Developing a tool for visitor flow management to mitigate the conflict between outdoor recreation and biodiversity conservation

The conflict between biodiversity conservation and recreation is a key issue in natural environments within peri-urban regions (e.g. river environments), where recreation demand is high. Agent-based modeling (ABM) allows to predict impacts of alternative network infrastructure on actors use pattern. The project aims to develop and test an innovative ABM-based visitor flow management tool that allows for mitigating the conflict between outdoor recreation and biodiversity conservation. This project will be conducted in two regions with different socio-spatial contexts but similar recreation pressure on riverine environments: the peri-urban region of the lower Wigger valley (AG) and the suburban region of the upper Glatt valley (ZH). In these regions, detailed data on visitors' outdoor recreation behavior have recently been collected by PPGIS-based standardized surveys.