural areas. It was

found that as distance from the WTWHA increased the more resident’s valued natural

protected areas (Figure 5). There was a negative correlation between both the frequency

of visits to natural protected areas (Figure 7) and how important having a sense of

connection with nature was to residents (Figure 6) when compared to each town’s

distance to the WTWHA.

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%


Survey Locations

Never

Rarely

Frequently


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Figure 5 Positive values associated with natural Protected areas between towns

Figure 6 Importance of having a sense of connection with nature compared to average distance to WTWHA

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00

Percent of Residents Surveyed

Average Distance from WHA (km)

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00




Sicignano 15

Figure 7 Frequency of visits to natural protected areas compared to the average distance to WTWHA

Discussion

These results have partially proved our original hypothesis that those residents

who lived within a closer proximity to the rain forest would feel that it was more

important to have a sense of connection with nature and would also visit protected natural

areas more frequently. One surprising result was the respondent’s answers about the

importance of protected natural areas to their proximity to the WTWHA. Residents who

lived closer to the world heritage area did not value protected natural areas as much as

those who lived further away from the WTWHA. Plus out of all the towns surveyed the

three with the highest percentage of residents who greatly valued protected natural areas

were Port Douglas, Mission Beach and Kuranda. The WTWHA brings in over 750

million dollars annually for the Australian tourism industry (Wet Tropics Management

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00



Rarely

Frequently

Linear (Rarely)

Linear (Frequently)


16 Sicignano

Authority, 2000) and provides hundreds if not thousands of residents with employment

either directly through the management of the WTWHA or indirectly through tour

outfitters that bring visitors into the rainforests and other industries that cater to visitors

of the region. It would then make sense that these three towns would value natural

protected areas because after the city of Cairns these three towns are the biggest tourist

centers for the region and rely heavily on the tourism industry to sustain their

economies1. This trend would correspond with other areas that have experienced a trend

known as “tourism urbanization” which is a scenario of tourism based urban growth

where urban development is primarily based on tourist consumption of goods and

services for pleasure, and urban form is shaped by the city’s function as a leisure space

(Brunn, Hays-Mitchell, & Zeigler, 2008). Examples of areas that have gone through this

experience include the Gold Coast, and Cairns in Australia’s Queensland Coast and the

city of Honolulu in the state of Hawaii (Brunn, Hays-Mitchell, & Zeigler, 2008).

Lack of Infrastructure

Residents who lived closer to the world heritage area did not value protected

natural areas as much as those who lived further away from the WTWHA (Figure 5). One

of the most mentioned comments in the surveys that can help explain this trend was that

there was a lack of infrastructure present because of all the restrictions put into place by

the World Heritage Area. There are very few amenities between the Daintree River and

Cooktown and once the World Heritage Area was established the state and federal

governments stopped issuing new permits to develop future businesses within the region2.

1 Personal Communication with Resident of Mission Beach 2 Personal Communication with Crocodylus Staff.


Sicignano 17

One resident stated, “ There is not enough human resources for tourists. The

Infrastructure in place is severely lacking or downgraded because we are in WTWHA.

Makes it very hard to maintain sustainable income when working locally.”3 There aren’t

that many amenities for tourists either. Compared to other National parks in Australia the

numbers of facilities within the Daintree National Park are severely lacking. Within the

Daintree there are only 4 to 5 boardwalk walking tracks that allow visitors greater access

into the rainforest4. Also besides the Daintree Discovery Centre there are no other

educational amenities that teach visitors more about the environment in which they are.

Finally, there is only one road that provides access between the Daintree River and

Cooktown. If there were any disruption of any kind to the road then the residents of the

region would be effectively cut off from any amenities (e.g. health care, supermarkets,

etc.) that they might be only able to find in larger towns such as Mossman or Port

Douglas.

This lack of infrastructure present in an area due to protection status for the land

has also been seen in the United States. In the Blue Mountains when Shenandoah

National Park was established in 1935 (National Park Service, 2015) many of the

residents were evicted from their homes due to the government claiming eminent domain

over the land. Those who were able to remain faced increased accessing amenities in

neighboring towns since limits were placed on the number and sizes of roads to be built

within the park (Lindsay, 2002). No new private business ventures could be established

within the parks new defined boundaries, which meant residents who lived within the

park or within very close proximity to the park had to travel further distances just to have

3 Personal Communication with Resident of Daintree 4 Personal Communication with Resident of Cape Tribulation


18 Sicignano

access to the most basic of amenities5. Due to all the hardships they now had to endure

just to maintain their previous quality of life residents of the Shenandoah Valley began to

view the new National Park not as a source of revenue, but instead as a source of

hardship. Therefore they did not value this protected natural area as much as those

residents whose lives weren’t as adversely affected by the establishment of the park6. The

residents of Cape Tribulation, and the Daintree are going through a similar experience

having to deal with increased hardships because of the increased restrictions put in place

by the Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA). Those who could not adapt often

left the region towards larger urban areas and began to lose their connection with nature.

