210 South African Journal of Science 96, May 2000 Research in Action

one thousand visitors to the sample

How much is a clean beach worth? beaches. The interviews were conducted
randomly with respect to age, gender,
The impact of litter on beach users in nationality, and activity of the respon-
dent, time of day and day of the week, to
the Cape Peninsula, South Africa minimize biases towards particular user
groups, and to represent the proportion
of both residents and tourists using the
A. Ballancea, P.G. Ryanb and J.K. Turpieb
beaches. Tourists were defined as people
from outside of the Cape Metropolitan
Region (CMR) or those from within the
tranded and discarded litter detracts provide incentives to reduce pollution. 6 region who were staying overnight away

S from the aesthetic quality of beaches,

and the quantities of litter on South
African beaches continue to increase. We
Degradation of beaches affects their
aesthetic value to users, and loss of this
attraction may affect the regional econ-
from home. Attempts were made to stan-
dardize the number of interviews at
beaches surveyed, although differing
estimate the deterrent effect this has on omy by deterring visitors, particularly weather conditions (and hence number
beach users, and the consequent effect on
tourists. This was demonstrated by an oil of visitors) at the beaches did not always
the regional economy. An interview survey
was used to determine the importance of spill in June 1994, which polluted some of permit this. To compensate for small sam-
beach cleanliness to local and non-local Cape Town's most popular beaches. ple sizes, the responses from visitors to
beach users. Cleanliness was stated as the Tourism is extremely important to the Strandfontein were combined with those
most important factor in influencing choice South African economy. In 1994, it gener- from Monwabisi, and the responses from
of beach, especially by foreign tourists. ated revenue of R12 billion (R7 billion visitors to Milnerton were combined with
Almost half the respondents from the Cape from international tourism), and, directly those from Blouberg. In both cases the
Metropolitan Region are prepared to spend and indirectly, supported 14 million jobs7• beaches have similar physical characteris-
more than seven times the average trip cost
It is also a sector of the economy that has tics and visitor profiles.
to visit clean beaches. Furthermore, up to
97% of the value of these beaches could be great potential for growth and employ- Questionnaires were designed to estab-
lost by a drop in standards of cleanliness. ment, and hence is a target for public and lish the number of visits, to a particular
Litter densities of more than 10 large items private investment. Knowledge of the site, the cost of the trip, and the respon-
per metre of beach would deter 40% of impact of beach litter on the regional dents' opinions towards the standard of
foreign tourists, and 60% of domestic tour- economy is therefore important. This cleanliness of the beaches. Beach activity
ists interviewed, from returning to Cape paper assesses the value of clean beaches and anticipated length of stay on the
Town. The impact of this on the regional to users and the socioeconomic impacts of beach were also sought, in search for rela-
economy could be a loss of billions of rands
beach litter on the region. We hope this tionships wlth the perceived level of
each year. A Travel Cost approach esti-
mated the total annual recreational value of will encourage improved legislation or cleanliness. A profile was constructed of
selected beaches in the Cape Peninsula, the development of alternative strategies different user groups according to their
South Africa, at between R3 million and R23 for preventing pollution at source, thus personal details and opinions (for in-
million. The large variation is due to a num- reducing the environmental and aes- stance, residential area, household in-
ber of assumptions inherent to the Travel thetic effect of litter. come, length of stay, activity, perceptions
Cost Method, and extrapolations from the of cleanliness), across all beaches.
limited data available. Beach cleaning Methods and study area
within the Cape Metropolitan Region is
The study was conducted around the
clearly necessary, however, expenditure
during the study period (R3 million in Cape Peninsula (33°S, 26°E) because of
1994-95) is high in relation to the recre- the opportunities for estimating beach
ational value, and alternative methods of value to tourists and residents. Cape ~~(- .. ->1
reducing debris at source are required to Town attracts 49% of international tour- 1.
improve beach cleanliness. ists visiting South Africa as well as 20% of Allantic Ocean\ '
domestic tourists/ and many of the 3.1 Blouber:\
Marine and beach pollution is an environ- million local residents 8 use the beaches for Milne rio~'\
Sea Polnt_1c~ :-..I
mental problem worldwide, threatening recreational purposes (walking, swim- Cam~ig~~J=----~ ~-
wildlife and resulting in a loss of aesthetic ming, tanning, surfing, etc.). Uandudn~...>J:

