Sustainable recreational use and benefits of Natura 2000 network Liisa Kajala Parks & Wildlife Finland
Parks & Wildlife Finland Manages all state-owned protected areas, i.e. 18% of Finland s surface area: 40 national parks 19 strict nature reserves 5 national hiking areas 12 wilderness areas in Lapland almost 3,000 other protected areas and cultural heritage sites: ca. 350 protected buildings, ca. 2,000 ancient sites. Most of the established protected areas, including all national parks, belong to Natura 2000 network
Serving customers in nature and online, 2017 Basic facilities in the state-owned protected areas, for example more than 6,000 km of trails, 2,000 km of skiing routes, 2,800 campfire sites, and 400 wilderness huts. 25 nature centres Nationalparks.fi: over 12 million page views, more than 2 million unique visitors Online maps from Excursionmap.fi: 4 million visits, 1,7 million unique visitors
Visitation to National Parks in constant growth
Natura 2000 sites create wealth and work Total value Use values Non-use values Direct use values (recreation, scenery) Option value (future use) Existence value (original nature, species, habitats) Bequest value Indirect use (water, climate, photos, films) The visitors spending increases income and employment in the area. Income effects reflect the part of the direct use values, not the total value.
Vastavalo / Matti Koutonen Natura 2000 sites enhance public health According to visitor surveys in 2015-2017, 87% of visitors to protected areas experienced that the visit had a fairly or very high impact on their health and wellbeing (n=11 323). The average health and well-being effect as perceived by the visitors was 4.36 on a scale from 1 to 5. For example, in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, visitors moved a total of about 10.2 million kilometers in 2017 by their own power.
Examples of EU programs used for recreation and tourism development EU LIFE Freshabit LIFE (metsa.fi/web/en/freshabit): visitor monitoring, environmental education material, signage etc. ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Gateway to Kuusamo Lapland, Land of National Parks (ruka.fi/en/gateway-to-kuusamo-lapland): sustainable tourism and marketing of Natura 2000 sites, cooperation with tourism industry in large scale ERDF Botnia-Atlantica Interreg Lystra (www.metsa.fi/fi/web/en/lystra): Awareness and Activities in the World Natural Heritage Site High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago, e.g. enhancing the accessibility and attractiveness of the sites for inhabitants, entrepreneurs and visitors without jeopardizing sustainable development ERDF Interreg Nord Halti project (metsa.fi/fi/web/guest/halti): Lowering the border between Finland and Norway at Halti fell
Examples of EU programs used for recreation and tourism development ERDF Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme Ascent (http://www.metsa.fi/fi/web/en/ascent): Promoting Sustainable Access to Uplands & Natural Environments: Visitor surveys, visitor management, sustainability ESF Esikoto (http://www.metsa.fi/fi/web/guest/esikoto): health and well-being for asylum seekers through nature-based activities ENI CBC programs (European Neighborhood Instrument / Cross Border Cooperation) GreenSol (www.metsa.fi/fi/web/guest/greensol): Green Solutions for Nature Protected Areas Urban Parks & Benefits: recreational infrastructure to improve visitor experiences and safety, communications, etc. RDP (Rural Development Program for Mainland Finland) Syöte MTB (www.metsa.fi/syote-mtb-syotteen-maastopyorareitit): sustainable mountain bike trail development
Conclusions from the current funding period Many possibilities have been available and used for sustainable recreation & tourism development related to Natura 2000 sites Main challenges have been related with finding funding instruments suitable for infrastructure investments
Increasing the benefits of recreation and tourism of Natura 2000 sites 1. Recreation infrastructure Maintenance and repair of recreational infrastructure, including: Maintaining and repairing facilities and recreational infrastructure Making trails more durable and accessible Investments in new infrastructure, including: Improving accessibility, signage and capacity of services Benefits Protecting nature values by efficiently channelling recreational use of the sites Sustainable development, increasing social and economic benefits Serving the growing demand for nature visits, increasing potential for tourism activities Enhancing visitor safety, equality, and quality experiences Ease and cost-efficiency of maintenance Energy efficiency, low-carbon solutions
2. Monitoring visitation and evaluating the benefits and impacts of the visits Collecting continuous visitor information in a systematic manner Visitor surveys Visitor counting with electronic counters Interactive visitor feedback system (allowing place-specific visitor feedback and alerts to visitors on visitor safety related services) Monitoring of sustainability EU-level cooperation on visitor monitoring Benefits Allows analysis of sustainability from recreational perspective Service design based on customer feedback Measuring and reporting of the benefits Kuva: Metsähallitus / Petri Jauhiainen
3. Communication venues and materials Development of communication platforms, information materials and exhibitions New investments & updates of the existing ones Production of photographs and video material Cooperation with tourism and health sectors in communicating the values of the Natura 2000 sites Benefits Increased appreciation of the Natura 2000 sites and network Increased awareness and appreciation of nature conservation work
4. Sustainable tourism Infrastructure designed specifically for nature tourism entrepreneurship Cooperation with tourism sector Information packages for tourism operators Nature tourism plans Benefits: Better services for visitors enhancing equality Positive local economic impacts More sustainable tourism operations
liisa.kajala@metsa.fi metsa.fi/web/en/visitationnumbers metsa.fi/web/en/economicbenefitsofnationalparks nationalparks.fi/en/hikinginfinland/healthandwellbeing