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A Computer-based Method of Wilderness Evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Robert G. Lesslie ,
Brendan G. Mackey  and
Kathryn M. Preece
Robert G. Lesslie
Affiliation:
Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, GP0 Box 4, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
Brendan G. Mackey
Affiliation:
Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, GP0 Box 4, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
Kathryn M. Preece
Affiliation:
Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands, Victoria, 123 Brown Street, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia.
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Extract

With ever-increasing demands being made on remote and natural lands, planners and managers require more detailed information than hitherto to assist them in monitoring the status of this wilderness resource and developing appropriate and effective management prescriptions. These requirements are addressed by a computer-based wilderness evaluation procedure that has been developed for a national wilderness survey of Australia.

The methodology, based on the wilderness continuum concept (Lesslie & Taylor, 1985), places emphasis on measuring variation in wilderness quality by using four indicators that represent the two essential attributes of remoteness and naturalness. This permits a precise assessment to be made of the wilderness resource, revealing those factors which contribute to or compromise wilderness quality. The computer-based storage and analysis of data enables surveys to be conducted over large, even continental, areas, yet at a relatively fine level of resolution that is appropriate to localized planning needs.

Trial application to the State of Victoria, Australia, demonstrates that the survey procedure can be successfully adapted to a wide range of environments, use-patterns, data-base characteristics, and management objectives, which should be applicable and very widely useful elsewhere.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1988 , pp. 225 - 232
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1988

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