Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Ukraine conducted a cooperative audit to investigate whether the impact of tourism in national parks is mitigated to protect biodiversity and found that not only the number of visitors to the national park "is increasing" but also that in most countries it is "difficult to measure the exact number."

The auditors assure that these deficiencies as a result bring a "threat to biodiversity". Mitigation strategies of the national parks on the effects of tourism "are affected" by the tourism services offered by governments to "attract more visitors," as in Ukraine, where the "infrastructure development" - as hotels- within protected areas "it is a priority."

This situation becomes even more difficult in those parks that have settlements and towns near the entrance and "are not restricted by means of fencing or other barriers" and tourism is "difficult or impossible to measure." For example, in the Kornati National Park, which covers a number of islands in Croatia, the number of visitors is calculated on tickets sold; however, they are sold by embarkation, which "does not reflect the number of people" who visit the park.

Meanwhile, in Poland, the number of visitors "is calculated by employees of the parks on the number of entries, maps and publications sold and cars in parking lots."

The results of the cooperative audit showed that national parks are increasingly popular among tourists, as in Bulgaria, where the number of visitors "doubled". For this reason, the auditors claim that "it is important that tourism is properly handled and means are taken to mitigate this threat."

Measures Taken

The national parks of the seven countries with the cooperative audit established "tourist information centers to obtain data on the natural values of the parks, tourism and recreation, bike paths and trails." They placed "signs and fences" and there are marked areas where tourists are allowed only if they are "accompanied by a guide."

While in Poland, as mentioned above, visitors are calculated by employees, one of the implementing projects to conserve and preserve two parks is the "installation of electronic sensors for monitoring".

In addition, five of the most popular parks, "two tourist routes" were closed. Thus, the number of visitors who may be within the reserves is "strictly limited to 200 and 500" people.