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CEETO Project end - Outputs and Dissemination Events

The month of May 2020, as final month of the CEETO Project, was particularly fruitful from both the production of outputs and the dissemination of their results.

In addition to the Final Conference (of which you can find all the material in the dedicated section of the Platform link), the 8th of May saw the presentation of a Webinar (addressed to policy makers and Protected Areas management bodies) organized by Europarc. During the Webinar, in addition to a quick escursus on the objectives and outputs of the CEETO project and some examples of the Pilot Actions on Sustainable Tourism, implemented by Ente Parchi Emilia Centrale - Regione Emilia Romagna (Italy) and Landscape Park of Struniano (Slovenia), two of the main outputs of the Project were presented:  The Guidelines for Policy Makers (produced by RRC Koper) and the Manual for PA Managers (produced by WWF Adria).

To review the event presentations and the video of the event (in English), this is the link.

To access the last project documents, you can go to the relevant pages of the official website:

• Guidelines for Policy Makers;
• Manual for PA Managers;
• Guidelines for PA Managers to work with Tour Operators;

or go to the "Documents" section of the platform - CEETO Documents => Sustainable Tourism => How To.

Further, after the Final Conference, several dissemination events were organised in each of the 5 local languages of the project partners. These events were also rich in content, with contributions from outside the CEETO Project and both technical and institutional interventions.

Some of these events were recorded and can be attended at any time:

- Webinar in ITALIAN;

#BiosphereReserve #CEETOPilotAction #europe #Italy #monitoring #ProtectedArea #RegioneEmiliaRomagna #SustainableTourism #webinar 0 comment

CEETO pilot actions in Emilia Centrale Parks

Lago Santo Modenese area, within the High Modenese Apennines Regional Park, and Salse di Nirano Nature Reserve are two pilot areas managed by the Emilia Centrale Parks Management Authority. Both areas are affected by a high tourist presence which, along with inadequate visitors´ behaviour, cause damage to natural values and overall experience of the protected area. Therefore, in Lago Santo Modenese area tourist flows were monitored via the number of sold parking tickets and questionnaires to define measures for better spatial and time distribution of tourists’ visits in the area. Also, sustainable traffic measures and raising knowledge and awareness about the value of the area were implemented. In Salse di Nirano area, to protect the Zone A (integral protection zone) of the Reserve, a Video Content Analysis (VCA) system was installed to detect the type of the use and threats the Reserve must face from the point of view of sustainable tourism planning. The video of the system can be seen here: https://youtu.be/6mbOOV_c0FI

#CEETOPilotAction #EnteParchiEmiliaCentrale #High Modenese Apennines #Italy #Lago Santo Modenese #monitoring #ParchiEmiliaCentrale #ProtectedArea #RegioneEmiliaRomagna #RiservaNaturale #SalseDiNirano #SustainableTourism #VCA #VideoContentAnalysis 0 comment

Facilitating sustainable alternatives in Appennino Tosco Emiliano National Park

The Appennino Tosco Emiliano National Park, UNESCO Man&Biosphere Reserve, represents the high mountain environment in the Emilia-Romagna Region with amazingly rich flora and fauna. The 2 pilot areas in the Park, the Pietra di Bismantova and the Lagdei plain, suffer overflow of tourists in spring and summer. The objective of the pilot action was to modify the tourists’ behaviours, extend the touristic season and offer sustainable tourism alternatives. The Park management monitored touristic flows using specific questionnaires, counting of visitors and a statistical survey on tourist visits. Public shuttle buses and payment schemes for parking areas were introduced to lower the pressure of visits. All of the data collected is used in the ECST process and in facilitating collaboration between stakeholders, as well as in creating a complete and multi-seasonal offer for new kinds of tourism in the area. Learn more from the attached summary of the CEETO pilot action in Appennino Tosco Emiliano National Park. 

