Abstract:
Over the years, recreation opportunities in South Africa have been subject to increasing visitor use and pressure from widespread environmental changes. There has been a growing imbalance between recreation opportunities in more and less developed environments. As a result, conflicts have arisen between different user groups. The "Cedarberg controversy" demonstrates the need for a redefined, comprehensive recreation planning framework to resolve such conflicts. Traditional recreation planning approaches have not provided a suitable framework. By comparison, the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum concept has considerable potential for aiding recreation planners in South Africa. An application of the principles of this concept and closer analysis reveals that this concept is limited. An extension to the concept is proposed whereby the goal of visitor satisfaction is supplemented by a policy declaration to maintain diverse recreation opportunities. Whenever the consequences of a decision affecting the supply of recreation opportunities are irreversible, the maintenance of diversity should take precedence over visitor demand.
