presented - Balkans and Black Sea

580,000
ha
7,850
species
Population:
- 25 rural
settlements
- 1 urban
settlement
- 15,000
inhabitants
- ethnical
diversity
Tourism
 Recognized as one of the worldwide largest wetland
 Established in 1990 - Biosphere reserve included in
UNESCO Programme “Man and Biosphere”, natural
heritage of international importance and RAMSAR site
Included in Natura 2000 network
Listed by WWF within the European Priority G200
Ecoregions
Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve – Zonation
Strictly protected areas - 50,900 ha
20 sites which include relatively unspoilt
places with excellent examples of terrestrial
and wetland ecosystems and generally
support the most sensitive species found in
the DDBR
Buffer zones – 223,300 ha
13 zones which include areas with biological
characteristic; mitigate the impact of the
human activities on the strictly protected
areas
Economic zones – 306,100 ha
Zones which include areas where
traditional
allowed
activities
are
undertaken, in the limits of the support
capacity.
Ecological restoration zones–11,425
ha
Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve – Main natural resources
 Agricultural land – 61,543 ha
 Fishing & fishery – 161,596 ha
 Reed & reedbeds – 156,000 ha
 Forests & forestry – 22,796 ha
 Medical plants
– 123 species
Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve – Biodiversity
 DDBR
=
a real natural
of
biodiversity,
30
types of
museum
including
ecosystems
 Flora– 4,390 species
 Fauna– 3,460 species
- Total bird species in DDBR – 331
Protected bird species by The Berne
Convention - 91
Strictly protected bird species – 229
Bird
species
declared
natural
monuments – 12
Bird colonies number – 50 (Romania 36,
Ukraine 14)
- Fish – 135 species
- Mammals – 42 species
Sustainable tourism
in
Danube Delta
Biosphere Reserve
 General concept / definition
 Tourism in wetlands / protected areas
 Link between protected areas and tourism
 Carrying capacity
 Huge potential for tourist activities in DDBR
 Benefits for local communities
 Study case – Ivan Patzaichin Association
 Sustainable tourism = vision for the development of
tourism and recreation in a country, a region, a tourism
destination.
 Basic principles of sustainable tourism: respects people,
the environment, the local culture and the local economy
of the host region.
Human dimension – People
Nature and environmental dimension – Planet
Economic dimension – Profit
Conservation of the local cultural and popular traditions Inheritance
 Sustainable tourism = form of tourism development
which does not affect the own conditions of existence,
so that future generations of inhabitants and guests
can also enjoy the destinations.
 Form of tourism that respects the humankind, the
environment as well as the local culture of the host
region and that brings a global balance in the four
dimensions, resulting in a quality improvement from
which all parties concerned get benefits; it is
economically profitable.
Sustainable tourism in wetlands / protected areas
 Protected areas play a vital and increasing role in tourism
 Protected areas need tourism & Tourism needs protected
areas
 Complex relation wetlands / protected areas & tourism
 Benefits and costs
Link between protected areas and tourism (1)
 Protected areas need tourism & Tourism needs protected
areas
- Tourism can help the sustainable management of
protected areas as more and more tourists are trying to
find, understand and enjoy a natural environment.
- Tourism can support the protection of natural resources,
as local residents and actors realize the value of their asset
and want to preserve it.
Link between protected areas and tourism (2)
BENEFITS
 Enhancing economic opportunities
• Increases jobs for local residents
• Increases income
• Stimulates new tourism enterprises, and stimulates and
diversifies the local economy
• Encourages local manufacture of goods
• Obtains new markets and foreign exchange
• Improves living standards
• Generates local tax revenues
• Enables employees to learn new skills
• Increases funding for protected areas and local communities
 Protecting natural and cultural heritage
 Enhancing quality of life
Link between protected areas and tourism (3)
NEGATIVE EFFECTS
OF HUMAN USE ON THE ENVIRONMENT
 Camp sites (and deterioration) / Litter /














