The national parks in the Carpathian Mountains along the Polish and Slovak border represent encompassing policy agendas that strive to balance biodiversity conservation and social welfare tasks. These countries have, during the last 25 years, undergone rapid transformation from socialist regimes to liberal democracies, and this transformation has affected the political, social and economic spheres. The accession to the European Union (EU) introduced demands for further changes, such as closer integration of conservation and socioeconomic development and inclusive, transparent and accountable decision-making that are based on participatory mechanisms. This thesis explores key challenges and opportunities for nature conservation policy and practice at the local level in a context of post-socialist legacies and Europeanization. Multi-level governance, Europeanization, and post-socialist studies are used as theoretical vehicles for the analysis of four transboundary national parks: Pieninsky national parks (NP) in both Poland and Slovakia and Bieszczady NP [Poland] and Poloniny NP [Slovakia]. The results of this study show that the early designation of the studied parks as protected areas prevented their exploitation and enabled preservation of important landscapes, which currently are highly valued at the European level. These nature conservation regimes have created tangible restrictions on the possible economic uses of these areas. However, rural development alternatives depend on a broader set of local, national and global factors such as the structure of the local economy and employment, the prioritization of nature conservation in national policies, investors’ interest, and increasing urbanization. Europeanization provided opportunities for local actors to benefit from additional funding made available for nature conservation and rural development. At the same time, demands for participatory decision-making posed significant procedural and conceptual challenges to achieving transparent, inclusive and accountable governance. The prevalence of informal practices in local policy-making and the lack of trust in state authorities pose further challenges to formal participatory processes. The opportunities of local actors to reach out across levels to express their interests remain scarce and are not institutionalized, whereas the multi-level characteristics of modern governance indirectly shape local processes by defining common legal and policy frameworks. / Förvaltningen av nationalparkerna in vid gränsen mellan Polen och Slovakien i Karpaterna är framför allt inriktad mot att uppnå balans mellan bevarande av biologisk mångfald och social välfärd. Polen och Slovakien har under de senaste 25 åren genomgått en snabb förändring från socialistiska regimer till liberala demokratier, vilket har inneburit genomgripande politiska, sociala och ekonomiska förändringar. Medlemskapet i EU innebar ytterligare förändringar, som till exempel integrering av naturvårdsarbete och socioekonomisk utveckling, liksom främjande av inkluderande, transparent och deltagarinriktat beslutsfattande. Därmed bygger den moderna beslutsprocessen inte längre på den tidigare hierarkiska strukturen, utan har nu fått en aningen diffus karaktär, innefattande mängd olika aktörer som interagerar i såväl horisontella som vertikala beslutsprocesser. I denna avhandling utforskas nyckelutmaningar och möjligheter för beslutsfattande och implementering av naturvårdsarbete på lokal nivå, relaterade till de post-socialistiska arven och medlemskapet i EU. Multi-level governance (politiskt beslutsfattande på flera nivåer), Europeanization (europeisering) och post-socialistiska studier används som teoretiska verktyg för analysen av fyra gränsöverskridande nationalparker: Pieninsky, som innefattar såväl polska som slovakiska områden, Bieszczady (Polen) och Poloniny (Slovakien). Studien visar att det tidiga inrättandet av naturskydd i nationalparkerna hindrade exploatering och möjliggjorde bevarandet av värdefulla naturområden, vilka idag är högt värderade utifrån ett europeiskt perspektiv. Reglerna för detta naturskydd har dock skapat begränsningar för hur områdena kan användas för, till exempel, agrara verksamheter och turism. De mer övergripande landsbygdsutvecklingsmöjligheterna beror av lokala, nationella och globala faktorer som exempelvis den lokala ekonomins struktur, tillgång på arbetstillfällen, hur naturskydd prioriteras i nationellt beslutsfattande, intresse för investeringar i området och urbaniseringsprocesser. Medlemskapet i EU har medfört utökade möjligheter för finansiering av naturskydd och landsbygdsutveckling. Samtidigt har medlemskapet för dessa länder lett till ökade förväntningar på politiskt deltagande och nya utmaningar vad gäller transparens i beslutsfattande och inkluderande beslutsprocesser. Vidare har informella beslutsvägar i lokalt beslutsfattande och lågt förtroende för statliga myndigheter lett till ytterligare utmaningar i deltagandeprocesser. Möjligheter för lokala aktörer att kunna kommunicera och påverka beslut på högre nivåer har förblivit begränsade och är ännu inte tydligt institutionaliserade, samtidigt som det moderna, interaktiva beslutsfattandet på flera nivåer indirekt formar lokala processer genom att definiera legala och politiska ramverk inom vilka förvaltningsbeslut fattas.

