in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks Florian Porst, 26th of April 2017
Outline 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 2
1 The National Parks 3
1 The National Parks 4
1 The National Parks Bavarian Forest NP established 1970 (oldest NP in Germany) > 900 km² protected area > 1000 km marked trails (hiking and cycling) Actual: Five border crossings between the parks (three more in an environmental impact assessment (CZ)) 5
1 The National Parks Why Transboundary Cooperation? Nature does not know human borders Effective nature conservation needs a crossborder perspective Regarding visitor management: Border becomes less important for visitors (tourists and locals) Increase of crossborder tourism New challenges (visitor number, distribution, expectations) 6
Visitor management When? Where? Who? How many? What activities? Visitor monitoring 7
2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park 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 and expectations of visitors, satisfaction with infrastructure Combination of counting and interviewing necessary 8
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) 9
2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park 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 Urwald Mittelsteighütte 3 Debrník (CZ) 4 Grenze Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald Ludwigsthal 10
2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park 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) 11
2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park Identification of four longterm counting locations through statistical analysis Locations P 27 Fredenbrücke P18 Waldhausreibe E 17 Trinkwassertalsperre P76 Brechhäuslau Relationship between the counting sites known through basic survey Calculating data for all locations 12
2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park 2.3 Interviews Standardised interviews on 12 days (distributed over 12 months) Different questionaires for locals and tourists Duration around 15 minutes 13
2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park Questions about socio-demographics, attitude, expectations, activities, satisfaction, Collection of data about behaviour in space and time (route analysis) 982 interviewed visitors 14
3 The INTERREG-Project 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%) 15
3 The INTERREG-Project 3.1 Aims Get data about corossborder tourists as basis for management decisions Learn about different expectations, attitude, needs of visitors from both countries Identifiy conflicts of nature protection and recreational use 16
3 The INTERREG-Project 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 17
3 The INTERREG-Project Step 3: Longterm survey modules (five) Themes: Evaluation of crossborder movements, knowledge about national parks, restrictions, ; Attitude towards nature, 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) 18
3 The INTERREG-Project Step 4: Longterm crossborder visitor counting Automatical counting in both parks Counting at border crossings Joining data Credible data about (crossborder) tourism 19
3 The INTERREG-Project 3.3 State of play Transboundary tender for external expertise finished May 2017: First Workshops 20
4 Conclusion Conclusion: Visitor monitoring is an important basis for an effective visitor management A basic survey is a big effort (but worth it) First longterm crossborder visitor monitoring valuable experiences for other parks/protected areas in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks 21
Leaving nature to nature in line with eco-friendly tourism that is tomorrows challenge for the management of protected areas!