Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring in
Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Florian Porst, 26th of April 2017
|Outline
2
1 The National Parks
2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
2.1 Research interests
2.2 Counting
2.3 Interviews
3 INTERREG-project
3.1 Aims
3.2 Steps
3.3 State of play
4 Conclusion
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
|1 The National Parks
3Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
|1 The National Parks
4Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
|1 The National Parks
5
Bavarian Forest NP established 1970 (oldest NP in Germany)
> 900 km² protected area
> 1000 km markedtrails (hiking and cycling)
Actual: Five bordercrossings between the parks(three more in an environmental impact assessment (CZ))
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
|1 The National Parks
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Why Transboundary Cooperation?
Nature does not know human borders
Effective nature conservation needsa crossborder perspective
Regarding visitor management:
Border becomes less important for visitors (tourists and locals)
Increase of crossborder tourism
New challenges (visitor number, distribution, expectations)
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
|Visitor management
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Who?Where?
How many?
When?
What activities?
Visitor monitoringEstablishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Period: April 28, 2013 to May 11, 2014
2.1 Research interests
Total number of visitors
Sociodemographic structure of visitors
Behaviour/Distribution (space and time), attitude andexpectations of visitors, satisfaction with infrastructure
Combination of counting and interviewing necessary
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|2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
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| 2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
2.2 Counting (automatical)
• Visitor counting from April 28, 2013 to May 11, 2014
Usage of counting devices for longterm outdoor use
• 14 sites, 15 different counters
10 thermal sensors (for walkers, cyclists, cross-country skiers etc.)2 pressure mats (for walkers)2 pressure tubes (for cyclists)1 vibration sensor (for cyclists)
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
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2.3 Counting (manual)
• Counting by human observers at 64 sites
• Counting on 12 days distributed
over 12 months
(6 weekdays, 6 Sundays/holidays)1
Ludwigsthal
Urwald
Mittelsteig-
hütte
3
4
Debrník (CZ)
Grenze
Nationalpark
Bayerischer Wald
| 2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Results:
• Permanent monitoring at 14 sites
+ Counting by human observers at 64 sites on 12 days
+ Parking tickets at the national park centres
= total number of visits (April 2013 - April 2014): 1.3 million
(at the parking lots of the national park centres: 0.4 m visitors)
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| 2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Identification of four longtermcounting locations throughstatistical analysis
P 27 Fredenbrücke
P18 WaldhausreibeE 17 TrinkwassertalsperreP76 Brechhäuslau
Relationship between the counting sites known through basic survey
Calculating data for all locations
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Locations
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
| 2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
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| 2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
2.3 Interviews
• Standardised interviewson 12 days(distributed over 12 months)
• Different questionairesfor locals and tourists
• Duration around 15 minutes
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
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| 2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
• Questions about socio-demographics, attitude, expectations, activities, satisfaction,…
• Collection of data aboutbehaviour in space and time (route analysis)
982 interviewed visitors
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Title:
Establishment of a transboundary socioeconomic Monitoring in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Project duration: 3 years (1.1.2017 – 31.12.2019).
Project costs: 672.000 Euro (funding rate: 85%)
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
3.1 Aims
Get data about corossborder tourists as basis for managementdecisions
Learn about different expectations, attitude, needs of visitorsfrom both countries
Identifiy conflicts of nature protection and recreational use
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
3.2 Steps
Step 1: Basic survey in Šumava National Park
Step 2: Joining the Data from both Parks
Step 3: Developing five longterm survey modules
Step 4: Longterm crossborder visitor counting
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Step 3: Longterm survey modules (five)
Themes: Evaluation of crossborder movements, knowledgeabout national parks, restrictions,…; Attitude towardsnature, satisfaction with infrastructure, expectations, visitor behaviour, regional economics, acceptance,…
All modules surveyed once while the project
Each year surveyed one module after the project(five-years-regular cycle)
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Step 4: Longterm crossborder visitor counting
Automatical counting in both parks
Counting at border crossings
Joining data
Credible dataabout (crossborder) tourism
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
3.3 State of play
Transboundary tender for external expertise finished
May 2017: First Workshops
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoringin Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Conclusion:
Visitor monitoring is an important basis for an effectivevisitor management
A basic survey is a big effort (but worth it)
First longterm crossborder visitor monitoring
valuable experiences for other parks/protected areas
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|4 Conclusion
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring in Šumava andBavarian Forest National Parks
Leaving nature to nature
in line with eco-friendly tourism –
that is tomorrows challenge for the
management of protected areas!