Nature provides rejuvenation, recreation and increasingly opportunities for tourism. We work in a country with extraordinary natural landscapes and associated biological values that are also favoured destinations for tourists. The challenge for all of us is how to best conserve these values while at the same time providing high quality tourist experiences. Our research covers wide and varied aspects of tourism and conservation of the natural environment, from conceptualising the best way to protect ecosystems and species from impacts, through developing sustainability indicators and performance evaluation, to detailed surveys of visitors’ expectations, experiences and satisfaction and ecological studies of impacts.

Our research also includes policy analysis, especially with regards to biodiversity conservation. Another specialisation is multi-criteria analysis as applied to large-scale developments with potentially high environmental and social impacts. And, we also research and publish extensively on sustainability assessments, and auditing of environmental outcomes, specifically those associated with environmental impact assessment.

The Nature Based Tourism Research Group is based at Murdoch University’s School of Environmental Science and is managed by Associate Professor Sue Moore and Dr David Newsome. At the moment, other personnel include: Dr Angus Morrison-Saunders, Dr Kate Rodger, Dr Aggie Wegner, Ross Lantzke and Noella Ross. PhD candidates include: Ross Colliver, Chris Haynes, Sally Mason, Jennifer Munro, Martin Randall and Jim Williamson.

School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, South St, Murdoch, Perth, Western Australia 6150
Ph: (08) 9360 2488, Fax: (08) 9310 4997, www.environment.murdoch.edu.au
Document author: A.Smith, Document authorised: S.Moore
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