Eco.mont Vol. 15 Nr. 2, pp. 4-12, 2023/06/13
Journal on Protected Mountain Areas Research and Management
Regional Nature Parks (RNPs) such as the Parc Ela and Beverin Nature Park are popular destinations for outdoor activities and recreation in the Alpine areas of Switzerland. As in many other mountain and peripheral regions, their soundscapes are being increasingly influenced by humans. Little is known about which sound types are perceived positively or negatively by visitors in Alpine areas and how sounds affect visitors’ perceived recreational quality. To better understand this relationship, surveys were carried out in four areas of two RNPs, Beverin Nature Park and Parc Ela. Each area included two or three sites with different anthropogenic sound levels. Sounds with anthropogenic origins were found to be rated significantly more negatively than sounds with biophonic and geophonic origins. Using linear mixed models, this study confirmed that sound levels had the strongest effect on the perceived quality of visitors’ recreation at sites with similar visual landscape features. Sites with low levels of anthropogenic sounds were perceived as having the least impact on recreational quality. However, no significant difference in the impact of sounds on perceived recreational quality was found between medium and high sound levels, indicating that there could be a threshold between 33.7 and 38.6 dBA above which noise has a negative impact on recreational quality.
Keywords: Alpine areas, anthropogenic sounds, outdoor recreation, noise