Please read the abstract in the section 06back of this document / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Centre for Wildlife Management / unrestricted

There are concerns that many national parks worldwide are ineffective at conserving biological diversity and ecosystem processes, are socially unjust in their relations with Indigenous communities, or both. This dissertation asks: can national parks protect ecological integrity and concurrently address social equity issues? It presents empirical results of a systematic evaluation of six case study national parks in Canada and South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to select the six case study national parks. Data sources included State of the Park Reports; park ecological monitoring data; archival data; and semi-structured interviews with park biologists, managers, and Indigenous members of park co-management boards. Status and trend assessments and effectiveness evaluations of park ecological monitoring data were used to evaluate how effectively the parks addressed three ecological integrity criteria. Results show that all six parks effectively addressed the priority indicators for which they had monitoring data. However, the effectiveness ratings of each park decreased when all indicators, including those identified as priorities but lacking monitoring data, were analysed. This indicates that the parks had generally identified more priority indicators than they were actually able to address (for reasons including lack of budget or trained staff, managerial challenges). Thematic coding of semi-structured interview and archival data, and the assignation of numerical ratings to these data, were used to evaluate how effectively the parks addressed three equity criteria. Results show that all but one of the case study parks were equitable, parks with more comprehensive co-management and support from neighbouring Indigenous groups were more equitable than parks with lower levels of co-management, the parks with settled land claims were not necessarily more equitable overall, and a few parks were found to be co-managed in name only. The overall results of this evaluation demonstrate that parks effective at protecting ecological integrity can also successfully address social equity, but that further efforts to integrate these two realms are both possible and necessary. A logical starting point would be to build upon those existing integrative processes already institutionalised in many parks and protected areas: the co-management and integrated conservation and development efforts. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

The Lake Minnewanka area is one of Banff National Park's most scenic and highly visited regions. Impacts such as the loss of significant montane habitat (characteristic of the Lower Bow Valley ecosystem) and social implications like crowding led to the need to develop a strategy for managing the area. The author worked with a planning team from the Canadian Parks Service(CPS) in Banff National Park (BNP) to develop the Minnewanka Area Plan. The primary purpose of the thesis is to evaluate the Minnewanka Area Plan to determine whether it effectively serves to maintain and enhance ecological integrity. A theoretical framework based on integrated ecosystem management was developed to evaluate the plan. Normative criteria from literature on recreational carrying capacity management and meaningful public participation were defined and applied to the plan. Overall, the plan was rated as successful according to the normative criteria. All of the criteria for an effective approach to carrying capacity management were considered and the plan reflected a fair and efficient public participation process. Stakeholder input influenced plan decisions to a high degree and several partnerships were developed through the planning process. Several inadequacies in the plan were identified through the evaluation. The adoption of an approach to ecosystem management called the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) was recommended as a guiding principle within the plan. The step-by-step LAC model was seen as overly complex in the context of the case study. Indicators and a monitoring program which are central to the LAC process were not defined as part of the plan. The evaluation of the public participation process indicated that stakeholder participation was high early in the planning process and reflected a partnership relationship where stakeholders shared the power of decision-making. During completion of the draft and final plan, the process became one of public consultation where the level and frequency of participation was lowered. Recommendations for improving the efficacy of the Minnewanka Area Plan are made within the thesis. A simpler approach to visitor and resource management which maintains the essential criteria of the LAC approach is suggested. Measures for maintaining a high level of public participation and improving the accountability of the CPS in decision-making are proposed. The normative criteria based on carrying capacity management and meaningful public participation processes are presented as a model for facilitating integrated ecosystem management in area planning within national parks. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The study objective was to inventory natural resources, use patterns, and visitor characteristics in Yoho Valley, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, and to offer some management considerations for the area. In the natural resource inventory, research emphasis was placed on a soil and landform survey which resulted in a soils map of Yoho Valley. Soil map units are discussed in detail, and interpretations are developed on the suitability of soil types to support trail and campground users. Soil map unit descriptions include information on soil parent material, horizonation, depth, texture, coarse fragments, drainage, slope, elevation range, and associated vegetation. The soils of Yoho Valley were divided, into 13 soil map units consisting of 6 different landforms and 5 separate soil orders. Humo-Ferric. Podzols occurred in the Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir forest zone oh morainal landform material. Degraded Eutric Brunisols were found on relatively stable colluvial material and glacio-fluvial deposits in the same forest zone. Alpine Eutric Brunisols occurred on both till and colluvium in the alpine zone above 7200 feet elevation. Cumulic and Orthic Regosols occurred on both steep colluvium and.on relatively flat fluvial deposits. Small amounts of Organics and Gleysolics were also found in the study area. Steep slopes were found to be the major soil limitation for both trails and campgrounds; over 90% of the study area occurs on greater than 30% slopes, and nearly 60% of the valley is on greater than 60% slopes. Information related to the climate, geology, flora, and fauna of the study area was examined as background. Photographs were systematically taken along trails to document visual conditions of trail sides. A visitor survey was undertaken to assess the amounts and distribution of road, campground, and backcountry use. Traffic counter recording devices were installed on the Yoho Valley road and calibrated to determine visitor-days of road use. The Takakkaw Falls campground in Yoho Valley was visited each day in 1972 to determine camper-nights of use. Rates of registration were calculated for the trail kiosk for backcountry use estimates. Use data were compared, over time to determine growth trends. It was estimated that approximately 71,300 visitors entered Yoho Valley by road in 1974. Approximately 79% of the visitors were day users, while 21% were overnight users. Road use increased at the average annual rate of 10% since 1969. Campground use in 1974 was 6,075 campers % use increased 20 to 25% per year from 1968 to 1972 until use restriction measures were implemented in 1973. An estimated 8,40.0 visitors hiked in the valley's backcountry in 1974. Approximately 74% of these visitors were day hikers. Backcountry use has increased at the average rate of 20% per year since 1965. A road and backcountry survey of visitor characteristics was conducted in 1972 by employing on-site personal interviews. Two hundred parties were interviewed on the Yoho Valley road and 193 parties were sampled on backcountry trails. The survey questionnaire provided information on the demographic characteristics, trip characteristics, preferences and opinions of the study area , users. The results are discussed and compared with other related research. Yoho Valley users were found to have disproportionately more income and more formal education than the Canadian population. Users were also more likely to have a 'professional' occupation and to reside in a large city. Backcountry users, relative to road users, were more likely to be male, to be between 10 to 39 years old, to have less income, to have more education, to be a 'professional', to be from a large city, and to be Canadian and Albertan. The median distance traveled by road users from their place of residence was 2000 miles, while it was half that or 1000 miles for back-country users. Most road users spent less than two hours in the study area, while hikers usually spent between five to twelve hours in the area. Questions related to visitor preference indicated a fairly high level of satisfaction by both visitor groups. Over two-thirds of the valley's road users and nearly one-half of the backcountry users said there was 'nothing at all' that they disliked about their visit. Most visitors actually preferred the valley's present gravel road to a paved road. Seventy-five percent of the valley's road users and 89% of the backcountry users opposed the idea of paving the Yoho Valley road. Most visitors were concerned that paving the road would lead to overcrowding and overdevelopment in the study area. Although several possible backcountry modifications were shown on the questionnaire form to hikers, all were rejected by most backcountry users. Changes that received the most support related to the hikers need for more and better backcountry information This background resource and visitor inventory is examined with respect to campground and trail facility proposals made by Parks Canada in 1972. The intent is to show how the resource and visitor inventories can assist in the evaluation of park planning proposals. It is hoped that the inventory information presented will be useful to park managers and planners in a general way, and specifically in the formulation of land use decisions for Yoho Valley. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

