Page 244 - 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. 244
challenges of tourism development in protected areas of croatia and slovenia
Introduction
The need for new space for new development opportunities is consequen-
tially reflected in increasingly expressed problems on all levels of spatial de-
velopment (Faber et al., 1987). The result of this has been an intense increase
in the number of protected nature areas over the last 20 years (UNEP-
WCMC and IUCN, 2016), as well as increasing efforts to efficiently protect
protected areas. This highlights the need to determine and resolve prob-
lems with existing management models in order to find the most appropri-
ate model for each individual protected area. The global network of parks is
currently a key option for maintaining and improving conservation of bio-
diversity and the environment as a whole (Timko and Innes, 2009).
Numerous authors have highlighted planning and managing the en-
vironment as a means of achieving a sustainable environment and sustain-
able world (Ogrin, 1999; Boetequilha and Ahern, 2002), not simply for its
physical presence, but for its metaphysical connotations, as well as the abil-
ity to plan and protect landscapes in keeping with social factors (Butula,
2003). Accordingly, the question emerges of whether tourism in protect-
ed areas is an opportunity or a challenge (or both), when contemporary
trends in global tourism indicate conflicting interests for protected areas
(Guimarães et al., 2018). This affects the direction of development for are-
as that are generally unevenly-developed and generate significant econom-
ic benefit (Dudley et al., 2008). Tourism, as opposed to other economic sec-
tors, is (theoretically) interested in maintaining protected areas in order
to continue using and developing them for material gain in the long term
(Ružić, 2011).
Approaches to the management of protected areas
The founding of the first national parks naturally sparked ruminations on
how they might be managed (Marinović-Uzelac, 2001). In the era when the
first protected areas were largely managed as individual components of the
areas in which they were found, the character of management significant-
ly differed depending on the state and management goals. Today, the em-
phasis is decidedly on the concept and quality of management of protected
areas (Martinić, 2010). The need for active management of protected areas
has become clear with time, after experiences showed that a declaration of
protected status alone was not enough to actually protect an area (so-called
“paper parks”) (Dudley et al., 1999).
242
Introduction
The need for new space for new development opportunities is consequen-
tially reflected in increasingly expressed problems on all levels of spatial de-
velopment (Faber et al., 1987). The result of this has been an intense increase
in the number of protected nature areas over the last 20 years (UNEP-
WCMC and IUCN, 2016), as well as increasing efforts to efficiently protect
protected areas. This highlights the need to determine and resolve prob-
lems with existing management models in order to find the most appropri-
ate model for each individual protected area. The global network of parks is
currently a key option for maintaining and improving conservation of bio-
diversity and the environment as a whole (Timko and Innes, 2009).
Numerous authors have highlighted planning and managing the en-
vironment as a means of achieving a sustainable environment and sustain-
able world (Ogrin, 1999; Boetequilha and Ahern, 2002), not simply for its
physical presence, but for its metaphysical connotations, as well as the abil-
ity to plan and protect landscapes in keeping with social factors (Butula,
2003). Accordingly, the question emerges of whether tourism in protect-
ed areas is an opportunity or a challenge (or both), when contemporary
trends in global tourism indicate conflicting interests for protected areas
(Guimarães et al., 2018). This affects the direction of development for are-
as that are generally unevenly-developed and generate significant econom-
ic benefit (Dudley et al., 2008). Tourism, as opposed to other economic sec-
tors, is (theoretically) interested in maintaining protected areas in order
to continue using and developing them for material gain in the long term
(Ružić, 2011).
Approaches to the management of protected areas
The founding of the first national parks naturally sparked ruminations on
how they might be managed (Marinović-Uzelac, 2001). In the era when the
first protected areas were largely managed as individual components of the
areas in which they were found, the character of management significant-
ly differed depending on the state and management goals. Today, the em-
phasis is decidedly on the concept and quality of management of protected
areas (Martinić, 2010). The need for active management of protected areas
has become clear with time, after experiences showed that a declaration of
protected status alone was not enough to actually protect an area (so-called
“paper parks”) (Dudley et al., 1999).
242
