Page 113 - 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. 113
the importance of protected areas on the slovenian coast for tourism ...
swimming season, when tourists staying in the camping site, hotels, youth
health and summer resort, as well as in private accommodations, are joined
by numerous swimmers from nearby Slovenian and Italian towns and vil-
lages. Tourists find the area of Debeli Rtič Landscape Park equally attrac-
tive throughout the remaining part of the year, because of its broad offer-
ings in gastronomic and reacreational services, as well as its natural beauty.
Consequences of anticipated climate change
in the large-scale protected areas on the Slovenian coast
In Slovene Istria, climate change is most notably reflected in the statistically
reliable trend of increasing annual air temperature recorded at the Portorož
– Airport meteorological station during the 1961–2018 period, with a rate
of 0.37 °C/decade, while average annual peak temperature is increasing at a
rate of 0.42 °C/decade. Increasing air temperatures are raising the level of
energy in the atmosphere and contributing to increased evapotranspira-
tion, which showed a long-term trend of increasing by 49 mm/decade in the
area of Slovene Istria during the 1971–2010 period. Calculations show that
during the 1961–2018 period the annual precipitation level was decreasing
in statistically significant terms in the same area, at a rate of 32 mm/dec-
ade (Fig. 3).
The observed long-term changes in meteorological variables, the de-
creasing annual precipitation level, and the increasing annual evapotran-
spiration level affect runoff in Slovene Istria. The volume of water runoff
into the sea is decreasing, which is demonstrated by a declining trend in the
mean annual discharges of the Rižana River at the Kubed II gauging sta-
tion during the 1966–2017 period, which, according to reliable calculations,
were decreasing at a rate of 360 l/s/decade (Fig. 4).
It is not simple to assess the possible impacts of long-term reduction in
the volume of water running through watercourses into the sea within the
large-scale protected areas on the Slovenian coast. It can be assumed that
the impact will be smallest in the area of Debeli Rtič Landscape Park, where
there are only small streams with small catchments, which are largely regu-
lated. However, since the area is agriculturally cultivated, reduced volumes
of water in soil could pose a problem in terms of droughts occurring dur-
ing the growing period of crops.
Since the coastal wetlands of Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve, Sečovlje
Salina Nature Park, and parts of Strunjan Landscape Park (the saltpans
111
swimming season, when tourists staying in the camping site, hotels, youth
health and summer resort, as well as in private accommodations, are joined
by numerous swimmers from nearby Slovenian and Italian towns and vil-
lages. Tourists find the area of Debeli Rtič Landscape Park equally attrac-
tive throughout the remaining part of the year, because of its broad offer-
ings in gastronomic and reacreational services, as well as its natural beauty.
Consequences of anticipated climate change
in the large-scale protected areas on the Slovenian coast
In Slovene Istria, climate change is most notably reflected in the statistically
reliable trend of increasing annual air temperature recorded at the Portorož
– Airport meteorological station during the 1961–2018 period, with a rate
of 0.37 °C/decade, while average annual peak temperature is increasing at a
rate of 0.42 °C/decade. Increasing air temperatures are raising the level of
energy in the atmosphere and contributing to increased evapotranspira-
tion, which showed a long-term trend of increasing by 49 mm/decade in the
area of Slovene Istria during the 1971–2010 period. Calculations show that
during the 1961–2018 period the annual precipitation level was decreasing
in statistically significant terms in the same area, at a rate of 32 mm/dec-
ade (Fig. 3).
The observed long-term changes in meteorological variables, the de-
creasing annual precipitation level, and the increasing annual evapotran-
spiration level affect runoff in Slovene Istria. The volume of water runoff
into the sea is decreasing, which is demonstrated by a declining trend in the
mean annual discharges of the Rižana River at the Kubed II gauging sta-
tion during the 1966–2017 period, which, according to reliable calculations,
were decreasing at a rate of 360 l/s/decade (Fig. 4).
It is not simple to assess the possible impacts of long-term reduction in
the volume of water running through watercourses into the sea within the
large-scale protected areas on the Slovenian coast. It can be assumed that
the impact will be smallest in the area of Debeli Rtič Landscape Park, where
there are only small streams with small catchments, which are largely regu-
lated. However, since the area is agriculturally cultivated, reduced volumes
of water in soil could pose a problem in terms of droughts occurring dur-
ing the growing period of crops.
Since the coastal wetlands of Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve, Sečovlje
Salina Nature Park, and parts of Strunjan Landscape Park (the saltpans
111
