Contemporary Societal Relationships

1. Contemporary Societal Relationships Jake Johnstone

2. Recreation in Cape Paterson • In Cape Paterson contemporary humans use the environment as a place to participate in recreation. They interact with the environment through a range of recreational activities. • Some of these activities include fishing, surfing, diving, snorkelling and just enjoying the reigns many beaches. • They may have a perception that the environment needs to be conserved so that they can continue to visit these natural places. • Some people would see this coastal environment as a challenge, for example attempting to surf a big swell.

3. Impacts • There are both positive and negative impacts associated with these recreational activities. • The negative impacts include over use of an area, Tracks being made down to beaches causing soil compaction and erosion which can be seen at some beach entrances at Cape Paterson, and land clearing for car parks and camping sites of which are also present in the area. • The positive impacts include the building of stairways and set tracks to make visitors only walk in the one place and therefor reduce the amount of compaction and erosion. A good example of this is the staircase that leads down to Shack Bay. There is also codes of conduct put in place for areas around Cape Paterson that visitors have to follow.

4. The perception that natural environments must be conserved so that they can be enjoyed in the future, that is shared by most people in contemporary society that take part in recreational activities means that they do not want to impact the environments that they enjoy through their interactions, therefor having a minimal impact and a good relationship.

5. Conservation in Cape Paterson • Conservation efforts can be seen in many places around the area of Cape Patterson. In contemporary society people many either volunteer or work for nature conservation groups. They perceive the natural environment as a temple that needs to be looked after and may even see it as a museum that can help them learn the areas rich history from. • Cape Paterson and the area around it is all part of the Bunarong Marine National Park, There is also a nature reserve in Cape Patterson that is looked after by Parks Victoria. • In contemporary society conservationists interact with the environment by creating minimal impact strategies, codes of conduct, putting up signs, building set paths and other infrastructure, taking part in controlled burns of flora and also working to protect endangered species. Most of these examples are present in the Bunarong Marine National Park.

6. Impacts • There are many positive impacts from conservation efforts for the Cape Patterson Area. Some of these include the building of infer structure to help the natural environments cope with visitors to the area, regeneration of flora through planned burns, Increased public a where ness of how to enjoy natural areas with out having an impact. • Although there isn't many negative impacts, in some cases conservation efforts may bring more people into a remote area by making it more accessible, or more publicised. High numbers of visitors can have a negative impact on natural environments and cause problems like soil compaction and erosion.

7. People that interact with the environment by conserving it have a relationship based on wanting to help and protect the natural environments. They usually practice the minimal impact strategies that they preach to ensure that they do not have a negative impact on the environment they are trying to conserve.

8. Primary Industries in Cape Paterson • In todays contemporary society many people interact with the environment by working in Primary Industries. There is a perception that the environment is a resource that can be used to meet todays peoples needs. • In that Cape Paterson area some of the Primary Industries that are in the area include beef, dairy and sheep farming, wind farms, the desalination plant and winerys. Most of these people have a strong connection with the land because that is what helps provide their income but they do not always look after it in the best way possible. Often profit or self benefit is put before the health of the environment. • Some may even perceive the environment as an adversary because it can be hard to work in and make profit off at times, for example some farms in the area struggle through times of drought.

9. Impacts • Primary industries have had and continue to have a big impact on the areas natural environment. • Some of the negative impacts include large scale land clearing causing habitat loss, salinity and erosion in the Cape Paterson area, soil compaction from hard hoofed animals, and water pollution. • There are not many positive impacts of primary industries on the environment except for if conservation efforts such as native tree lines take place.

10. People interacting with the environment through primary industries have a relationship based on earning an income. They use the environment and its resources for their own benefit. Often the health of environments are overlooked and profit is put first.

11. Tourism Practices • In contemporary society there is many people who interact with the environment through tourism. These people view the environment as a resource and also a gymnasium. Through tourism they get to experience the unique natural environments of cape Paterson as well as take part in physical activity. • There is a rang of both recreational and commercial tourism that occurs in the Cape Paterson area. Some of this includes snorkelling, diving, caravan parks and holiday houses or resorts and the scenic coastal road.

12. Impact • Tourism practices can cause negative impacts on the land, for example areas of land to be over used because of the amount of people who want to visit it. The building of roads, car parks and tracks to make areas accessible to tourists means areas are cleared and habitat loss and erosion takes place. • Some positive impacts include the use of codes of conduct and minimal impact strategies, and increased a where ness of why the environment needs to be looked after.

13. These peoples relationship is influenced by the perception that the environment is a resource to earn an income off but also a gymnasium. Because they need the environment in its natural state it is usually looked after well by the following of codes of conduct.