Page 107 - Koderman, Miha, and Vuk Tvrtko Opačić. Eds. 2020. Challenges of tourism development in protected areas of Croatia and Slovenia. Koper, Zagreb: University of Primorska Press, Croatian Geographical Society
P. 107
the importance of protected areas on the slovenian coast for tourism ...
Fig. 1 Former Škocjan Bay and Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve
Source: Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, 2009
and the planning and sustainable management of these protected areas are
not only vital for the preservation of habitats and biodiversity, but also for
tourism and the quality of life of the local population. While restrictions on
land use and other human activity, as laid down by protection regimes en-
acted by the Nature Conservation Act (1999), are aimed to ensure the long-
term existence of the protected areas, they, unfortunately, cannot prevent
the negative consequences of the degradation of the global environment
and the impact of climate change.
The preserved natural areas contribute significantly to the quality of
the environment, they have become leisure sites for local people, and have
increasing educational importance; they also offer guided tours and vari-
ous other activities (Brečko Grubar and Kovačič, 2014). They are also in-
creasingly included in the tourism supply, and the existing number of vis-
itors has already exceeded the carrying capacity of the environment and
threatens nature protection imperatives. These protected areas are also ex-
posed to pressures from economic activities that are carried out in their
105
Fig. 1 Former Škocjan Bay and Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve
Source: Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, 2009
and the planning and sustainable management of these protected areas are
not only vital for the preservation of habitats and biodiversity, but also for
tourism and the quality of life of the local population. While restrictions on
land use and other human activity, as laid down by protection regimes en-
acted by the Nature Conservation Act (1999), are aimed to ensure the long-
term existence of the protected areas, they, unfortunately, cannot prevent
the negative consequences of the degradation of the global environment
and the impact of climate change.
The preserved natural areas contribute significantly to the quality of
the environment, they have become leisure sites for local people, and have
increasing educational importance; they also offer guided tours and vari-
ous other activities (Brečko Grubar and Kovačič, 2014). They are also in-
creasingly included in the tourism supply, and the existing number of vis-
itors has already exceeded the carrying capacity of the environment and
threatens nature protection imperatives. These protected areas are also ex-
posed to pressures from economic activities that are carried out in their
105
