Lockdown-weary Europeans are seeking out nature in record numbers this year, putting sudden and huge pressure on national parks and other natural areas across the continent.
“We were seeing an increase in irresponsible behavior, and many parks felt this was out of control,” said Nicoleta Jones, a senior researcher at the University of Cambridge and author of a recent study on the impact of the pandemic. he said. About protected areas in Europe. “The resources they had were not enough. It was far beyond anything they had experienced in the past.”
A decisive episode occurred in Germany in November, shortly after the country went into partial lockdown. Three young people took a day trip to the Bavarian Forest National Park, a 60,000-acre area of forest, marshes, and rock formations about an hour’s drive from Straubing’s home. As we neared the end of our hike, a young man in our group realized he had left his smartphone behind. The sun was low on the horizon, but everyone turned to look for it and ended up getting lost in the darkness and very cold.
“It was a marked trail, but they were disoriented and not wearing appropriate clothing,” said Teresa Schreib, the park’s community development and tourism manager. Local police and mountain rescue teams launched a search and found the hikers just before midnight, local news outlets reported. They were taken to the hospital for hypothermia.
Schreib said the incident was typical of what park employees have seen since the pandemic began. A new crowd, many of them young city dwellers, arrived for the first time, often unprepared and uninformed. She said it was a challenge to manage all of these new visitors, some of whom were aggressive towards rangers and other guests, while ensuring social distancing and protecting the health of the park’s small staff. That’s what it means.
If nature tourism trends continue post-pandemic, and there is evidence that they are, experts say the continent’s protected areas will see a surge in nature-based tourism that could bring jobs and income. It said a significant increase in investment would be needed to address the issue. In rural areas of Europe, the number of vacant houses has been steadily increasing for more than half a century. The key will be finding ways to sustainably accommodate all these visitors and fund that work.
challenging summer
While Schreib and her colleagues were busy managing the crowds, the Swiss National Park, a nature reserve in eastern Switzerland and the oldest national park in the Alps, was enjoying its busiest summer on record. Although data is still being compiled, park officials estimate that visitor numbers in 2020 were 50 percent higher than normal. A survey conducted in the summer revealed that 40% of respondents had never visited a Swiss national park in the past 10 years. Park staff noticed the difference.
“This year the amount of fines has more than doubled compared to previous years,” said Sonya Wipf, head of research and monitoring at Swiss National Parks, adding that the fines were mainly for bringing dogs into parks. , noted that he left the park. Nuisance wildlife with marked trails and unruly behavior such as loud noises and flying drones.
The study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, analyzed the experiences of 14 European protected areas during the coronavirus pandemic, and found overcrowding, irresponsible behavior and parking issues among the top challenges. In both areas, the number of visitors increased compared to the previous year, especially in the summer.
The study identified some of the most effective responses to this year’s challenges, including public information campaigns, online education programs, and careful planning of visitor movements.
But finding the time and funding to implement these responses is another matter, especially given that, unlike the United States, few national parks in Europe charge visitors an entrance fee.
“I think in the early days we were just coping,” said the chief executive of England’s Peak District National Park, a stretch of limestone valleys and moorland plateaus within an hour’s drive of more than 16 million people. , said Sarah Fowler. Fowler added that the park has a team of about 20 rangers covering 555 square miles. Fowler said the park typically relies on an extensive network of volunteers to supplement the work of rangers, but this year volunteer contributions have been reduced to meet government requirements around COVID-19. It is said that it was done.
A similar thing happened in France’s Ecrins National Park. The park has approximately 25,000 acres of glaciers and approximately 150 mountains over 9,800 feet above sea level.
“This is because we have been losing staff for the past 10 years,” said Pierrick Nazet, the park’s head of tourism and communications.
Next year’s park budget has been decided, and the number of staff will be reduced by one. He was not optimistic about the possibility of further reinforcements in the future.
“I don’t think national parks will create jobs because the French government is trying to rein in public spending,” he said. “But if there was, that would be good news.”
In Finland, Sipoonkorpi National Park, a forested area outside Helsinki popular with hikers, will probably see a 200 percent increase in visitor numbers this year, said Henrik, Finnish Parks and Metsähallitus regional director for coastal and metropolitan areas.・Mr. Jansson stated. wildlife services. Janson said the park system received new federal funding even before the pandemic hit, which helped it meet this year’s challenges. But it was still a sprint, especially at the beginning.
“For two weeks, we worked almost around the clock, even on weekends, to get the situation under control,” Jansson said of the early stages of the pandemic, adding that the country had now settled into “a kind of new normal.” .
Jansson said the Finnish government is allocating part of its COVID-19 funding to building parking lots in national parks, and proposals are currently being drawn up to create two new national parks in Finland. He added that there is. He said the new funding would likely be used to partner with external service providers rather than hire a large number of new staff.
“We can’t overhire because we know at some point this funding will end,” he said.
essential services
Will all new visitors return once the pandemic subsides? Several park officials expressed the belief that crowding will continue into 2021 and beyond, although perhaps to a lesser extent.
Ms Fowler, of the Peak District National Park, said: “After lockdown we really saw a hunger to get outside and reconnect with nature.” “There’s a huge recognition that it supports our mental health and our own recovery.”
While the continued influx of nature-seeking tourists may be good news for humanity, it will no doubt continue to put a strain on the protected areas they visit. James Hardcastle, head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Green List program, described national parks and other protected areas as “vital services” and said governments across Europe were “supporting them in a more measured way”. There is a need to do so.” ”
“This is a completely neglected area across the board,” Hardcastle said. “Even before COVID-19, most countries were reducing resource allocation to conservation, especially parks.”
Towards a new rural economy
But funding national parks and other highly managed natural areas is an expensive proposition, promoting “rewilding” as a new approach to conservation across the continent. said Frans Schepers, co-founder and managing director of Rewilding Europe, an initiative aimed at He said policymakers and land managers could adopt less intensive and more cost-effective ways to manage and generate income from national parks as well as many of the continent’s natural areas. argue that it is necessary.
In 2016, Rewilding Europe launched its own travel business, European Safari Company, with the aim of attracting tourists and their money primarily to rural areas in Southern and Eastern Europe. The company works with local guides and tourism operators in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Italy and elsewhere to help organize wildlife viewing tours, bison and wolf chase escapes, and other pastimes. The goal, Shepards said, is to make nature and wildlife the basis of a new economy in these rural areas, where populations have been declining for decades.
“This way we can breathe new life into struggling areas,” Shepards said. “All we need to do is make sure that nature-based tourism is done in the right way and that it not only exploits nature but also supports its conservation.”
And while government funding for national parks may still be lacking, Schepers said European policymakers are developing ambitious goals and policies on issues such as land restoration and reforestation. He praised Brussels’ recent policy developments. He said Europe had a “historic opportunity” to return landscapes to a more natural state, as rural landscapes become vacant.
Carla Danertti, executive director of the MEET Network, an association of protected areas and tourism operators that promotes high-quality ecotourism in the Mediterranean region, says the pandemic has increased interest in exactly these types of tourism experiences along the Mediterranean. He said it was helpful.
“COVID-19 has supported this model that we have set up,” Ms Danertti said, adding that Mediterranean tourism has traditionally been about “sunshine tourism” rather than guided nature walks or visits to traditional farms. and sandy beaches. Before the pandemic, she and her colleagues were trying to track down tourism operators to join their network. Now companies are calling them.
Dr Jones, from the University of Cambridge, said the private sector could help fill the gap, but protected areas would continue to need government support.
“With the coronavirus crisis, there are so many things that need state support at the moment. We are all a little concerned that nature will no longer be prioritized,” she said.
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