Impact assessment of off-road activities for sustainable tourism management in khao krajome, Thailand

Abstract

© 2017 Patthawan Lerdsuchatavanich et al. Background and Objective: This study investigates the effects of off-road activities associated with nature-based tourism, an important head watershed of 16 km2 in Khao Krajome, Thailand. This location is only accessible by off-road vehicles. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the use of off-road vehicles on the environment, in particular, by evaluating noise level, the number of animals, the number of vegetation and soil compaction. Materials and Methods: Data were collected in high and low tourist season. Wildlife number assessment was determined by the strip-transect method. Sixteen collection points were used to measure the impact of off-road vehicle use on vegetation and soil. Classification of the sampling sites was based on their distance from the road. To measure environmental impact, the first 8 collection points were located close to the road, while the remaining 8 collection points were located 14 m away from the road. Mann-Whitney U-Test was used to determine the data. Results: Mean noise levels were determined to be 24.3 dB(A) during the high season and 12.1 dB(A) during the low season. The noise levels were 2.5 times greater than regulations allow (10 dB(A)). This was also reflected in the number of animals, as fewer animals were found in close proximity to the road. The findings from Mann-Whitney U-Test revealed that the increased soil compaction along the road was significant ("<0.05) when compared to locations away from the road. While the number of plant species was not statistically different between collection points. Conclusion: It was concluded that these off-road activities caused negative impacts on the environment, in particular wildlife. It is anticipated that these findings will assist in the regulation of nature-based tourism in comprehensively managing this location for environmental and tourism sustainably.