Connection with Nature

Another trend, which emerged was that as towns got further away from the World

Heritage Area and closer to larger urban centers it became less important to residents to

have a sense of connection with nature (Figure 6). The frequency in visits to natural

protected areas also decreased, as we got further away from the WHA and closer to urban

centers. However when we look at Figure 7 to see how often residents visited natural

areas, a possible explanation for why residents don’t have a sense of connection with

nature becomes quite clear. As distance from protected natural areas increased the

number of residents who visited these areas frequently (more than once a month)

decreased (Figure 7). This means that residents of towns further away from the WTWHA

aren’t getting as many opportunities to access these areas as those residents who live

closer to the WTWHA. By not being able to visit these areas as often as other residents it

means that residents of more urban areas aren’t developing as deep of a connection with

5 Informational Literature from Shenandoah National Park 6 Informational Display from Shenandoah National Park


Sicignano 19

nature as those residents who live closer to these wilderness areas. This could cause

issues for passing future environmental legislation. Many environmentalists have shared

the claim that human detachment from and domination over nature—in the form of

scientific hubris or technological alienation or consumerist greed or anthropocentric

arrogance or sheer weight of numbers—is the prime cause of contemporary

environmental problems (Davison, 2008). Unless people feel a sense of attachment with

the land then it will be more unlikely to convince them the importance of solving the

environmental problems we are facing today. With most of the worlds population now

living within urban areas the disconnect with nature is only growing larger (Brunn, Hays-

Mitchell, & Zeigler, 2008).

In the early twentieth century, Australians strove to create a rural civilization

through state legislation to encourage rural closer settlement. The fantasy that Australia

might one day support a rural population of perhaps hundreds of millions endured despite

the overwhelmingly urbanized character of the nation and the harsh realities of its

environment (Murphy, 2009). In order to help residents of larger urban centers feel more

in touch with the natural environment numerous programs have been set up to help bring

aspects of rural life into the urban environment (Talen, 1999) (Frankfort-Nachmias &

Nachmias, 2007). However the original garden city idea was also less appealing in

Australian conditions due to the palpable presence of ‘empty’ rural space to be filled on

the continent. In contrast to England, back-to-the-land sentiment in Australia was based

largely in an exhilarating sense of the seemingly limitless space available for expansion.

The presence of these vast unpeopled tracts of land was also a source of considerable

unease connected with the racial project of White Australia and the threat of invasion


20 Sicignano

(Murphy, 2009). To many Australians the single most dominant understanding of nature

is the concept of “natural space”. However, most of the influence of the collateral concept

of natural space took the form of references to either ‘wilderness’ or ‘the bush’ (Davison,

2008).

Conclusion

We found that residents of towns that were within close proximity to the Wet

Tropics World Heritage Area did not value protected natural areas as much as residents

of towns that were further away from the WTWHA, but they felt that having a sense of

connection with nature was very important. The main complaints from residents of these

towns included lack of infrastructure and accessibility into the rainforests for tourists as

well as amenities. With most of the world’s population now living in urban areas it is

important now more than ever that we find ways to bring these natural experiences to the

residents of these urban areas whether it be through increased environmental education

programs or community events in natural areas. By doing so we can increase the

appreciation of these natural areas that residents of urban areas will have. This in turn

will increase the amount of environmental education that these people would have

received and therefore make it easier in the future to promote conservation either through

legislation or direct action.

Limitations

When compiling all of the previous years data some of the previous surveys used

1 to 5 scales for quantitatively measuring people’s values of the rainforest. In order to get

those responses to correspond with the data we were collecting using our current survey

as well as other responses from previous surveys we needed to convert those responses


Sicignano 21

into a 1 to three scale. Finally there was a discrepancy in terms of recording qualitative

responses. Since we had 5 different people preforming these surveys and with each

person having different interviewing styles some of the qualitative responses were

lacking in the depth of knowledge that could have been used.

Future Applications

This study was only focused on the Wet Tropics region of Far North Queensland

(FNQ) therefore; this study can be expanded in the future to look at how these values

change across the entire nation. It would be interesting to see how people’s values for

natural protected areas changes as you get closer to even larger urban centers such as

Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. These results could be compared with other studies

performed internationally to see how residents of urban areas in other countries value

protected areas and how well they have a sense of connection with nature. The definition

of an urban area changes from nation to nation so areas, which may be considered urban

in some countries, would actually be considered rural in others (Brunn, Hays-Mitchell, &

Zeigler, 2008). With these differing dynamics it would be interesting to see how these

values change especially in more urbanized countries.

In closing people do yearn for a better connection with nature; however it is

becoming harder to maintain that connection once we move into more urbanized areas. In

order to further conservation efforts in the future we have to find a way to further educate

people and find ways to bring even more rural country experiences into larger urban

centers.


