This survey indicates that opinion on the recreational and leisure pursuits in Darwin Harbour vary and are diverse. This was not unexpected, as each individual’s views are distinct from another. Whilst this survey’s respondents beliefs cannot be taken as a cross sectional rebuttal buy the general public, they can only be taken as a guide as to where public option could be heading. As expected though, these opinions did head towards the Brown & Reynolds conclusions. That it is at least important to protect mangroves.
However, not only should the government be active in this, so too should the user of the mangrove ecosystems. I also feel that it has been shown that the harbour ecosystem has many factors that pertain to the present ecological state of affairs of the waterways and that removal of any of these factors will prevent the others from operating efficiently. The users of the harbour life systems, that is the artificial and natural reefs know that they would almost certainly have a different marine environment here if one or more of these factors were not protected. This user community may realise that it is they who should be directing the government towards management strategies and not merely accepting what the politicians or public servants deem as acceptable. However, again this is only a trend, not a cross sectional representation of public opinion.
Expenditure on recreation and leisure projects and the expense of the capital items for use in recreational activities is really a separate study. It was not considered here because of time constraints. However, it certainly is a topic that could proceed further from this one. It was also not determined just which of the present mangroves should be conserved and those which should not be preserved. The general consensus was to protect all mangroves, which have some impact on the fauna and marine life, which are part of the food chains within mangrove ecology. It was shown that some respondents thought the aesthetic qualities of mangrove lined shores were also important and that built-up areas were not a popular option to nature lovers. Especially so to the out of town visitor respondents, whilst the locals just wanted to continue their leisure activity and contend that their actions did not dramatically affect the mangroves.
This study has determined that the perception of mangroves is that they are important for recreational purposes. That they stimulate fishstocks and assist in controlling the cleanliness of the waters of Darwin harbour. There is however, no list of area so of mangroves to be preserved, which have significance for recreational purposes.
