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Future scenarios of Korea national parks: Delphi survey of Korean parks of experts

Informally Refereed

Abstract

A three-wave Delphi survey of a panel of 40 key experts very knowledgeable of Korean national parks was conducted between February 2001 and March in 2002. In Wave 1, park professionals, environmental Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) managers, and a retiree identified the issues the Korean park system is facing. Findings from Wave 1 of the survey were analyzed and provided the baseline for the subsequent Waves 2 and 3. In Wave 3, four major issues -- Park philosophy not clearly articulated; Inadequate emphasis of ecosystem protection; Widespread deficiency of management tools; and Visitor services needed -- were asked to get the panel's opinions regarding "importance" (1 = most important; 4 = least important) and "possibilities" of resolving (1= resolved in 5 years; 4 = not resolved in 5 years) of these four issues. In terms of "importance," it seems that Issue 1 ("Park philosophy not clearly articulated"), with its mean rank of 1.9, is considered more important than the other three issues (mean ranks are 2.5 or 2.6). Meanwhile, in terms of the "likelihood" of being resolved, Issue 1 (mean rank = 3.2) would be harder to be resolved than the other 3 issues (mean ranks are between 2.2 and 3.0). It implies that although the management objectives and legislative changes are needed to make the park idea articulated, due to a long-term need to get legislative support, the likelihood of resolving this issue is lower than the others. It implies, in Wave 3, that unclear park philosophy leads to the lack of recognition of national park roles toward ecosystem protection, which in turn results in a deficiency of management tools with little congressional support such as budget and staff. Finally, three options for the Korea park system are introduced to help the Korea National Parks Authority (KNPA) management to make a balance between preservation and recreational use in national park areas.

Parent Publication

Citation

Lee, Byung-kyu; LaPage, Wilbur F. 2003. Future scenarios of Korea national parks: Delphi survey of Korean parks of experts. In: Schuster, Rudy, comp., ed. Proceedings of the 2002 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-302. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 2-7
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/12088