A short movie about the Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6TGVAR2AHw&feature=youtu.be

 

#AppenninoToscoEmiliano #CEETOPilotAction #Italy #monitoring #ProtectedArea #RegioneEmiliaRomagna #SustainableTourism #UNESCO 1 comment

Regulation of the Belvedere terraces area in Strunjan Landscape Park, Slovenia

The area of Belvedere terraces represents one of the entry points to the Strunjan Landscape Park with the potential to become a buffer zone between the urbanized, tourist area of Izola and the protected nature area. To better manage the Belvedere terraces area, firstly, the Park management conducted monitoring activities to learn about the visitors' flow and their expectations of the area. They raised awareness of the protection regimes in the area by introducing innovative educational activities. The main part of the pilot action in Strunjan Landscape Park was the preparation of the study on landscaping and spatial planning solutions which aims to increase the sustainability of touristic flows and to obtain a conceptual solution for the regulation of the area, in cooperation with all local stakeholders. With this regulation, Park management wants to establish an entry point to the protected area, control the movement of visitors and offer them sustainable activities outside the Park area, and to relieve some of the pressure on the protected area throughout the year. Learn more from the attached summary of the CEETO pilot action in the Strunjan Landscape Park. A short movie about the Park can be seen at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PiDryOhEmQ

#BelvedereTerraces #CEETOPilotAction #KrajinskiParkStrunjan #monitoring #ProtectedArea #Slovenia #SpatialPlan #Strunjan #StrunjanLandscapePark #SustainableTourism 0 comment

Reducing traffic pressure in Medvednica Nature Park, Croatia

Medvednica Nature Park faces heavy visitation during spring and autumn weekends and winter skiing season which causes environmental problems in the Park. Measures to solve heavy traffic and lack of parking space in the Park were designed based on data collected via electronic car counters and video cameras, installed on the most problematic spots, and in-depth survey of visitors´ structure and attitudes. Data obtained from both monitoring schemes helped the Park management to develop Sustainable Tourism Action Plan of the area in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.Possible solutions for traffic problems include rescheduling the timetable of public busses, better road management and maintenance and defining and adequate marking of parking spots. On the other hand, the results obtained from visitors in-depth study showed that visitors are aware of the possible loss of natural values of the Park due to traffic overloads and touristic pressures and are prepared to participate financially in preserving natural values of the area. Learn more from the attached summary of the CEETO pilot action in the Nature Park Medvednica.

CEETO teaser Nature Park Medvednica

#CEETOPilotAction #Croatia #ElectronicCounters #Medvednica #monitoring #NatureParkMedvednica #ProtectedArea #SustainableTourism 1 comment

Visitor flow management in Sölktäler Nature Park

The attractive landscape with mountain lakes and rich flora and fauna makes Sölktäler Nature Park, Austria, attractive destinations for hikers in summer and skiers in wintertime. To mitigate the impacts of growing tourist visits in the area, the Nature Park management undertook several measures. To understand tourist flows in the Park, electronic counters were installed at four main hiking trails and manual counting at two hiking spots in summer was conducted. The monitoring of human impacts on wildlife was also monitored. Collected statistics allow for identification of days and weeks of increased tourist pressure, annual comparison of tourist flows and comparison between the presences found in four spota in the Park. Obtained data were used to create a five-year strategy for tourism management in the Park, together with local stakeholders. Also, an information brochure was created to communicate natural specificities of the Park and alternative tourist itineraries, to minimize the impact on fragile habitats. Detailed description of the pilot action can be found in the attached summary. Also, you can check a video of the pilot area at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbfGsH0ETaU&feature=youtu.be

#AlpinePastures #Austria #CEETOPilotAction #ElectronicCounters #monitoring #NaturparkSölktaler #ProtectedArea #SkiTourism #SustainableTourism #VisitorFlowManagement 0 comment

Making UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Salzburger Lungau more experienceable

Within the CEETO project, the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Salzburger Lungau worked on raising the awareness and knowledge of visitors (locals and guests) about the area, to improve a sustainable behaviour and minimize negative impacts on nature and to make the Biosphere Reserve more experienceable for visitors. Furthermore, specific actions around the Preber lake were planned, to improve the parking situation in this special area.