quality of the coastline. 1- 3 The recent in- The beaches of the Peninsula differ in a '-? y-i.1li:.'nd~F.bll!!;
crease in density of large debris items number of attributes important to visi- 1~-', !( Muizenberg
~'.fish Hoek
-;
· -\
/

found on South African beaches is a cause tors, such as water temperature, exposure \ .... ~ False Bay :)/'-·
for concern. 4 Plastic makes up 90% of all to wind, facilities and ease of access. Ten \~--L i
( ... --.(-·
large debris stranded on South African study beaches were selected across the
beaches. 5 and is particularly troublesome range of these features (Fig. 1) to assess
because it disperses easily and degrades attitudes towards cleanliness of a wide
slowly. The costs of marine and beach de- range of visitors. All estimates are 1996

~
bris are now receiving more attention, to values, to compare with the estimates of
W _,J;.... E
income generated by tourism/ and ex-
"CSIR Division of Water, Environment and Forestry Tech- penditure on beach cleaning, 11 during the Ts
nology, P 0 Box 395, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa. E-mail: a ...0 a... )6 km
abalance@csir.co.za
period 1994-96. ~

bFitzPatrick Institute, Department of Zoology, UniNrsity of

A questionnaire survey using one-to-
Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701 f>outh Af,,,,a. one interviews gauged attitudes among Fig. 1. Selected study beaches.
Research in Action South African Journal of Science 96, May 2000 211

Table 1. Mean scores for relative importance of various beach attributes as perceived by beach users around the Cape Peninsula. Lower scores
indicate greater importance of attribute.

Attribute* Mean score from residents Mean score from domestic tourists Mean score from foreign tourists

Cleanliness 2.5 2.3 2.2

Facilities 3.9 4.4 4.1
Number and type of people 4.0 4.4 4.2
Proximity to home/hotel 4.2 3.7 4.5
Water temperature/surf quality 3.6 3.9 4.1
Wind direction and force 2.8 2.9 3.5

•sixty-two respondents named an additional attraction, of which safety and scenic beauty were cited most frequently (30 and 23 times, respectively).

