Human-Nature Interactions and Impacts of Tourist Activities on Protected Areas

Increased demand and interest in outdoor activities are great opportunities, but also challenges for each protected area (PA) to meet visitors’ expectations, but also to protect natural values. The project aims to assist PA managers in Central Europe (CE) in the evidence-based and participatory management (still insufficiently present in practice), helping them put the right measures in the right places, make smarter decisions, prevent negative impacts and human-nature conflicts, and reduce risk using an incremental approach. A key project message is the importance of better managing visitors today so that tomorrow’s visitors can also experience quality sites, their conservation values, and the livelihood and well-being of local communities are supported as well. The project focuses on the joint development of new complementary tools and methods of tourists’ impact assessment based on transnational exchanges of experiences to better evaluate environmental conditions and trends, take explicit managerial responses and actions, develop information for national and EU policymakers, and the public. Jointly developed pilot actions and solutions will demonstrate the use of innovative approaches to measuring the environmental impacts of tourism inside PAs. Involvement of tourists and local communities in project activities, including participatory monitoring, will not only produce new valuable data but also bring awareness-raising, trust-building, and behavioral change. For individuals (tourists and locals), this is a learning activity, when they can critically analyze the world around them and identify practical actions to protect the environment. Partners will also reflect existing narratives and together create new ones for the development of the ‘common heritage’ narrative and its ability to support policymaking. Jointly developed project outputs and final recommendations will be shared among relevant stakeholders trough accompanying communication activities.Defining environmental impacts on natural resources caused by various tourism activities and planning activities to monitor and reduce these impacts in the PA. Joint identification of gaps and most promising monitoring tools for impact assessment.



Jointly develop, test, and evaluate different innovative monitoring methods and approaches to assess the effects of human activities. Improve availability, quality, and interpretability of data and comparability among countries. 5 pilot actions testing new methods and approaches at 5 pilot sites to collect information on a set of chosen indicators that provide a strategic and accessible overview of the impact of different tourist activities on natural values in protected areas. Pilot actions follow the common approach outlined in the Jointly developed transnational strategy. Actions will not only test the methods, and explore their potential, but also generate new knowledge and contribute to the joint production of coherent data sets. 6 different solutions how to monitor specific environmental problems caused by different tourist activities.

The overall objective is to co-create, with stakeholders and tourists, transferable models that support human wellbeing, as well as an understanding of the relationship between humans and nature and responsibility for nature and its diversity.