Establishment of a cross-border socioeconomic monitoring Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks, by Florian Porst from the Bavarian Forest NP. More about EUROPARC Webinar at: www.europarc.org/webinar-visitor-management/

1. Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring in
Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
Florian Porst, 26th of April 2017

2. |Outline
2
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
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

3. |1 The National Parks
3
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

4. |1 The National Parks
4
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

5. |1 The National Parks
5
 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))
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

6. |1 The National Parks
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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)
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

7. |Visitor management
7
Who?Where?
How many?
When?
What activities?
Visitor monitoring
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

8. 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
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|2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

9. 9
| 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)
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

10. 10
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
Ludwigsthal
Urwald
Mittelsteig-
hütte
3
4
Debrník (CZ)
Grenze
Nationalpark
Bayerischer Wald
| 2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

11. 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
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

12. Identification of four longterm
counting locations through
statistical analysis
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
Locations
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks
| 2 Basic Survey in Bavarian Forest National Park

13. 13
| 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
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

14. 14
| 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
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

15. 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%)
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

16. 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
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

17. 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
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

18. 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
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

19. Step 4: Longterm crossborder visitor counting
 Automatical counting in both parks
 Counting at border crossings
 Joining data
 Credible data
about (crossborder) tourism
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

20. 3.3 State of play
 Transboundary tender for external expertise finished
 May 2017: First Workshops
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| 3 The INTERREG-Project
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring
in Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks

21. 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
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|4 Conclusion
Establishment of a cross border socioeconomic monitoring in Šumava and
Bavarian Forest National Parks

22. Leaving nature to nature
in line with eco-friendly tourism –
that is tomorrows challenge for the
management of protected areas!