The Travel Cost Method was used to were shown to elicit the reaction sought. these are extrapolations, and given the
estimate the recreational value of sample The proportion of tourists who stated large variation in the data available for
beaches. This method is widely used in they would not visit Cape Town accord- determining beach attendance, figures
the evaluation of natural resources with ing to the extent of beach litter was used to have been rounded to the nearest thou-
recreational appeal, and records the actual estimate the tourism revenue potentially sand visitors. Extrapolation of the mean
travel cost associated with visiting a re- lost by not maintaining levels of cleanli- trip cost across the total number of beach
source as a proxy for its value to the visi- ness of beaches in the Cape Peninsula. visitors yielded an estimated combined
tor. It was selected for this study over Expenditure on cleaning beaches was annual recreational value for the sample
other techniques as it uses actual values, obtained from local authorities.U·12 beaches of R8 million, although there was
which can be summed across a wide considerable variation between values for
range of users to compute a nominal total What the survey revealed individual beaches (Table 2). Assuming
recreational demand value, it is restricted Most respondents were residents of the similar mean trip costs, and similar com-
to direct, non-consumptive use valuation, Cape Metropolitan Region (65% ). Twenty- bined number of visitors per year for all
and it is easy to administer. (For a detailed one per cent of the people surveyed were other beaches in the Cape Peninsula, the
appraisal of alternative techniques see domestic tourists, and 14% were foreign annual recreational use value of all
ref. 9.) The return trip cost was estimated tourists. Perceived standards of cleanli- beaches in the region was estimated at
for each respondent using either public ness of Cape beaches were high, particu- R18 million.
transport fares or the Automobile Associa- larly among tourists. Tourists also spent The figures should be treated as under-
tion's cost of35.5 cents per kilometre (1995 significantly longer on beaches they con- estimates of the actual value. Several esti-
rates). The annual recreational value of all sidered to be 'clean' or 'acceptable' than on mations were made, as not all required
beaches to each respondent was calcu- those they saw as 'too dirty' (ANOVA data were available or accurate, and there
lated using the number of visits per year F2350 = 5.876, P < 0.005; 'clean' > 'too are several assumptions inherent to the
and the cost per visit. The total annual dirty' and 'acceptable'; Newman-Keuls Travel Cost Method. 13 A sensitivity analysis,
recreational value of each beach was de- test). which estimated the cumulative impact
termined using the mean trip cost per Cleanliness was most frequently ranked of these variations, showed that the total
visitor, and the number of visitors per as the most important of the beach attrib- annual recreational value for sample
year (obtained from extrapolations from utes investigated, and foreign tourists beaches was R3-23 million. 10 Using the
aerial photographs, courtesy of Cape ranked cleanliness as relatively more im- same estimation criteria, the value for all
Metropolitan Council). A full description portant than either domestic tourists or the beaches in the Cape Peninsula is likely
of the application of the travel cost residents (Table 1). Furthermore, 44% of to lie between R9-50 million per year.
method is given in ref. 10. residents claimed they would travel The survey indicated that 85% of both
The Travel Cost Method estimates the 50 km or more to visit a clean beach. The tourists and residents would not visit
total value of beaches to users, but says average trip distance for residents was beaches if they had more than two items
nothing about the value of individual 14 km (cost approximately R4.90) and for of debris per metre. This would reduce
beach attributes, such as cleanliness. To tourists 12 km (nominal cost R4.20), prob- the average annual recreational value of
establish the relative importance of ably because many of the popular tourist the sample beaches from R1 million to
selected attributes, visitors were asked to hotels are located close to the beaches. R150 000. The total annual expenditure on
rank them from 1 to 5, with 1 being the Residents made approximately 70 trips to travel to sample beaches would be re-
most important. The absolute importance the beach each year on average (annual duced from R8 million to R1 million. The
of beach cleanliness was determined by travel cost R348), whereas tourists made annual expenditure on travel for all
questioning residents how far they would 10 trips (annual cost R42). A trip of 50 km beaches in the Cape Peninsula would be
be prepared to travel for different levels of to visit a clean beach has a minimum trip reduced from R18 million to R15 million.
cleanliness, and by asking tourists how cost of R35.50, more than seven times The survey also showed that if the
covered in debris the beaches would have greater than the cost of a trip for residents beaches had more than ten large items of
to be for them to stop visiting. Three levels interviewed. However, beach users de- debris per metre, 97% of all visitors would
of beach cleanliness were used, based on rive value from a variety of beach attrib- not visit them, which would reduce the
the results of a survey of 84 beaches across utes, and often these features mutually total recreational value to R300 000 per
the country. 4 The levels were more than influence the decision of which beach to year. Such reduced annual expenditure
10 large items of litter per square metre of visit. on travel represents a reduction in the
beach, between two and 10 items per The extrapolations from the summer regional economy of R8 million.
1
metre, and less than two items per square and winter beach attendance data gave a Given the importance of tourism to
metre. Photographs of each of these levels total of 1 871 000 visitors per year. Because the national and regional economy, the
212 South African Journal of Science 96, May 2000 Research in Action

Table 2. Estimated total annual recreational use value of sample beaches on the Cape Peninsula.

