Prioritization of ecosystem services related to the natural heritage of Bulgaria

Natural heritage (NH) is an important element of the natural capital of each country, and as such, represents key assets that deliver various benefits to the citizens. The rich and diverse NH of Bulgaria is a prerequisite for the development of various activities such as recreation and tourism, but these activities have also negative impact on some of the NH’s elements. The concept of ecosystem services (ES) has the potential for bridging the gap between the conservation and exploitation needs. In this paper, we propose an approach to prioritizing the ES provided by the natural heritage of Bulgaria for the needs of recreation and tourism. The approach is designed for the mapping of the NH but it can also support the overall process of mapping and assessment of ES. It is based on application of ES prioritization matrix (ESPM) and a five-step algorithm designed to differentiate ES into priority levels according to their significance to recreation and tourism. Through the application of the proposed approach we were able to sort out the ES into three groups (high, medium and low priority) according to their importance to recreation and tourism. The first group contains obligatory ES for each mapping and assessment activity from national to local level. The second group contains optional ES recommended for studies at regional level, while the services can be selected according to the specifics of the study. The low priority ES are recommended for local level studies in cases where the assessment requires high details and accuracy. The mapping of high priority ES at national level shows that the products of the approach can be easily adapted for various studies for assessment of NH and sustainable tourism practices using the conventional mapping methods.

POPULATION AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF RECREATIONAL AND TOURIST POTENTIAL

The article defines the directions that it is recommended to assess the role of the population in the formation of recreation and tourism activities (RTA). It is proved the need to investigate the role of the population in the RTA in two main directions: 1) as a subject of recreational and tourist systems in its relation to their media (objects); 2) combined - as a subject and component of the object of recreational and tourist systems. The population forms the flows of recreation and tourists, developing relevant structures and mechanisms for their recreational and tourist service, organizes directions and fields of economic and non-economic activities that ensure the recreational needs of the population, creates a specialized recreation infrastructure, develops and implements a variety of functional and territorial organization of recreation and tourism, forms at the national and international level of territorial division of labor. In order to evaluate the recreational potential of a separate plot or object usually consider not the entire nomenclature of conditions and resources, but only a characteristic or typical combination. Each territory, each object of recreation and tourism has its own set (complex) of resource characteristics. And this circumstance greatly facilitates the procedure for a comprehensive assessment of recreational potential due to elimination (allocation) of a characteristic complex of terms and resources of RTA. A similar situation arises for a functional assessment of recreational potential. The valuation of conditions and resources are not developed for a general list of species and forms of RTA, but for those that are distributed in this area in this locality. It is determined that among the numerous characteristics and indicators of recreational potential, the concept of recreational and tourist attractiveness is one of the objective indicators of resource potential. Estimation of recreational potential for quantitative indicators of recreation and tourists and their numerical and spatial distributions creates an objective basis for all other characteristics and indicators of RTD. Another important characteristic of the recreational potential, which forms the population as a factor of RTA is a recreation capacity of territories and objects of RTA. The concept of "recreational capacity" is related to "recreational attractiveness". Attractiveness characterizes recreational territories and objects for their attraction, according to real flows of recreation and tourists. Recreational capacity is intended to set the upper limits of such attractiveness. Attractiveness represents the actual use of a recreational resource, and the capacity indicates its critical level of recreation, which does not lead to degradation of this resource. In recreational geography, tourism and planning of territories, this direction is well known and extremely designed. The indicators of recreational capacities for certain types and recreation forms and recreations - beach baths, short-term rest in green zones, anthropogenic load of resort zones and areas of the natural reserve fund, maximum population density in various functional zones of the big city, etc. At the same time, the zonal principles of assessing the recreational capacity of objects and areas of recreation and tourism have not yet been developed, and this actual problem is waiting for its researchers. The population forms a so-called anthropogenic load on the territory, and its economic activity is man-made load. Anthropogenic-technogenic load is considered as a factor of recreational and tourist activities, in turn, indicators of anthropogenic-technogenic load are the original characteristics of "anti-resource" of recreation potential. The article has proven that in the context of the study of the prerequisites for the development of recreation and tourist activities of the region also need to analyze both the quality of life of the population, in addition to the assessment of this indicator have a high contrast and diversity in the country. Key words: population, recreational and tourist potential, attractiveness of recreational territories, anthropogenic-technogenic load, quality of life of the population.

Formation of regional inter-sectoral complexes of recreation and tourism activity as a sign of structural reorganization of the economy

Changes taking place in recent decades in the global economy have led to the formation and development of new highly differentiated inter-branch complexes, rather than separated industries. In the global economy, such reorganization is marked by the formation of new sectors of the economy, one of which is a sector of socio-natural types of economic activity. At the level of regions, new integration formations are developed - regional inter-sectoral recreational complexes (IcRC). The purpose of our study is to substantiate the formation of regional inter-sectoral complexes of recreational and tourist activities (RTA) in the conditions of radical restructuring of the economy of post-industrial civilization. Inter-sectoral complex RTA is a set of different types of activities of the population - economic and non-economic, as well as leisure forms that provide the needs of the population of the region (countries) in recreation services, health improvement, healing and tourism, accompanying social services and recreational and tourist infrastructure. The study presents an author's vision of the composition and structuring of the regional inter-sectoral complex of recreation and tourism activity. The developed model of the inter-sectoral complex RTA covers all varieties of recreational activities with all its forms - tourism, organized recreation, unorganized (amateur) mass recreation, household recreation. The geographical bases for the formation of regional inter-sectoral recreational complexes are serving recreational and tourist resources - destinations that determine the specialization of the region by types of RTA. Depending on the level of development of RTA in the region, the RTA management systems may form. At the local and regional levels, the RTA nodes will be destinations - local and regional concentration of recreational and tourist resources with appropriate infrastructure. On the global (international) level, RTA retains a network form of a territorial organization, whose nodes are world centres and areas of tourism, as well as the main areas of formation of tourist flows.

Rotorua Lakes water quality research : a bibliography

<p>The Rotorua Lakes have been described as the Jewels in the Crown of the Rotorua District. They play a large role in the economy, environment, culture, recreation and tourism potential of the area. However, since human settlement in the region, the water quality and ecology of the lakes has deteriorated. Introductions of exotic flora and fauna, combined with the impact of a large population in the lake catchments, have increased the problem. Over the last half century, concern over the water quality of the lakes has grown, and many studies on the subject have been undertaken. This selective annotated bibliography seeks to identify and locate the reports and publications produced from this research, providing a solution to the lack of bibliographic information on the topic. The primary aim of this bibliography is to provide information for researchers on what studies have already been carried out, and to present a chronological view of the perceived problems in the lakes. The bibliography contains four hundred entries, arranged chronologically by author, and indexed by subject, author and organisation. The primary format of the bibliography is digital, as this provides advanced retrieval features and the ability to easily update the study, but it is also supported by a paper-based format for easy reference for those who prefer it.</p>

Rotorua Lakes water quality research : a bibliography

<p>The Rotorua Lakes have been described as the Jewels in the Crown of the Rotorua District. They play a large role in the economy, environment, culture, recreation and tourism potential of the area. However, since human settlement in the region, the water quality and ecology of the lakes has deteriorated. Introductions of exotic flora and fauna, combined with the impact of a large population in the lake catchments, have increased the problem. Over the last half century, concern over the water quality of the lakes has grown, and many studies on the subject have been undertaken. This selective annotated bibliography seeks to identify and locate the reports and publications produced from this research, providing a solution to the lack of bibliographic information on the topic. The primary aim of this bibliography is to provide information for researchers on what studies have already been carried out, and to present a chronological view of the perceived problems in the lakes. The bibliography contains four hundred entries, arranged chronologically by author, and indexed by subject, author and organisation. The primary format of the bibliography is digital, as this provides advanced retrieval features and the ability to easily update the study, but it is also supported by a paper-based format for easy reference for those who prefer it.</p>

Improvement of ecological and economic mechanism of recreational tourism management in the context of European integration

The article describes the current state of development of recreational and tourist activities. The role of European integration in the context of the tourism industry is defined. The functions and properties of the Ukrainian tourist business are considered. Opportunities and risks of development of recreational and tourist activity are specified, and also roles of recreation and tourism are defined. The role of state regulation and management in increasing the level of development of recreational and tourist activities is described. The parameters of formation and increase of the level of development of recreational tourism are indicated. The ecological and economic mechanism of recreational and tourist activity in the context of European integration processes is formed. Features of functioning ecological and economic mechanism of management of development of recreational tourism are considered, and also importance of development of programs on development of recreational and tourist activity is considered. It is noted that recreation and tourism play one of the main roles in formation and development of rest physical and mental condition. Obtained a high level of efficiency from recreational tourism, people can only due to temporarily living in remote, away from home, tourist areas of recreation. European integration and globalization processes have a positive impact on the development of recreational tourism and gaining competitive advantages, providing the above components. Investment reserves have been identified as a method of increasing the competitiveness of recreational and tourist activities in Ukraine in the context of European integration. Certain tourist complexes in Ukraine form stable economic zones and development of regions of recreational and tourist activity. An important issue remains the creation of favorable investment flows for both foreign and domestic investors, which, in turn, stabilizes working conditions given the rational use of investment on a long-term basis. Thus, these problems increase the relevance of the need to improve the mechanism for the management of recreational and tourist activities, primarily by government agencies. European integration processes in Ukraine require the formation and implementation of a model of relations between recreational areas and governance structures, which should meet the requirements of regional policy of the European Union, which in the future provided more prospects for cooperation, interregional and international cooperation.