Page 12 - 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. 12
challenges of tourism development in protected areas of croatia and slovenia
between policies that strengthen nature conservation and consequently
limit the progress of tourism related activities, and those that allow more
moderate development of protected areas, thus enabling the growth of their
recreational function. In the last decade, integrated management of pro-
tected areas has striven towards the implementation of the concept of sus-
tainable tourism development. Although this concept has become widely
accepted and has been successfully introduced in some protected areas, it
is still often inappropriately and/or inadequately carried out in regard to its
theoretical assumptions. Additionally, there is a frequent lack of concrete
research aimed at identifying the spatial effects of tourism on the basis of
defined and measurable indicators of the state of the environment.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCN in further text) defines a protected area as ‘a clearly de-
fined geographical space, recognised, dedicated, and managed, through
legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of
nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values’ (Leung
et al., 2018). IUCN’s definition of protected areas is partially included
in both Croatian and Slovenian legislation that relates to nature protec-
tion (Berginc et al., 2006; Marković, 2015). According to Croatian Nature
Protection Act (Official Gazette, 80/13) a protected area is defined as a ‘geo-
graphically clearly-defined area that is intended for nature protection and
in which long-term actions for nature protection and ecosystem preserva-
tion are carried out’. In Slovenian legislation, nature protection is covered
by the Nature Conservation Act (1999), the fundamental legal act that has
been amended many times since its inception.
Protected areas are established in order to protect species and habitats,
together with ecosystem services and natural processes (Sovinc, 2017) and
can be classified into several categories concerning the level of conservation
or management goals (Tab. 1).
It is important to mention that each state determines categories ac-
cording to its own criteria, so the categories from different states that bear
the same name might not actually be analogous in terms of level and man-
ner of protection (Klarić and Gatti, 2006). In order to unify the criteria for
declaring certain categories of protected areas on the global level, the ten-
dency in most states is to implement the IUCN categorisation of protected
areas (Dudley, 2008; Leung et al., 2018). Examples of harmonisation of cat-
egories of protected areas, as well as deviation from IUCN categorisation,
are visible in some cases in Croatia and Slovenia.
10
between policies that strengthen nature conservation and consequently
limit the progress of tourism related activities, and those that allow more
moderate development of protected areas, thus enabling the growth of their
recreational function. In the last decade, integrated management of pro-
tected areas has striven towards the implementation of the concept of sus-
tainable tourism development. Although this concept has become widely
accepted and has been successfully introduced in some protected areas, it
is still often inappropriately and/or inadequately carried out in regard to its
theoretical assumptions. Additionally, there is a frequent lack of concrete
research aimed at identifying the spatial effects of tourism on the basis of
defined and measurable indicators of the state of the environment.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCN in further text) defines a protected area as ‘a clearly de-
fined geographical space, recognised, dedicated, and managed, through
legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of
nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values’ (Leung
et al., 2018). IUCN’s definition of protected areas is partially included
in both Croatian and Slovenian legislation that relates to nature protec-
tion (Berginc et al., 2006; Marković, 2015). According to Croatian Nature
Protection Act (Official Gazette, 80/13) a protected area is defined as a ‘geo-
graphically clearly-defined area that is intended for nature protection and
in which long-term actions for nature protection and ecosystem preserva-
tion are carried out’. In Slovenian legislation, nature protection is covered
by the Nature Conservation Act (1999), the fundamental legal act that has
been amended many times since its inception.
Protected areas are established in order to protect species and habitats,
together with ecosystem services and natural processes (Sovinc, 2017) and
can be classified into several categories concerning the level of conservation
or management goals (Tab. 1).
It is important to mention that each state determines categories ac-
cording to its own criteria, so the categories from different states that bear
the same name might not actually be analogous in terms of level and man-
ner of protection (Klarić and Gatti, 2006). In order to unify the criteria for
declaring certain categories of protected areas on the global level, the ten-
dency in most states is to implement the IUCN categorisation of protected
areas (Dudley, 2008; Leung et al., 2018). Examples of harmonisation of cat-
egories of protected areas, as well as deviation from IUCN categorisation,
are visible in some cases in Croatia and Slovenia.
10