With two surveys conducted during 2018 and 2019 in the area around the Preber lake, the management of the Biosphere Reserve learned about the visitors’ knowledge of the Biosphere Reserve and their mobility behaviour and satisfaction with the public transport in the Preber area. Based on these surveys and the participatory process, an Action Plan for a sustainable tourism development was elaborated, that contains a long-term vision and actions for sensitization, awareness and knowledge raising and quality improvement, addressing the whole region.

Additionally, special actions like a parking management and the increase of the frequency of the public transport, that focus on the specific situation in the Preber area (parking problems), were discussed.

Between the two surveys communication activities were done to raise awareness and knowledge (like guided tours, communication events) of visitors about the Biosphere Reserve and the Preber area, special actions around the lake to improve the parking situation and the acceptance of the public transport in this area couldn’t be implemented, due to political changes, but they will until summer 2020. After implementation another survey will be conducted, to measure the changes in the reduction of cars and the acceptance of public transport in the Preber area.

Furthermore, it is planned to conduct surveys every year to measure a change in knowledge and awareness of visitors about the Biosphere Reserve an to integrate the data into the Biosphere Reserve integrated monitoring system.

Learn more from the attached summary of the CEETO pilot action in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Salzburger Lungau.

#Austria #BiosphereReserve #CEETOPilotAction #Lungau #monitoring #ParkingManagement #Preber #ProtectedArea #PublicTransport #SustainableTourism 0 comment

CEETO Project - Video-Monitoring of the Salse di Nirano Nature Reserve to monitor and prevent Zone A intrusions.

NEMOS (Nature rEserve MOnitoring System) VCA Experimental System

The Video Content Analysis (VCA) system, financed and tested through the Interreg CEETO Project, is composed of 3 cameras connected to an automatic data processing and extraction unit, using Artificial Intelligence algorithms. The system, in addition to monitoring (quantifying and qualifying) the real use of the area, also documents the main factors of threat for the Natural Reserve of Salse di Nirano, to support the design of possible protection measures.

As can be seen from the explanatory video (see link below), the system detects the transits of vehicles and people along the access road to Zone A of integral protection (zone particularly fragile by the geomorphological and phytological point of view) and acquires the largest number of data on episodes of physical barriers overcoming (by both people and animals), and consequent incorrect use and invasion of Zone A. The data, processed on site and sent remotely to the Park Authority and to the Municipality, will be used both to quantify the extent of the problem and to plan appropriate defence actions, both active (strengthening of physical barriers) and passive (through posters and environmental education).

The recorded images will also be useful for the study of the mud-volcanoes morphological evolution and will be integrated with the other ongoing monitoring by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

The innovative VCA system was installed in the Cà Rossa Visitor Centre area at the beginning of July 2019 and it’s acquiring data continuously from 5.30 AM to 9.30 PM. It will continue to work for at least one year after the end of CEETO Pilot Action (which ended at the end of September 2019).

 This is a demo Video: https://youtu.be/6mbOOV_c0FI.

This other one is a "real-life" acquisition result video collage and a preview of the web-managing interface for the DB collected data analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN5qA_Ov-Mw.

#CrossFences #EnteParchiEmiliaCentrale #FioranoModenese #Italy #monitoring #ParchiEmiliaCentrale #PilotAction #ProtectedArea #Protection #RegioneEmiliaRomagna #RER #RiservaNaturale #SalseDiNirano #TouristMonitoring #VCA #VideoContentAnalysis #VulcaniDiFango 3 comments

Planning, management and monitoring tools for sustainable tourism management in protected areas

CEETO Inventory of tools and success stories for sustainable tourism in Protected Areas is a comprehensive collection of the existing planning, management and monitoring tools used for the management of tourist visits in protected areas in Europe; it also includes the most successful case studies from around the world.

The Inventory served as a basis for the implementation of CEETO pilot actions in 8 protected areas in the EU with an aim to test and establish the most successful and innovative governance model for sustainable tourism in those areas.

Inventory and the description of CEETO pilot action can be found in this post.

#CEETOMap #CEETOPilotAction #governance #inventory #management #monitoring #ProtectedArea #SustainableTourism #TouristVisits 1 comment