Environmental interpretation as a tool for conservation in parks and forest recreation areas
2006
Noor Azlin Yahya | Chong Mew Im | Azzyati Abdul Kadir, Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), 52109 Kepong, Selangor (Malaysia) | Manohar Mariapan, Putra Malaysia Univ., 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia)
Environmental education in Malaysia should be improved and recreational areas have potentials as the settings for educational experiences. Parks and other recreational areas have abundant wealth of natural resources that should be utilized to emphasis the importance of sustainable resources management and the relationship of plants, animals and human. Recreation parks' visitors can be convinced of environmental conservation values if proper methods of interpretation are employed. Defined as translation of the technical language of the environment for the laymen without loss of accuracy, interpretation creates in the listener, sensitivity, awareness, understanding, enthusiasm and commitment. As park visitors are "non-captive audience" as opposed to "captive audience" in a lecture hall, interpretation should be able to hold attention to ensure its effectiveness. Thus, interpretation products should be attractive and convey mes sage interesting enough to sustain audience's concentration. Environmental interpretation techniques and concepts of interpretation are further discussed in this paper. It is strongly believed that with properly planned and developed interpretation techniques, recreation areas in Malaysia can provide effective educational experience.
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