Abstract ID: 3.10262 | Not reviewed | Requested as: Talk | TBA | TBA

Outdoor recreation is reported to have many effects for people, both at individual level, providing health benefits, and at community level, providing economic opportunities for people living in remote areas, such as the mountains. Nonetheless, large crowds and high number of recreationists often cause ecological damages to natural sites they visit, while also reducing benefits of the outdoor recreation for some categories of recreationists, like those seeking solitude. In order to improve the management of overcrowded sites, exploring the acceptance of recreationists to different management options is a first step to be taken. In the current study we surveyed a sample of Italian mountain recreationists on their opinions and acceptance for various restriction measures to specific sites for environmental protection and conservation in the Italian mountains. Furthermore we explored how socio-demographic characteristics, frequency of visits to the mountains and frequency of activities performed influenced their choices. Our findings show that the majority would accept restriction measures, free of charge and for environmental protection and conservation. Fee-based options were not totally rejected, even though free of charge measures were definitely preferred. We found significant associations for all socio-demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, education, education background, occupation and environmental association belonging and provenance, and acceptance of restrictions. High frequency of visits to the mountains, low frequency of hiking, walking and climbing activities, using often the e-bike and sometimes the snowshoes are associated with acceptance of restriction measures. We conclude by considering that implementing restriction measures is a delicate process and not necessarily the only, or most effective, option to manage the overcrowding of specific sites. Site specific measures could be applied, by observing more general guidelines, but accurate reporting and mapping on the overcrowding should be carried out before.