Lars Emmelin

Wilderness purism, willingness to pay and management preferences: a study of Swedish mountain tourists.

This study combines visitor benefit estimates, by means of the contingent valuation method (CVM), with an application of a wilderness purism index to outdoor recreation management. Swedish summer visitors to a mountainous wilderness area in central Sweden and eastern Norway are surveyed using a mailed questionnaire. Welfare estimates are calculated, including adjustment for preference uncertainty in the willingness-to-pay answer. The expected value of the average visit to the area is estimated at 1,756 SEK, of which almost one-third is a consumer surplus. Three visitor segments are identified, based on preferences relating to wilderness management, restrictions, human impact and other users. Willingness to pay is found to differ significantly between the segments, both in absolute numbers for the trip taken and as a function of proposed management changes. It is shown that total benefits among the Swedish visitors can be increased in the magnitude of one million SEK, by means of a visitor segmentation and spatial differentiation of the management strategy.

Increased Visitation from National Park Designation

Many national parks around the world are major tourist attractions. While increases in national park tourism provides business opportunities, there are several economic, social and ecological aspects that need to be monitored in order to sustain high quality visitor experiences. This paper reports findings from visitor surveys at Fulufjället National Park, Sweden–one year prior to and one year after the national park designation in 2002. The purpose is to monitor short term changes in park use. Data from on site visitor counters show a 40% increase in the number of visitors, while follow-up mail surveys reveal several changes in visitor characteristics, use patterns, expenditures and attitudes.

Environmental Quality Standards as a Tool in Environmental Governance — the Case of Sweden

In this article we examine the role of environmental quality standards (EQS) and thresholds as a tool in environmental governance and the strive for sustainable development in Sweden. Such standards, as opposed to emission standards, are a relatively new addition to the environmental policy tools in Sweden. The role of EQS is ultimately to operationalise an approach that is described in Sweden’s National Strategy for Sustainable Development: “The society of the future must be formed within the limits set by nature, environment and human health (...)” (Gov Bill 2003/04:129) The point of departure is thus environmental quality in determining acceptability of development proposals, programmes and plans and industrial projects rather than emissions. Sweden has introduced EQS of different kinds as tools for governance and the effectiveness of different types can thus be examined. Standards, especially the National Environmental Objectives structure with its system of quantified targets is accorded a prominent role in policy.

Non-Compliance with On-Site Data Collection in Outdoor Recreation Monitoring

ABSTRACT A wide range of methods exists for on-site visitor monitoring in parks and recreation areas. Self-registration methods have proven to be popular because of their low cost and relative ease of administration, but little is known about the extent to which the data collected from self-registration boxes are representative of the population of visitors, and the degree that bias exists as a result of non-compliance. This article examines these concerns based on research at Fulufjället National Park in Sweden. On-site registration card and follow-up mail survey data from a sample of visitors who did not voluntarily register were compared with the same kind of data for visitors who did register voluntarily. In total, 10 registration card items and 284 mail survey items were tested for variations between compliant and non-compliant visitors. Of these, one third of the card items, 12% and 3% of the survey items for Swedish and German visitors, respectively, yielded statistically significant differences. Implications for management and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Problems of a Minimalist Implementation of SEA — The Case of Sweden

Sweden has taken a clearly minimalist approach to the implementation of the SEA Directive. The mode of implementation and some of the problems of the Swedish approach will be discussed. In an international perspective it is interesting to examine why Sweden, a self-proclaimed international leader in environmental policy, has chosen this approach. The discussion is based on a detailed analysis of the legislation and an outline of history of EA in Sweden. Three general types of approaches to implementation of European Directives on environment and planning are outlined: minimalist, intentionalist and environmentalist. Paradoxically one of the more ambitious approaches might have led to fewer problems. Discussion in this chapter is restricted to the legal system of EA and what can be said from a comparison of the legislation and the Directive. This is the only part of the implementation open for analysis at this stage. There are limitations of such an approach; indeed one of the authors has elsewhere discussed this in some detail (Emmelin 1998a). Arguably, however, the theoretical systems aspects in the Swedish case give a good indication of coming problems in the practice of SEA. The legislation lacks elementary clarity on what the concept of SEA, as opposed to EIA, is to be. The decision to use the same term for EIA and SEA in Swedish, the integration of SEA regulations into the existing EIA legislation and the lack of analysis in drawing up the legislation add to the confusion. This confusion is likely to severely hamper development of sound SEA practice in Sweden. The concern here is thus with the issues of the systems structure’s contribution to handling that aspect of practice that has been termed “the dark side of planning theory” i.e. the power struggles and conflicts of interest that shape the actual plans and programmes and the outcome of planning (Harris 2002).

MULTI-LEVEL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE: THE CASE OF WIND POWER DEVELOPMENT IN SWEDEN

At national policy level in Sweden, the importance of development of wind power is emphasized. However, the actual implementation is highly dependent on local permit giving for windmills. The legislation governing the permit giving has been revised in an attempt to make the local processes faster and to shift the permit process towards a more regional environmental process as opposed to a more plan-based municipal process. By tradition in Sweden, the local, municipal level has had a strong mandate in land use planning which is often referred to as the “the municipal planning monopoly”, which means that there is a tension whenever a legal proposal seeks to diminish this “plan monopoly”. The legal investigation suggesting changes in the law on permit-giving stressed the need for strengthening the regional assessment, which led to a compromise called the “municipal veto-right”, where the regional environmental permit needs a formal approval from the municipality for the permit process to continue. This study investigates both the legal development of the so-called veto-right as well as what it empirically has led to, and how it is perceived by the industry as well as concerned parties. For this reason, a sample of 30 regional permit cases has been collected, and a limited number of interviews have been conducted with judges in appeal courts and regional handling officers assessing turbine applications. The results indicate that the industry sees the “veto” as leading to problematic uncertainty in the process at regional level and, therefore, prefer to keep the applications at a level that entitles them to use the municipal permit system which is determined by height and number of turbines. This is a consequence directly opposite to what the legal commission aimed for when revising the legal system.

Objectively best or most acceptable? Expert and lay knowledge in Swedish wind power permit processes

This article analyses legal aspects of the Swedish wind power development, theoretically based on how different types of knowledge are represented in legal contexts, mainly in the courts. A sample of appealed wind power permits is analysed, a handful of relevant informants are interviewed – including two judges in the Land and Environment Court and the appeal court – and the legal setting is analysed. Of key interest here is the interplay between expert and lay statements in the court cases, which here is related to the concepts of calculating and communicative rationalities that are developed in the planning literature. The results indicate that the juridification – which takes place as a permit issue is appealed in the judiciary system – supports the calculating rationality more than the communicative, and that the plaintiffs often attempt to adapt in how they shape their argumentation.