22 Sicignano

Appendix A: Survey Regarding Peoples Values of the Rainforest

DR#Wet#2015##Questionnaire##

Date: Name & Survey #:

Town:

G’day,###(introduce#yourselves<names).#We#are#students#at#the#School#for#Field#Studies#in#Yungaburra.#We#are#conducting#a#survey#to#evaluate#people’s#opinions#on#the#rainforest#If#you#are#resident#of#___________,#we’d#like#to#ask#you#a#few#questions?#It#will#only#take#about#5#minutes,#and#your#individual#responses#will#not#be#identified.#

#

1. Sex&&

Female# # Male## # Other#

3. How&long&have&you&been&a&resident?#

<5#######5<10########11<25#########26<40######41<55#######>55#

4. Occupation:&##

##5. Highest&Level&of&Education&& & &

Primary#######Secondary#######College#####University######PG&

2. Age&

18#to#30#

31#to#40#

41#to#50#

51#to#60#

60#and#up#

No#Response#

#&

1E3&scale.&1&=&not&important,&2&=&neutral,&3&=&important&

6.&How&important&are&outdoor&activities&to&you?#(Eg:#Boating,#Fishing,#Hiking)&

1# 2# 3# #

7.&How&important&is&living&in&close&proximity&to&a&rainforest?&

1# 2# 3#

8.&How&important&is&it&to&you&to&have&clean&water,&air,&and&healthy&soils?&&

1# 2# 3# #

9.&How&important&is&it&to&you&to&have&native&wildlife?&&

1# 2# 3# #

10.&How&important&is&it&to&you&to&have&protected&natural&areas?&(National#Parks,#Great#Barrier#Reef,#World#Heritage#Sites)&

1# 2# 3# #

11.&How&often&do&you&visit&protected&natural&areas?&

Never########## # # ###rarely########### # # #frequently#(more#than#once#a#month)&

&


Sicignano 23

DR#Wet#2015##Questionnaire##

12.$How$important$is$conservation$education$to$you?$(in#schools#and#the#community)$

1# 2# 3# #

13.$How$important$is$having$a$sense$of$connection$to$nature?$

1# 2# 3# #

14.$How$well$do$the$current$government$policies$address$environmental$conservation?$

#

15.$Do$these$activities$in$and$around$the$rainforest$positively$or$negatively$contribute$to$the$following?$Respond$with$yes,$no,$or$neutral.$(Insert$(+)$if$the$activity$positively$contributes,$(F)$if$it$negatively$contributes,$and$(N)$if$no$effect).$$

contributes$to$the$quality$of$_______?$

# life#within#the#community# the#environment# #the#economy# cultural#values##Eco@tourism# # # # #

Farming# # # # #Logging# # # # #

Medicinal#Plants## # # # #Cultural#sites# # # # #

##

16.$Are$there$any$other$activities$in$and$around$the$rainforest$that$you$think$are$important?# # #

#

#

17.$What$do$you$think$of$the$current$level$of$environmental$action$in$the$Wet$Tropics?$

insufficient## # # # neutral# # # # sufficient#

#

18.$Are$you$involved$with$any$local$conservation/restoration$efforts;$what$are$they?$

#

#

19.$How$willing$are$you$to$pay$money$to$further$protect$and$restore$the$Wet$Tropics$(e.g.$higher$taxes$or$donations)?$$

$

20.$What$do$you$think$the$most$pressing$environmental$issue(s)$in$the$Wet$Tropics$is/are?$

$

$

21.$Any$other$comments?$


24 Sicignano

Appendix B: Personal Consent Forms

If#you#have#concerns#about#any#ethical#aspects#of#your#participation#please#contact#,#Dr.#Justus#Kithiia#,email##[email protected]#or##Centre#Director,#SFSB#Centre#for#Rainforest#Studies,#tel.#4095#3656,#email#[email protected].## #!

!

!

!

SCHOOL!FOR!FIELD!STUDIES!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!CENTRE!FOR!RAINFOREST!STUDIES!

CONSENT!FORM!

I!(print!name)……………………………………………………………..give!consent!to!my!participation!in!the!research!project!mentioned!below:!

Research!Title:!Human&values&associated&with&the&Wet&Tropics&in&Far&north&Queensland&

!

Research!Student:………………………………………………………………………!!!!

!

Supervisor:…………………………………………………………………………………!

In!giving!my!consent,!I!acknowledge!that:!

• The!purpose!of!the!study!and!time!involved!has!been!explained!to!me!and!any!questions!I!have!about!the!study!have!been!answered!to!my!satisfaction.!!

• I!understand!that!my!involvement!is!strictly!confidential!and!that!no!information!about!me!will!be!used!in!any!way!that!reveals!my!identity.!!Signed:………………………………………………………………………………..!!Name:!………………………………………………………………………………..!!Date:……………………………………………………………………………………!


Sicignano 25

Appendix C: Towns Average Distance to Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (Km)

Town Average Distance to World Heritage Area (km) Cape

Tribulation 1.30

Kuranda 1.90 Daintree 1.98 Mission Beach

4.42

Yungaburra 4.99 Mossman 6.03 Malanda 9.22

Port Douglas

9.46

Atherton 10.89 Appendix D: Population of Towns Visited

Town Population Atherton 7,287

Cape Tribulation

330

Daintree 146 Innisfail 7,176 Kuranda 2,966 Malanda 2,052 Mission Beach

765

Mossman 1,732 Port

Douglas 3,205

Yungaburra 1,116


26 Sicignano

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Sicignano 27

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