Utilisation of natural forests for ecotourism: matching goals and reality
Viliam Pichler and Magdalena Sorokova
Centre for Scientific Tourism in Slovakia at the Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sturova 2, SK-960 53 Zvolen, Slovak Republic.
pichler@vsld.tuzvo.sk; sorokova@vsld.tuzvo.sk
Abstract
As a result of a study conducted on the public awareness of the primeval forests prior to and after the visit of The Prince of Wales to the Badínsky Primeval Forests in Slovakia, and the experience gathered from the guided excursions with groups with different background and interests, we recommend drawing a clear line between tourism in a broader sense, ecotourism and scientific tourism. The results of this research imply that different expectations are found in at least two groups – the tourists on the one hand, and ecotourists and scientists on the other hand.
Furthermore, the goals of these two groups are different. Both factors, i.e. the expectations of the various groups and the goals, to be achieved have been investigated in the light of the optimal utilization of natural and semi-natural forests for scientific, educational and recreational purposes in order to assess future developments and possible ways of influencing them in a positive way.
Keywords: natural forests, ecotourism, scientific tourism, ecological awareness
1 Introduction
In the past, for instance during the Middle Ages, images of nature were masterfully used to achieve a desired impact on human beliefs. LEGOFF (1990) argued that St. Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian monastic order, regarded beautiful natural landscapes as an important component of a balanced monastic life. According to MATTEOLI(1994), Suger, the Abbott of St. Denise and another respected spiritual, cultural and behind-the-scenes medieval leader, used the appearance of a primeval forest as a source of rich symbolical language that influenced the architecture of medieval Gothic cathedrals. Most recently, SCHAMA (1995) investigated primeval forests of Bia«owieza and the sequoia groves of northern California as an important element and source in forming peoples’ cultural percep- tion in the past. He suggested that the images of European primeval forests contributed to the origins of Arboreal Gothic during the Middle Ages.
In view of this past, but well-documented influence of forests on people, it is worthwhile investigating the current potential of natural forests with regard to increasing ecological and environmental awareness in modern society. Today, a major part of the population lives in urban areas and is not in everyday contact with the forest, let alone a natural forest, which represents only 1.7 % of the total forest area, left in strict forest reserves and other protection categories in Europe (PARVIAINENet al.2000). Therefore it is not entirely clear how natural
forests can help people become more open to concepts such as environmental awareness, nature protection and sustainability. Does this potential exist and can we build on it in eco- logical and environmental education? Will natural forests be consumed as just another attractive environment for recreational activities, or is there a chance for them to transform humans from a potentially damaging factor into nature’s defenders? These are important questions to be answered before natural forests are advertised as attractive features for eco- tourism. Our practical experience gathered over six years, i.e. from 1998 till 2003, provided us with important insights into the public perception of natural forests and their possible uti- lization for ecotourism. Forests are considered as the standard environment, often consisting of large tracts, as opposed to a mosaic of agricultural and forest land. In total, 43 % of the Slovak territory is covered by forests, of which a considerable part are almost intact protec- tive or special purpose forests. Even managed forests are often semi-natural, still with their original tree species composition. The existence of Slovak primeval forests therefore goes largely unnoticed by the population. They are not perceived by the majority as the last remaining nature resorts or paradises as opposed to landscapes entirely influenced by humans, unlike in many other countries.
However, there is a lasting interest in primeval forests among forest scientists, ecologists, nature conservationists and enthusiasts, both local and international. They have learnt about Slovak primeval forests mostly from the scientific literature, through international co-oper- ation and from Internet sites. They began to visit the forests much more following the regime change after 1989, first on the basis of personal contacts and later in the form of guided scientific excursions organized by the Centre for Scientific Tourism in Slovakia. They also often led to further scientific co-operation and further visits by people generally interested in nature (ZACH2003). Measured by the number of study tour participants, primeval forests excursions rank as the most popular and attractive tours among other products in this group that include geology and botany field excursions.
Recommendations or the personal initiatives of excursion members have meant that numerous groups of visitors, who usually constitute the customer base for study tours oper- ators, both international and domestic, have also asked for guidance through the primeval forests. The excursion programs have usually featured a sandwich pattern, i.e. visits to primeval forests have been combined with cultural heritage sites in a convenient manner.
Interest is steadily growing but is still dependent on personal contacts, business contact with study tours operators, targeted advertising, publishing and visual media. A sharp rise in the number of interested visitors may well occur after Slovakia joins the EU this year and the country gets a wider media coverage across Europe. Currently, the overall numbers of visitors are rather low compared to countries such as Poland, Hungary or the Czech Republic, partly due to country’s short life and the lack of initiative on the part of the state government. For example, the Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, and Polish governments spent 49.4, 41, 5.5 and 8 million US$ respectively on advertising their countries as tourist destinations, compared to only 1.6 million US$ spent by the Slovak government for that purpose. Neither Slovak natural forests, nor Slovakia as a country are known abroad as popular ecotourism destinations. A perceived, but largely imaginary “safety problem” often attributed to Slovakia is part of the problem too. It is important that scientific tourists and ecotourists understand the restrictions associated with particular tourism modes in order to develop and encourage foreign scientific tourism and ecotourism in Slovak natural forests.
Our study’s aims were to establish whether there is a general public awareness of the primeval forests’ existence in Slovakia, how this awareness relates to the number and ac- cessibility of primeval forests in Slovakia and finally whether either awareness of primeval forests, or their accessibility or both present a basis for developing of ecotourism in Slovakia with primeval forests as the main attractor and the general public as the target group.
2 Material and methods
In order to allow for a proper interpretation of the study findings within a broader frame- work, we first evaluated and summarized the existing information on the development of tourism in Slovakia since it began in the 18thcentury until the present time, as well as the role that forests have played in this process.To assess awareness of primeval forests across the population, we conducted a poll among one thousand subscribers of Novy Cas, the best- selling Slovak daily with a 23 % share on the newspaper market. This daily was selected because it has the most even distribution of readers across all social segments, with respect to gender, age, education and income, according to an authoritative survey (http://www.
avizo.sk/barometer/februar.html). The poll was initiated by the Centre for Scientific Tourism in Slovakia and assisted by the journal’s office prior to the visit of The Prince of Wales to the Badínsky Primeval Forest on November 1st2000. It was repeated eight months thereafter.
A comparatively limited ecological awareness and prevailing consumer or infotainment mentality could have been assumed within the analyzed local population segment, because of the tabloid format of the newspaper.
The question used in the newspaper phone poll was intentionally simple. Respondents were asked whether they could name at least one primeval forest either in Slovakia or in the Czech Republic. A second newspaper phone poll was performed on a different sample of 1000 readers eight months later. Respondents were asked whether they could name one or more primeval forests, this time however only in Slovakia. In addition, they answered the question whether they had visited the Badínsky Primeval Forests since Prince Charles’s visit.
Finally, we evaluated opportunities for accessing the existing primeval forests on marked hiking or educational trails. Walking outside the marked hiking trails is prohibited by Act No. 543/2002 Coll. for Nature and Landscape Protection. We selected a sample of twenty- two natural forests preserves, totaling 5688 ha in size, e.g. one quarter of the entire area covered by natural forests in Slovakia which represent the whole Slovak territory, its various landscapes and altitudes (PICHLER2003). The choice of forests was made in order to reflect the variability of climax forests with respect to altitudinal vegetation stages as classified by ZLATNÍK(1950), geology and geomorphology, because dramatic natural settings may strongly enhance the attractiveness of natural forests. Altogether, the selection encompasses all main types of bedrock, i.e. volcanic, cristalline, sedimentary and specifically carbonate rocks. Main soil types include cambisols, rendzic loptosols, podsols and andosols. The relief types and geomorphology vary from lowlands (Danube Lowlands) up to high mountains (High Tatras). The series consists of approximately forty forest associations. The most abundant among them are Fagetum pauper, Fagetum typicum, Abieto-Fagetum, Acereto-Piceetum, Sorbeto-Piceetum, Pinetum dealpinum and Cembreto-Mughetum according to ZLATNÍK
(1950). Selected localities belong to the biogeographical province Middle European Forest (2.11.05) according to UDVARDY’S classification (1975). According to the WWF classifi- cation, the serial nomination falls into two ecoregions: the Carpathian montane conifer forests (PA0504) and the Pannonian mixed forests (PA0431).
3 Results
The results presented contain information on the role of forests and natural forests in par- ticular in the development of tourism in Slovakia. Additional data document current aware- ness of the primeval forests in the Slovak Republic as possible attractions for ecotourism and the forests’ accessibility.
3.1 Historical framework until the end of the 20thcentury
In Slovakia, the origins of mass tourism both in the middle mountains (such as Stiavnicke Hills, Kremnicke Hills, Velka Fatra, Mala Fatra etc.) and high mountains (High Tatras) date back to the 18th century. It developed mainly in the industrial towns in the Western Carpathians, especially in Kremnica, Banská Stiavnica, and Spisská Nová Ves. Mountains offering beautiful views and picnic opportunities became popular as Sunday getaways with the upper class. Each tourist club had its patron, who took care of the necessary infrastruc- ture. The first place of this kind, Mt. Sitno (1009 m a.s.l.) in the Stiavnicke Hills was furnished with an observation tower by Count Kohary in 1727.
As early as 1893, a famous Slovak natural scientist KMET’ (1989) noted with a certain disappointment that tourists above all valued broad and distant views. He criticized this
“idol of the modern tourists”, which consumed all their attention while they showed little interest in the area’s natural history. In the High Tatras with its peaks reaching above 2600 m a.s.l. tourists like this were also the rule rather than the exception.
In the 19thcentury, the idea of tourism gained momentum as an organized activity with its own clubs and a much broader membership, including many middle class and even workers by the beginning of the 20thcentury. They focused not only on areas well known by then, but also went to wilder areas, such as today's Slovak Paradise National Park, doing a sort of scouting. There was a prevailing sense of adventure, but conservation started playing a role too toward the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Primeval forests were, however, still plentiful then, though other places, currently covered by forests, had already been made bare through exploitation. Anecdotal evidence of the awareness of “natural forests” may be found in the works of some romantic poets in the first half of the 19th century, such as SLÁDKOVIC(1976). At that time, the majority of the population lived in rural areas and were in touch with forests everyday. Only enlightened foresters, such as Josef Dekret-Matejovie, resisted the introduction of foreign trees species considered modern and promising in terms of wood production in the 18thto 19thcenturies. It is primarily forestry circles that must take the credit for the early recognition of the importance of primeval forests and for taking subsequent steps towards their preservation (BUBLINECand PICHLER2001). Their efforts to conserve remnants of primeval forests in Slovakia found support in artistic circles. Writers such as HVIEZDOSLAV (2002) projected these ideas in their works at the beginning of the 20thcentury.
During the 20thcentury especially after the Second World War, an elaborate network of marked hiking trails was developed and has been well maintained ever since by semi-pro- fessional tourism scouts and volunteers. The Slovak network of hiking trails ranks among the best in the world in all relevant aspects, such as length, maintanance, marking, availability of accurate and GPS-compatible maps. Hiking trails were set up in all mountain ranges, often leading the tourists through natural forests as shown in Table 1, where the hiking trails maintained in primeval forests in Slovakia in 2003 are listed.
While these trails were used by local and foreign tourists alike, there were large differ- ences between areas: in the High Tatras featuring alpine landscapes, the yearly number of visitors in the 1970s reached several million compared to only about 15 000 visitors p. a. within the Poloniny National Park that contains some of the most beautiful natural forests. Well- developed opportunities for accommodation, hard-surface roads leading directly to the tourist centers, cableways, and a wide choice of recreational activities also led many tourists to favor the High Tatras National Park. In fact, cableways or aerial tramways with mountain- top restaurants have been built on only a few mountain tops in Slovakia, mainly in the Low and High Tatras, thus sparing most mountain silhouettes and relieving mountains from an additional waste load.
The discrepancy between the number of visitors to the High Tatras National Park, on the one hand, and the Poloniny National Park on the other suggests that all categories of visitors feel strongly attracted by the sheer beauty of alpine landscapes, by high mountains offering attractions such as excellent views and by the availability of some entertainment oppor- tunities during bad weather periods.Well-developed infrastructure, with many good roads and a variety of accommodations are also important. This trend has continued in more recent developments, catering for mass tourism with the construction of cable ways, aqua- parks, ski resorts, golf courses, etc.
Generally, primeval forests as such were not recognized as tourist attractions in the past.
Until recently, it was only the Boubín Primeval Forest in the Czech Republic that enjoyed a very popular status among the population, since it was mentioned in every Czechoslovak geography textbook as a national monument. But this was always rather in the sense of national pride than of valuing a pristine and very complex terrestrial ecosystem. This is partly the result of national independence coming late after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, when outstanding natural monuments served as symbols of freedom and statehood (STRHAN and DANIEL 1994). However, the Boubín Primeval Forest was perceived and consumed without the “story behind the scenery”, i.e. without its ecological context. Consequently, people considered it exotic and came to inspect it in large numbers.