Crowding
Trail creation (and deterioration)
Increased fire risks / Firewood collection
Visual and noise impacts
Tracks and recreation vehicles
Soil compaction or erosion
Human waste problems
Wildlife disturbance, habituation or impact
Habitat loss
Impacts on vegetation
Damage to sand dunes / reefs
User conflicts
Water pollution (physical and biological)
Boat damaging river banks and canals
Change water courses
Weeds, fungi and exotic species
Overfishing, undersized fishing
Emissions and air pollution
Overdevelopment
Cultural vandalism
Damage to archaeological sites
Taking “souvenirs” (flora, fauna, etc.)
Carrying capacity
The maximum amount of
visitors that can be at the
same time in the tourist
destination without causing
negative effects on the
physical, economical and
socio-cultural values of
society / community and
without
causing
a
(considerable) decrease in
visitors’ satisfaction.
New approach of carrying capacity – Study within DANUBE
PARKS Network for Protected Areas, 2014
Three folds concept
a) ECOLOGICAL COMPONENT
- Species and habitat indicator;
- Strictly protected zones.
b) VISITOR COMPONENT
- Motorised – water vehicles;
- Small planes traffic;
- ATV – enduro;
- Camping – regulations.
c) SOCIO-ECONOMIC COMPONENT
- Land ownership – outsiders;
- Abandoning the local architecture;
- No. bed / nights per type of
accommodation
Core principles
1. Respecting all the conservation
zones (cca. 50 900 ha)
2. Promoting the slow down
experience:
o using time (for access) as a filtering
factor to different locations
/destinations within the Danube
Delta;
o bringing higher valorisation of natural
and cultural assets by promoting and
developing real ecotourism that…..:
o produces significant income on the
local level;
o causes a low impact on nature.
3. Zoning for managing the fast
experience
Tourism potential in DDBR
Forms of tourism
• Traditional holidays
- resting
- itinerant field trips
• Specialized tourism
- sportive fishing
- cultural tourism
- scientific tourism - for the
naturalists and archaeologists
- rural tourism
- sunbathing cure
- photo safari
- bird watching
Tourist accommodation capacity and activity – Danube Delta destination
(including Tulcea Municipality)
Year
Existing
capacity
(places)
Capacity in function
(thou places / days)
Arrivals
(thou)
Staying
overnight
(thou)
Indices of
using the
capacity (%)
Average
duration of
stay (days)
1990
3601
718.4
159.2
302.7
42.1
2.0
1995
3126
664.0
71.0
145.0
21.9
2.0
2000
2485
427.2
34.0
85.3
19.9
2.5
2001
2478
477.8
46.5
98.4
20.4
2.1
2002
2258
420.0
36.3
78.0
18.6
2.2
2003
2801
333.0
37.4
75.6
22.4
2.0
2004
3180
455.0
73.0
129.0
28.3
1.8
2005
3806
533.0
77.0
151.0
28.4
2.0
2006
4276
578.0
55.0
140.0
25.5
2.6
…………
………….
………….
…………
…………
…………
88.0
133.76
32.1
2.8
……
2012
Benefits for local population / communities
Benefits for local population / communities (2)
“Experiencing the Delta in
a slow way”

to create an attractive
sustainable, natural and
cultural tourism product; a
nature as unspoilt and
attractive as possible, a
beautiful landscape, valuable
cultural heritage, a hospitable
population, local gastronomy
and a qualitative service of
the tourism sector.
......
Benefits for local population – Study case
ASSOCIATION
“IVAN PATZAICHIN – MILA 23”
Projects always designed together with
local people – support in identification of the
best solutions for the economic development
 Local partnerships
Ecotourism – labelling standard EETLS, for
the destination (3 villages)
Minimising the impact of the tourism
activities on the natural environment, in
order to obtain an ecological sustainability,
contributing
to the preservation and
maintaining the natural elements by returning
some of the obtained income to the protected
area and to its people
 Carrying capacity studies
 Infrastructure
for information and
promotion
Marketing identity
 Training for local people who manage
accommodation places
 Environmental education in schools
 Ecotourism Centre ROWMANIA
SUSTAINABLE ECOTOURISM
in Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve =
SLOW TOURISM
www.slowtourism.ro
ECOTOURISM IN D.D.B.R.
 Slow tours by traditional boats
 Water level experience
 Bird watching
 Audio – visual guiding
 Local gastronomy itineraries - meals
in local households in 3 villages:
Crisan, Caraorman, Mila 23
 Itineraries and programes for 3 – 5
days staying at the destination
Using a local transportation, light and
inovative mean - CANOTCA
 Surveys on visitor’s satisfaction
 Sustainable tourism is quite a difficult subject
 Choices
 Mobility, environment, physical planning…
 Regulations both for entrance in a protected areas and for using the
resources
Carrying capacity
 Zoning
 Benefits for local communities
No standard answers to each question !
For any further information:
Roxana IACOB
[email protected]
C.P.M.R. – Balkan and Black Sea Regional Commission
Brussels, 28 May 2015