Park Life: Assessing the need to Understand User Group Needs when Balancing Commercial Enterprise with Biodiversity Conservation

This report outlines and reviews the findings of a collaborative project between researchers at The University of East Anglia (UEA) and Brandon Country Park. The former were commissioned to undertake two surveys to elicit the opinions of current users and stakeholders regarding their perceptions of the park, with particular emphasis on how this improves their mental, physical and social well-being. Information was then used to identify how the facility might be improved. 200 surveys were conducted through July 2016, asking questions which referred to park usage, attitudes and socio-demographic status. These responses were combined with a qualitative focus group, and using these mixed-methods field experiment techniques provided an in-depth examination of user perspectives on how to best manage this woodland amenity. The overall results pinpoint some key interactions between the key mental and physical benefits of such a facility, and yet the trade-offs that these human sources of welfare may create for wider biodiversity conservation.