Coastal marine habitats deterioration according to users' perception: the case of Cap de Creus Marine Protected Area (NE Spain).

ABSTRACT: Assessing how different users of a Marine Protected Area perceive environmental changes can contribute to design management strategies. We assess how locals and tourists perceive environmental changes in the Cap de Creus protected area (NW Mediterranean, Spain). To identify locally perceived changes, we first conducted semi-structured interviews with locals (n = 38). Reported environmental changes were then used to construct a survey applied to locals and tourists (n = 427). In semi-structured interviews, environmental changes were the least reported changes compared to economic and social changes; reports of negative environmental changes dominated over reports of positive environmental changes. Overall, all survey participants reported a decline of the health status of the

SUBMITTER: Mallo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11467071 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature