scholarly journals OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES AND CITIZEN’S VIEWPOINT OF ECOTOURISM IN AZERBAIJAN: CASE STUDY OF SHAHDAG NATIONAL PARK

Author(s):  
Ibrahim Asadov ◽  
◽  
Éva Erdélyi ◽  

Growing dissatisfaction with mass tourism, ecotourism had become a major tool for achieving conservation and sustainable development goals by many developing countries by the mid. 1980s. Today, it is a major source of income for many developing countries across the world with being less destructive in the usage of natural resources than alternative economic sectors such as agriculture and logging. This study is concentrated on investigating and researching ecotourism within the context of national parks, more precisely within Shahdag National Park (SNP) of Azerbaijan. This study aims to find the existing gaps, disadvantages and challenges in the ecotourism system of SNP, identify the opinion and level of education of people of Azerbaijan about ecotourism and sustainability in general. To identify these, data were collected, and both quantitative and qualitative methods were implemented. Primary research included a questionnaire survey and interview. As the main result, it can be concluded that Shahdag National Park of Azerbaijan has immense ecotourism potential but this potential is not utilized to its fullest capacity.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1046-1060
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Widawski ◽  
Zdzisław Jary

Abstract The article considers the tourist traffic as possible to elements of inanimate nature in protected areas. The highest form of protection in Poland - national parks, has been taken into account. The main goal is to diagnose the situation based on the analysis of official documents elaborated by the national park authorities. One of the important elements is to diagnose the threat to nature and indicate ways to neutralize it. At the beginning, the geotouristic potential of these parks was presented, where this type of resources is considered important from the point of view of tourism. The tourist function of the most important attractions in Poland was indicated. In the top ten there are as many as 4 national parks, including Tatrzański which takes first place. The size of tourist traffic in all 23 parks was analyzed. As a result, it was shown that the most popular, where tourist flow is of mass character, include mountain parks with significant geotouristic potential. Next, the current protection plans for them were analyzed: Tatrzański, Karkonoski, Table Mountains and Pieniński, where the annual tourist flow varies between 0.5 million and almost 4 million visitors per year. Threats were assigned to 4 groups: existing internal threats, potential internal threats, existing external threats and potential external threats. In each of the types of threats special attention was paid to those related to inanimate nature. It also indicated the ways in which park managers want to influence the change of negative trends. The basic conclusion was indicated, which boils down to the postulate of a balanced approach to the protection of both types of nature: animate and inanimate. In the case of animate nature, threats and suggestions for improving the situation seem to be much better diagnosed than in the case of inanimate nature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa González ◽  
Concepción Román ◽  
Ángel Marrero

Few studies have examined visitor preferences with regard to public bike-sharing inside national parks. Here, we present a case study of the Teide National Park (TNP), the most visited national park in Spain. The TNP is a clear example of a natural site suffering the effects of mass tourism, largely due to the fact that 70% of visitors access the TNP by car. This puts the park’s sustainability under considerable pressure, may well affect visitor enjoyment, and highlights the need to implement alternative transportation systems. The main aim of this paper is to assess the attitudes of visitors to the TNP towards the implementation of a public bike-sharing system. To do so, we combine information on revealed and stated preferences and estimate ordered logit models to establish the determinants of the propensity to choose the bicycle to move around the park. Our findings suggest that the bicycle has potential as a means of transport in this setting. The results have implications for the design of mobility management measures aiming to increase visit quality and reduce the negative externalities associated with mobility patterns in national parks.


1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Are Knudsen

This paper discusses recent conservation efforts in Northern Pakistan and the relevance of national parks as legal instruments in nature and wildlife conservation. Employing an extensive case-study approach the paper analyzes the problems afflicting the Khunjerab National Park and discusses why the World Conservation Union (IUCN) disregarded its own policy guidelines for mountain protected areas. The paper advocates a more democratic and pragmatic approach to nature conservation and argues that national parks as traditionally conceived impose heavy burdens on local people. Despite increasing criticism of national parks, they continue to be implemented often for no other reason than the high conservationist profile this alternative offers. Keywords: Pakistan, national parks, wildlife conservation, Khunjerab National Park, local populations, Karakoram


Author(s):  
Alan D. Roe

Into Russian Nature examines the history of the Russian national park movement. Russian biologists and geographers had been intrigued with the idea of establishing national parks before the Great October Revolution but pushed the Soviet government successfully to establish nature reserves (zapovedniki) during the USSR’s first decades. However, as the state pushed scientists to make zapovedniki more “useful” during the 1930s, some of the system’s staunchest defenders started supporting tourism in them. In the decades after World War II, the USSR experienced a tourism boom and faced a chronic shortage of tourism facilities. Also during these years, Soviet scientists took active part in Western-dominated international environmental protection organizations, where they became more familiar with national parks. In turn, they enthusiastically promoted parks for the USSR as a means to reconcile environmental protection and economic development goals, bring international respect to Soviet nature protection efforts, and help instill a love for the country’s nature and a desire to protect it in Russian/Soviet citizens. By the late 1980s, their supporters pushed transformative, and in some cases quixotic, park proposals. At the same time, national park opponents presented them as an unaffordable luxury during a time of economic struggle, especially after the USSR’s collapse. Despite unprecedented collaboration with international organizations, Russian national parks received little governmental support as they became mired in land-use conflicts with local populations. While the history of Russia’s national parks illustrates a bold attempt at reform, the state’s failure’s to support them has left Russian park supporters deeply disillusioned.


1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 804-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Beaudoin ◽  
R. H. King

The magnetite composition from three sets of samples of Mazama, St. Helens set Y, and Bridge River tephras from Jasper and Banff national parks are used to test whether discriminant function analysis can unambiguously distinguish these tephras. The multivariate method is found to be very sensitive to the change in reference samples. St. Helens set Y tephra is clearly distinguished. However, discrimination between Mazama and Bridge River tephras is less distinct. A set of unknown tephras from the Sunwapta Pass area was used to test the classification schemes. Unknown tephras are assigned to different tephra types depending on which reference tephra set is used in the discriminant function analysis.


2001 ◽  
Vol 196 ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm G. Smith

A basic-level summary is provided of work since late 1993 to control light pollution in Chile. The purpose of this article is to stimulate such work inside Chile and to promote good lighting in developing countries in general. Chile is selected as the case study because of its critical importance to optical and radio astronomy, and the related economic and cultural benefits for Chile and the world. Examples are presented in some detail in order to illustrate adjustments that have been made to accommodate local scientific, cultural and economic realities and to show that it is necessary to anticipate the issues involved in controlling light pollution several decades before it would otherwise become a problem. It is hoped that international organizations such as the IAU, the IDA and the CIE can soon promote programmes in Chile that can serve as pilot programmes for other parts of the developing world.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr.Sc. Dragan Bulatović

In ecotourism, as a specific form of tourism, conscientious individuals and groups participate, who by its influence on nature are trying to reduce effects produced by so called mass tourism. Ecotourism product should be developed on the contemporary tourism trends, with full respect of local specificity which represent commitment in regard to competitive destinations. Existence of receptive factors, such as facilities for accommodation, nutrition, entertainment and recreation, represent one of the basic prerequisites for the development of any ecotourism destination. Ecotourists seek accommodation which is ecologically acceptable, modest but cozy at the same time and provides unique experience in natural surroundings. In accordance with these demands protected areas all around the world offer its visitors high quality Ecolodge facilities, which are fully submerged into nature. During their construction and management strict criteria of protection of the environment are followed with optimal waste and energy management. Montenegro has enviable spacious potential for this kind of accommodation in protected areas, especially in its five national parks, so this form of accommodation has to find its place in the future development of tourism. Designing and construction of ecotourism facilities has to be strategically planned and the fact, that it is not enough just to have attractive location but also specific content it has to offer, has to be respected. Ecolodge facilities should be designed and built in accordance with traditional architecture and surrounding materials, to influence as little as possible on the environment and to use alternative energy sources. In other words, it is necessary to provide sustainability of these facilities.


Author(s):  
N. Qwynne Lackey ◽  
Kelly Bricker

Concessioners play an important role in park and protected area management by providing visitor services. Historically, concessioners were criticized for their negative impacts on environmental sustainability. However, due to policy changes, technological advances, and shifting market demands, there is a need to reevaluate the role of concessioners in sustainable destination management in and around parks and protected areas. The purpose of this qualitative case study situated in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), which was guided by social exchange theory, was to explore U.S. national park concessioners’ influence on sustainable development at the destination level from the perspective of National Park Service (NPS) staff, concessioners, and local community members. Sustainability was examined holistically as a multifaceted construct with integrated socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental dimensions. Twenty-three participants completed semistructured interviews. Researchers identified four thematic categories describing concessioners’ influence on sustainability; motivations and barriers to pursuing sustainability initiatives; and situational factors that facilitated concessioners’ sustainability actions. While participants commented on the negative environmental impacts of concessioners and their operations, these data suggest that concessioners were working individually and collaboratively to promote environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural sustainability in and around GTNP. Some concessioners were even described as leaders, testing and driving the development of innovative sustainability policies and practices. These actions were motivated, in part, by contractual obligations and profit generation. However, concessioners also had strong intangible motivators, such as intrinsic values and a strong sense of community, that drove their positive contributions to sustainability. Based on these data, we recommend that those involved in future theoretical and practical work with concessioners acknowledge the importance of both tangible and intangible motivators when attempting to promote higher levels of sustainability achievement and collaboration. This will become increasingly important as land management agencies continue to embrace strategies beyond the traditional “parks as islands” approach to management. Additionally, future work should explore more specifically the role of policy, conceptualizations of sustainability, and private industry sponsorship in promoting concessioners’ contributions to sustainability, especially in collaborative settings. This work is needed to understand if and how these observations generalize to other contexts.


Author(s):  
Michael Getzner

-National parks and other categories of protected areas are often assumed to enhance regional economic development due to park tourism. The current study attempts to estimate the impact of the Hohe Tauern national park (Austria) on tourism by exploring whether and to what extent the national park may have had an influence on tourism development. For most national park communities, the results suggest that the establishment of the national park had some impact by enforcing an already positive trend or by weakening or reversing a negative trend of tourism. However, breakpoint tests exhibit turning points up to several years after the establishment of the park, indicating that taking a national park as the basis for tourism development is a medium to long term development strategy. In the short term, the impact of a national park on tourism is not measurable. Tourism increased by 1 to 3% annually after the breakpoint, indicating that the establishment of a national park has to be incorporated into the tourism and development strategy of a region right from the start. The causal relationship between the establishment of the national park and tourism development may be weak, in particular in communities where the difference between the actual and the forecast numbers of overnight stays is small. Marketing national park tourism and building up a brand or distinctive label may therefore contribute to regional development particularly in the long term.Key words: Tourism, national park, protected area, time series, stationarity, breakpoint test, ARIMA.JEL classifications: R110, L830, C220.Parole chiave: Turismo, parco nazionale, area protetta, serie temporale, stazionarietŕ, test di breakpoint, ARIMA.


Author(s):  
Jacob Z. Morris ◽  
Ken D. Thomas

Access to clean water for drinking and sanitation is an urgent issue that the world is facing. According to the United Nations (UN), approximately one billion people live in extreme poverty, and almost 2.6 billion people live without the basics of adequate sanitation. Over the past two decades, the BioSand Filter has proven to be an effective and efficient point-of-use device to purify water to a potable level in developing countries. The success of this device is due to its simplicity, use of appropriate technology, and sustainability. This chapter discusses a case study of His Hands Mission International’s work installing these filters in the villages of rural Honduras. It focuses on the implementation, adoption, diffusion, and impacts of these filters, providing insight to the system’s factors of success. These factors provide information that can be utilized to improve the chances for success of similar system implementations around the world.


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