Beach Number of residents Mean trip cost for Number of tourists Mean trip cost for iourists Total annual value
visiting per year residents (rands) visiting per year (rands) (R million)

Blouberg and Milnerton 93 000 4.2 54 000 4.8 0.6

Sea Point 113 000 3.6 51 000 1.2 0.4
Clifton 73 000 6.7 80 000 5.3 0.9
Camps Bay 129 000 5.5 86 000 4.2 1.0
Llandudno 24 000 6.3 32 000 4.3 0.2
Fish Hoek 115 000 3.1 28 000 4.0 0.4
Muizenberg 175 000 5.5 109 000 6.8 1.7
Monwabisi and Strandfontein 667 000 4.5 42 000 2.6 3.1
Total 1389 000 4.9 482 000 4.2 8.6*

*The total annual value of RB.6 million is not the same as the sum of the values in that column due to rounding errors.

potential loss in number of tourists due to ment reported a 37% decrease in the We thank P. Mpande, B. Magazi, and K-E. Kiistlin for
a drop in standards of beach cleanliness volume of litter generated on beaches help with questionnaires; A. Pliis for technical
that this study reports (up to 40% of under its control between 1994-95 and assistance; L. Kruger and the Cape Metropolitan
Council for beach attendance data; Cape Town City
foreign and 60% of domestic tourists) is 1995-96. 17 This may be attributable to
Council Cleansing Department for beach litter data,
significant (up to 52% of the revenue from more efficient cleaning operations, or re- and M. de Wit and C. Shackleton for valuable discus-
tourism). duced amounts of litter entering the sion and comments on earlier drafts of the manu-
Coastal areas are important in terms of marine environment. As clean-up opera- script. Financial support was received from the
economic, scientific, recreational, ecologi- tions are expensive in relation to the value Foundation for Research Development, through the
cal and educational services. 14.t5 Reliable of the beaches, it is necessary to consider South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic
estimates of beach value are therefore alternative methods of reducing beach Research and the Desmond Tutu Fund.
important for planning facilities, deter- debris. Legislation, improved efficiency
1. Caulton E. and Mocogini M. (1987). Preliminary
mining access and transport capacity, of cleansing services, recycling, reduction studies of man-made litter in the Firth of Forth,
estimating potential for new business de- at source, and education are possible Scotland. Mar. Poll. Bull. 18, 446-450.
velopment, and for coastline protection options. 2. Corbin C.J. and Singh J.G. (1993). Marine debris
contamination of beaches in St. Lucia and Domi-
and pollution controP 6 The estimated Most beach debris is generated by beach nica. Mar. Poll. Bull. 26, 325--328.
value of beaches and beach cleanliness users or is washed or blown onto beaches 3. Laist D.W. (1987). Overview of the biological
should be reflected in an appropriate from the land. 5' 18 Plastics, especially pack- effects of lost and discarded plastic debris in the
budget for cleansing. Furthermore, esti- aging materials, constitute over 90% of marine environment. Mar. Poll. Bull. 18, 319-326.
4. Ryan P.G. and Moloney C. (1995). Survey of de-
mation of the impact of environmental all beach debris. 5 These items are very bris stranded on South African beaches. Winter
quality on tourism potential is far from durable, which increases the risk of 1994. Unpublished report, FitzPatrick Institute,
trivial. The relative and absolute impor- entanglement or ingestion by marine University of Cape Town.
5. Ryan P.G. and Moloney C. (1990). Plastic and
tance of cleanliness to beach users shown wildlife. Lack of waste collection and other artefacts on South African beaches: tempo-
in this study provides a strong incentive disposal services in many urban coastal ral trends in abundance and composition. S. Aft:].
for pollution control. settlements contributes to the accumula- Sci. 86, 450-451.
6. Smith V.K, Zhang X. and Palmquist R.B. (1995).
Expenditure on beach cleansing in the tion of waste on beaches, as it is blown or The economic value of controlling marine debris.
Cape Metropolitan area was approxi- washed away from unprotected, informal In Marine Debris, ed. J. Coe and D. Rodgers, chap
mately R3.5 million in 1994-95; and beach waste dumps. Furthermore, the increas- 12, pp. 187-202. Springer-Verlag, New York.
7. SATOUR (1995). A Survey of South Africa's Inter-
cleaning efforts have increased during ing population and influx of people to national Tourism Market, Summer 1995. South
the last five years. 12 Given that Cape Town coastal urban centres intensifies the pres- African Tourism Board, Pretoria.
attracts a significant proportion of the sure of waste generation on the beach 8. Western Cape Economic Development Forum
resources. 14 Urban Development Commission (1995). Metro-
tourist market, it is reasonable to assume
politan Spatial Development Framework: A
that the increased expenditure (relative to Much attention has been focused re- Guide for Spatial Development in the Cape
the rest of the country) is, at least partially, cently on methods of reducing plastic Metropolitan Region. Draft for discussion.
a result of greater importance placed on packaging. One suggestion is to produce 9. Pearce D.W. and Turner R.K (1990). Economics of
Natural Resources and the Environment. Johns
the aesthetic quality of beaches. This less durable plastics, which break down Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
study estimates that the regional econ- faster by means of biological, chemical, 10. Ballance A. (1996). The recreational use value of
omy could suffer a potential loss of over photochemical or physical actions. 19 An- beaches in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. M.Sc.
thesis, University of Cape Town .
. half the tourism revenue from a reduction other option is to promote recycling, 11. Clayton A.J. (1994). Annual Report of the City
in beach cleanliness. Keeping beaches which requires the creation of markets for Engineer. Cape Town.
clean is therefore necessary. As only 44% recycled material. Further efforts to re- 12. Ryan P.G. and Swanepoel D. (1996). Cleaning
beaches: sweeping litter under the carpet. S. Af•: ].
of people surveyed perceived the beach duce plastic packaging have centred on Sci. 92, 275-276.
they were on as 'clean', current methods charging for packaging. 20 13. Bateman I. (1993). Valuation of the environment,
of clearing debris appear to be insufficient Perhaps the biggest hurdle to overcome methods and techniques: revealed preference
to tackle the problem. methods. In Sustainable Environmental Economics
is the mindset of today's 'throw-away' and Management: Prhtciples and Practice, ed. R.K
A survey of pollution on South African society. Education of the public to the Turner, pp. 192-265. John Wiley, Chichester.
beaches in 1994 showed four of the ten problem of litter in the environment 14. Sowman M. (1993). The status of coastal zone
dirtiest beaches are within the Cape would go a long way to increase levels of management in South Africa. Coastal Management
21, 163-184.
Metropolitan Region. 4 However, thP Cape responsibility, and thus to reduce the 15. Draft Green Paper on a National Coastal Manage-
Town Municipality Cleansing Dep<vt- volume of litter in the environment. ment Policy for South Africa. Department ofEnvi-
Science Education South African Journal of Science 96, May 2000 213

