Exploring biodiversity and users of campsites in desert nature reserves to balance between social values and ecological impacts

Protected areas (PAs) are key conservation areas designed to limit the impacts of human activities on biodiversity. PAs also provide great opportunities for individuals to experience nature complexity, through recreational activities, and can contribute to restore the non-material and intangible services nature provides to people (i.e., cultural ecosystem services). However, recreational activities may negatively affect biodiversity. Identifying the right balance between promoting nature interactions and safeguarding biodiversity in PAs is challenging. Current knowledge gaps on the social value and ecological impacts of recreational activities, such as camping in PAs, hinder our ability to address this challenge. This is particularly true for PAs located in desert ecosystems. In this interdisciplinary study, we surveyed biodiversity and people to assess ecological impacts and social values of campsites in desert PAs in Israel. Ecological surveys included birds, plants, rodents and scorpions in campsites and control plots. We conducted two social surveys: (1) in situ survey of campsite users (N = 280) on satisfaction, motivations and perceptions of campsites and (2) online nation-wide survey (N = 322) on perceptions of campsites and investigation of the attributes individuals prioritize in campsites. Our results demonstrate that when desert campsites are located outside nature-rich areas (i.e. the wadis), they have relatively moderate negative impact on biodiversity for three out of the four taxa studied (birds, scorpions and rodents). Bird communities were dominated by synanthropic species in high intensity campsites. Surprisingly, even when campsites were located in nature-poor areas, users' satisfaction was relatively high. Among the broader population, ecological quality (i.e. vegetation complexity) did not have strong influence on people's preferences of/for campsites, and comfort-related aspects were prioritized over vegetation in campsites. Overall, our results demonstrate that placing desert campsites outside ecologically rich areas can serve as optimal solution to balance impacts on biodiversity and social value of recreation activities in PAs.