A series of radio broad casts over Station KGO, San Francisco, California, in the spring of 1935, first brought to my attention the great value of the National Parks in the field of adult education. Subsequently, in visiting some of the world's greatest natural wonders, which are located in the National Parks in the western part of the United States, I have had the opportunity to observe some of the fine educational facilities made available to the visitor through the service of the park naturalists. The purpose of this thesis is to bring out the importance to the visitor of this educational service. It is my aim to present a clear picture of this educational work and to interpret the material gathered in the survey, and to comment on outstanding problems in this relatively new field of education. During the past five years, I have had the privilege of spending from one day to two weeks in each of the following National Parks: Bryce Canyon, Crater Lake, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Mesa Verde, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, and Kings Canyon . In 1935 I visited the Olympic Peninsula, and have been in the region which is now the Olympic National Park. A great deal of the material has been gathered by interviews with the naturalists in the various parks and from observations made by the writer. Therefore much of this information is not recorded in books or bulletin form. My interest in National Parks is of long standing, and it was rekindled in 1934 when the Post Office Department issued a series of postage stamps known as the National Park Series. In my opinion this was one of the most beautiful sets of stamps ever issued by our Government, and it has served to attract the attention of millions of our citizens t o the great natural resources controlled by our nation in the interest of all people. This novel way of calling attention to the most beautiful spots in America, the National Parks, the public's playgrounds, has undoubtedly resulted in heightened interest in these regions and exerted a real influence in directing the travel habits of the American people.

Eco-tourism activities specifically, sometimes have very negative environmental impacts. One such activity which has been observed to have severe negative impacts is driving in dirt tracks (ungravelled natural soil) by game drive vehicles in private game reserves and some National Parks (Nortjé 2005; Laker 2009). It has also been observed that the severity of the impacts and the resilience (recovery potential) of the affected areas differ widely between different areas. It is strongly linked to the properties and qualities of different soils. This study has shown that off-road driving (ORD) has the same effects, and to a greater extent, if it is not well managed and judiciously controlled. Wild animals tend to concentrate in areas with the most nutritious en most palatable vegetation. Consequently these are also the areas where predators, e.g. lion, leopard and cheetah are most likely to be found. It can be expected that these will be the areas with the highest frequencies of ORD in order to get close to these animals. In many landscapes these are the areas which are the most vulnerable to negative impacts by actions like ORD and have the lowest resilience. It has also been observed during game drives and personal communications at several occasions that there is tremendous ignorance amongst tourists regarding the negative environmental impacts of certain activities. This study proved that ORD have strong negative impacts on vegetation recovery, soil resilience and root density distribution through soil crusting and sub-soil compaction. An important finding is that these negative impacts are during both dry and wet soil conditions. Game drive vehicles driving off-road damages the surface soil structure, which lead to soil crust formation and sub-surface compaction. A highly significant result is that most crusting and sub-soil compaction occurred during the first pass of the game drive vehicle, irrespective of the soil type and tyre pressure, thus rewriting the current guidelines for ORD of the South African National Parks, SANParks. Furthermore, results of this study indicated that a significant area in the flood plains of the Makuleke Contractual Park is impacted by ORD. The impacts are serious if one looks at the amount of land that an ORD vehicle can disturb. One of the recommendations would thus be to drive in the same tracks when driving off-road, and lower the tyre pressures. Driving in the same tracks is known as "controlled-traffic" in the agricultural industry. Controlled traffic is very important to minimize compaction. Driving in the same University of Pretoria etd Nortjé, G.P. (2013) tracks during off-road incidents does not significantly affect the degree of compaction under the tracks, but greatly reduces the compacted area. Further results indicated a strong lateral effect of the vehicle tracks, in most cases the whole area between the two tyre tracks as well as up to a distance outside of the vehicle tracks, thus increasing the total area disturbed by ORD. Comparing these vehicle impacts with animal path resulted in some important findings. Animals only caused a soil crust with soil strength values much lower than that of vehicles. The effects of animals are also much more vertical than lateral as with vehicles. Another important finding is the role that historical human activities play in such study areas and