ronmental Affairs and Tourism, Pretoria (1998). Accumulation in Tal:>le Bay, Cape Town, South attend the usual lectures and practical
16. Cape Metropolitan Council Planning Committee Africa. FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape
(1995). Metropolitan Planning: Coastal Survey of Town. plus an additional load of tutorials and
Cape Metropolitan Coastal Area by Means of 19. Bean, M.J. (1987). Legal strategies for reducing practicals in groups of about 30 students.
Aerial Photographs 1985/1986-1994/1995. Cape persistent plastics in the marine environment. In these additional tutorials, tutors can
Town. Mm: Poll. Bull. 18, 357-360.
17. Cape Town City Council Cleansing Department 20. Ryan P.G., Swanepoel D.,Rice N. and Preston G.R.
address problems with the lecture mate-
(1996). Clean Beach Report. Cape Town. (1996). The 'free' shopping bag debate: costs and rial as well as dealing with some pre-first
18. Swanepoel D. (1995). An Analysis of Beach Debris attitudes. S.Aft:]. Sci. 92,163-165. 0 year material.
Other level 1 courses (physics and
chemistry), although covering the same
content as the usual first-year courses, are
Widening access to tertiary entirely separate from it. This enables the
lecturer to go more slowly and integrate
science study: the 'augmented' pre-first year material into the course.
Some of the contact time is lecture mode

