Part of good coastal management practices involves educating and exposing the public to different management challenges. Similar to how the Ventura Harbor Visitor Center provides education and information about our Channel Islands, the Hawaiian Volcano National Park Visitor Center provides services alike. Many different types of visualizations inside this visitor center all contribute to informing the public about environmental issues in the park. They have a variety of maps, displays about invasive species, explanations about how the state was established and some cultural history. While walking around the center I noticed many people seemed to congregate around maps that were interactive. Some of them were 3D topographic, some had flashing lights and buttons to push. Getting people to engage with this information helps them understand things like how the islands formed, how invasive species get here and why the islands are in a chain formation. Good and bad coastal management practices are maintained partly because the publics interactions with these natural environments. So informing and educating the people who are visiting this park helps them understand how to not damage or harm the land. 
Leave a Reply