Investigation of attitudes towards the effects of land use change using image editing and Q sort method

Image capture and editing techniques were combined with the Q sort method to investigate public preferences for the effects of proposed changes to land use in the New Zealand high country. Stakeholders expressed preferences for information cards that presented the effects of a range of land use options, including forestry, agriculture and conservation. Several indicators of environmental effects for each land use option were presented, including the predicted visual effects of both the land use and its consequential impacts such as wilding spread, and estimates of non-visual socio-economic and environmental effects such as changes in local farm income and employment, and in soil status. Seventy-seven stakeholders assessed a total of 36 options covering four land forms. Analysis of results has identified several clear ‘themes’, or sets of preferences for a distinctive set of land use options and distinctive combinations of effects. Results were integrated into a comprehensive decision support system that provides information on socio-economic effects of land use change. The method was successful in integrating stakeholder preference into resource planning for a complex set of potential environmental effects, but some problems have been identified, and these are discussed.