model but, given the small group size (30 stu-

dents or fewer), there is opportunity for
questions and other interactions with stu-
dents. Other contact time is devoted to
J. Parkinson* small group work, and problem solving,
depending on the demands of the material.
he four-year B.Sc. degree course at the a variety of types. Some add an initial Individual departments design courses
T University of Natal, Durban, is unusual
in providing access to tertiary science
through 'augmentation' rather than the more
foundation 3 year, after which students
embark on first year. 4'5 Others have an
and decide whether their double-load
courses are separate from the usual
initial two-year programme combining lecture course or 'augmented' with addi-
usual foundation course. The augmentation
involves students registering for a reduced foundation and first-level courses. 6•7 Since tional tutorials and practicals, Different
load of ordinary first-year courses, which are 1991, UND has had a four-year B.Sc. cur- subjects lend themselves to different
supplemented by extra tutorials and practi- riculum in which students are admitted models. Initial poor student performance,
cals. This article describes the augmented directly into first-year courses. These both in first-level and later level chemis-
approach to science study. It examines the de- differ from the usual first-year courses in try courses, led to a change from the lec-
velopment of the B.Sc.-4 curriculum during having an almost double load of tutorials, tures plus extra tutorials model to the
the 10 years it has been operating and de- lectures and practicals. This model of separate course model. It is not clear why
scribes some of its successes and failures
academic development has been rejected the lectures plus tutorials model works (in
during this period.
by many institutions8 because the pool terms of student performance) in some
of black students who can cope with a disciplines but not others. A factor to be
The present under~representation of
curriculum where students start first- considered is the extent to which the
black students in tertiary education,
level courses immediately is relatively first-year course in each discipline as-
particularly science and applied science,
small. Foundation programmes are able sumes and builds on prior knowledge. In
is well documented 1 as are the roots of this
to draw on a larger, less-prepared group disciplines where a good deal of prior
under-representation in apartheid policy.
of students because more time can be knowledge is assumed such as in chemis-
Only 19% of mathematics teachPrs and
spent on pre-first year material. try, mathematics and physics, (but far less
16% of science teachers in the country
in biology and computer science), it
have completed one or more years of the
subject at university level. 2 This has led to
Structure of the B.Sc.-4 makes educationally better sense to build
Students who enter the four-year B.Sc. teaching of the prior knowledge into a
the current situation where few black
curriculum at UND take two double-load separately taught level1 course. In math-
students match the criteria for direct
'augmented' level 1 courses in their first ematics, however, student results have
entry into tertiary science studies. During
year. For example, in physics they have been good using the lectures plus tutori-
the 1990s, less than 10% of admissions
nine contact periods per week for lectures als model, and the course has proved
into the Science Faculty at the University
and tutorials and two practical sessions, more successful in dealing with the prior
of Natal in Durban (UND) have been
instead of the five periods for lectures and knowledge in tutorials before the lectures
black students who meet the entrance
tutorials and single practical session of than was the case in chemistry.
requirements. The four-year B.Sc. curric-
the regular first-year physics course. An element of difference between
ulum described below has allowed the
Typically, courses taken are mathematics mathematics on the one hand and physics
faculty to more than double its intake of
and either computer science, physics or and chemistry on the other, is the diffi-
black students during this period, by
chemistry, or, for a biology student, chem- culty that B.Sc.-4 students had with the
enabling admission of students who do
istry and biology. Students also take an lecture mode in chemistry and physics,
not meet the usual entrance require-
accredited science writing course. especially in the first semester. In most
ments.
Six of the level 1 courses in the faculty disciplines it seems to be the case that sitting
To increase enrolment and graduation
are offered as double-load 'augmented' through lectures in which material is
rates of black students, historically white
courses: cell biology, chemistry, computer presented rapidly and in a possibly unfa-
universities have, in the last 15 years,
science, environmental biology, mathe- miliar accent is not an ideal learning
introduced four-year science curricula of
matics, and physics. some of these double- environment for students entering the
load courses (cell biology, environmental four-year degree. This appears to be par-
*Faculty of Science, University of Natal, Durban, 4041
South Africa.
biology, computer science and mathemat- ticularly true in chemistry and physics,
E-mail: parkinson@scifs1.und.ac.za ics) are 'augmented' in that the students where students report great difficulty in