Scottish Natural Heritage has been monitoring participation in outdoor recreation since 2003.
In 2011, a review of the Scottish Household Survey, a separate review of population surveys around the theme of ‘people and nature’, and the impending completion of the Scottish Recreation Survey’s ten year contract provided SNH and its partners with an opportunity to consider a more focused, collaborative and cost-effective approach to data collection.
In 2013 the Scottish Household Survey became the survey vehicle for collecting annual headline data on participation at both national and local level and a new triennial partnership survey, Scotland’s People and Nature Survey (SPANS), was commissioned to provide the detailed story behind the headlines. But with continued pressure on budgets, a change to the current SPANS methodology (in home, face to face interviews) is being considered, with discussions focused on the risks around loss of data continuity versus the importance of retaining survey scale and content.