how it may influence results. The results in this study are aggravated by the historical human activities in this study area, as indicated. These historical activities were the main cause of the surface crusting, and the resultant low vegetation growth in the area. This, therefore, explains partially the relatively high control values and also the soil’s higher susceptibility to compaction due to vehicle ORD. The root density trials had very interesting and important results. Significant differences occurred between mean root density fractions across all tyre pressures at all three trial sites. The trend is that an increase in tyre pressure causes a decrease in root density distribution. These results show clearly that even lower tyre pressures are harmful, but are more environmental friendly than higher tyre pressures. Results of the second part of the study with regards to tourists' perceptions on ORD, and the impact of their activities on the environment, showed that the majority of tourists areignorant when it comes to the impacts of their activities on soil and vegetation. Tourists' had significantly variable demographic characteristics. Tourists' environmental perceptions varied, but a significant majority of tourists agreed that ORD has a negative impact on the environment. Contradictions exist between what they know or perceive as being damaging and what they prefer to act on. Results indicate a need for improved visitor education on the possible negative impacts of demands for ORD, and a need for government intervention with regards to the enforcement of legal measures to control ORD. The results also indicate that game guides and tourism operators can play a major role in educating the tourists. The results demonstrate that both an understanding of the chemical and physical factors influencing soil compaction, as well as tourists' environmental views are important in formulating a management strategy to control and manage these impacts. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Animal and Wildlife Sciences / unrestricted

Tourism has been utilising global biodiversity for a relatively long time. In many countries, such as Finland and South Africa, biodiversity forms an increasingly important resource for tourism. The mutual and sometimes conflicting relation between biodiversity and tourism is clearly evident in conservation areas. The importance of National Parks, for example, is highlighted by the protection and conservation of biodiversity through ecotourism to retain visitors while increasing experiences: it is apparent that a more diverse and unique destination would have greater appeal to all visitors. However, the increasing interest also creates impacts to environment, visitor‟s experiences and management needs. This research examines and determines the tangible level of importance of biodiversity in Oulanka National Park in Finland compared to Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa with the added effects on visitor experiences. Apart from the tangible level, this research also examines the affects of biodiversity richness on visitor experiences and perceptions regarding nature management regulations at Oulanka and Golden Gate. This is determined through various biodiversity attributes with visitors specifying the importance regarding the richness of plants, habitats, wildlife, birdlife and unspoilt nature and biodiversity hotspots. More than three quarters of respondents specified that their relationships regarding biodiversity and experiences are strongly connected thereby indicating the role and importance of biodiversity in Oulanka National Park and Golden Gate Highlands National Park. Findings also illustrate respondents‟ views on nature management regulations of the national parks and together with the known role of biodiversity, suggest the way forward for Oulanka and Golden Gate through ecotourism and a Biodiversity Tourism Management Guidelines (BTMG) framework. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Tourism Management / unrestricted

National parks legislation of Czech Republic, Slovakia and USA Abstract The thesis offers a look at the legal regulation of national parks in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the USA. The diploma thesis points out the legal instruments used for nature protection, especially in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It gives a picture of common as well as different ways, which were often inspired by each other in the creation of means of nature protection. The work is also focused on amendments to nature protection legislation and their gradual development over time. The content of the work is processed by a descriptive method combining legal regulations of different states. Formally divided into ten chapters. The first chapter offers a historical excursion into the development of nature protection with the first introduction of unregulated efforts by individuals or smaller groups to create specially protected areas. The second and third chapters focus on the presentation of the IUCN international classification, nature conservation management or the presentation of international and EU nature conservation institutions. The fourth chapter explains the concept and classification of individual protected areas, with reference to large specially protected areas. Application of concepts and classification through legal...