Abstract
Outdoor recreation research has long recognized the need to understand user motivations as an essential aspect of natural protected area management. The well-established Recreation Experience Preference scale provides a useful framework for understanding motivations but very few studies have applied the REP scale to coastal and marine protected areas (CMPA). Applying the REP scale in a coastal and marine context is of interest considering the different characteristics, constraints and management compared to terrestrial protected areas. This paper explores the motivational aspects of 1000 recreational users of French CMPAs. Past research indicates French CMPAs are characterized by a low public visibility and few perceived benefits as a place to recreate. An onsite, face to face questionnaire gathered recreational user motivation data subsequently analyzed using the REP scale domains. REP domains were characterized by four main domains: "Enjoy nature", "Escape personalsocial-pressures", "Achievement/stimulation" and "Physical fitness". A standardized clustering procedure was used to identify groups of respondents with similar patterns of REP response. It suggested partitioning the motivations into four segments: "Solitaries", "Antistress performers","Socialisers" and "Explorers". Based on these findings, authors discuss the relevance of the REP concept and its management implications as a way for building community support vital to achieving CMPA conservation goals.