engleski

Determining impact factors on the sustainability of protected natural areas

The issue of sustainability of protected areas has been, up to twenty years ago, on the margins of scientific research because of the common perception that the protected natural areas are by their very existence sustainable. However, the increasing number of pressures on the environment and natural systems that are the result of world population growth, economic activity development, urbanization, but also climate change, are topics of many scientific papers which are usually presenting individual case studies. Therefore, this paper is focused on determining main factors of negative impact on protected areas worldwide. The research approach is based on the appropriate methodological instruments, with a focus on the survey and multivariate analysis. The survey included 114 protected nature areas in the world, out of which five strict nature reserves, four wilderness areas, 71 national parks, one natural monument, five habitat/species management areas, 19 protected landscapes, six areas with sustainable use of resources and six protected areas without the IUCN categorization. The focus of the research in selected areas were the factors (global, regional and local) effecting the sustainability, their geographic distribution, management models of protected areas and their effectiveness. By using multivariate factor analysis five fundamental factors threatening the protected natural areas were singled out: 1. the impact on natural resources and water by anthropogenic pressures, 2. the impact on space and environmental by urban development and agriculture, 3. the impact on space and environmental by tourism development, 4. exposure to natural risks and demographic and socio-cultural changes and 5. exposure to extractive activities and risks due to hydro- technical interventions and consequences of war. The geographical distribution of the most vulnerable and least vulnerable natural areas shows that the degree of exposure to anthropogenic pressures in certain parks is causally less related to the degree of intensity of tourist valorisation and more dependent of the tradition and the type of management of protected area. The result of research indicated following final setting: under increasing anthropogenic impacts, primarily tourism, protected natural areas in the world are faced with the growing problem of impacts on space. The geographical distribution of the most vulnerable and least vulnerable natural areas shows that the degree of exposure to anthropogenic pressures in certain parks is causally less related to the degree of intensity of tourist valorisation, and more dependent of the tradition and the type of management of protected area.

impacts ; protected areas ; tourism ; sustainability ; pressures

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