Its attractiveness, however, inevitably led to serious damage to the complex ecosystem.
The majority of visitors are looking for activities like hiking in pursuit of a physical work- out in a clean environment and wilderness, admmiring fine views, collecting forest fruit, camping, hunting and fishing. Some of these activities should actually be forbidden in nature reserves. All primeval forests in Slovakia are protected by state law and thus enjoy the Ia or IIa protection status according to the IUCN classification.
3.2 Public awareness of the existence of primeval forests in Slovakia
The phone poll carried out in 2000 immediately prior to the visit of the Prince of Wales to Badínsky Primeval Forest showed that only 4 % of adults taking part in the poll were able to name a primeval forest in Slovakia (a large majority of them mentioned the Dobrocsky Primeval Forest) and another 30 % remembered only the Boubín Primeval Forest in the Czech Republic, that – as mentioned above – was often described in geography textbooks published in the former Czechoslovakia. The most likely reason why 4 % of the respondents knew the DobrocskyPrimeval Forests was that it received a moderate media coverage when it was awarded a European Diploma by the Council of Europe in 1998, and that it extends close to Cierny Balog, a village known for its popular tourist attraction, the Ciernohorská narrow-gauge forest railway.
The poll taken eight months after the royal visit showed, however, that awareness of Slovak primeval forests hade risen to 48 %, most likely due to the wide media coverage of Prince Charles’ visit to Slovakia. He was taken on a walk through the primeval forest and praised its beauty on many occasions. The Novy Cas daily also extensively reported on the visit and gave its readers some piecemeal information on some other primeval forests too.
Among the 48 % respondents who were able to name at least one Slovak primeval forests, 39 % only knew the Badínsky Primeval Forest. An additional 7 % could name both the Badínsky Primeval Forest and the Dobrocsky Primeval Forest, and 2 % of those polled knew only the latter. Since that visit, two of the poll participants said they had visited the Badínsky Primeval Forest and walked on the educational trail through the forest out of
curiosity. Other visitors, whom we met during our field research or while guiding scientific excursions in field, were delighted to be able to combine tracing a royal route and enjoying the beautiful scenery, but some were disappointed by just seeing “damaged trees”.
3.3 Accessibility of the selected primeval forests and information facilities in them
We selected the 22 primeval forests according to the criteria given in section 2. Their location in Slovakia is given in Figure 1. The accessibility of these primeval forests and their educational facilities are documented in Table 1.
Fig. 1. Location of selected primeval forests in Slovakia. The numbering corresponds to that in Table 1.
The primeval forests shown in Figure 1 are among the most valuable in Slovakia in terms of naturalness, biodiversity and natural beauty (PICHLER2003). The industrial development in connection with the ore deposits in the Carpathians took place mainly in Central Slovakia where most of the selected localities are located. These are isolated from towns and villages by geomorphological barriers such as mountain ranges rather than large distances. Even so these forests have remained intact for various reasons. Some of them were owned by the nobility and served as hunting districts. In others, logging or log transport was not possible or profitable, either due to the rough terrain or the abundance of well managed and easily available wood resources in the adjacent areas. In contrast, the eastern part of the country was largely spared an early industrialization. But due to Slovakias overall small area, even the most remote Stuzica Primeval Forest at the border with Poland and the Ukraine is located only about 40 km from Snina, a town with 22 000 inhabitants. From there, the point of entry into the Stuzica Primeval Forest can be reached by car on a winding road crossing two catch- ments within one hour.
Table 1. Length (km) and status of existing hiking and educational trails in selected natural forests in the Western Carpathians. Note: (–) indicates that there is no trail, either hiking or educational, on which the respective primeval forest can be accessed.
Natural forest Hiking (HT) or educational
trail (ET) Status
1. Hornyles –
2. Súr – –
3. Kovácovské Hills HT, ET: 3 km, at the same time Maintained, with information boards – South serves as guide free nt.
4. Boky HT, ET: 4 km, at the same time Maintained, with information boards serves as guide free nt.
5. Kasivárová – –
6. Sitno HT, ET: 3 km; 1 km of which Maintained, with information boards serves as guide free nt.
7. Vtácnik HT.: 3 km Maintained, information board only
on the Vtácnik hilltop
8. Havesová – Maintained
9. Vihorlat – –
10. Badín ET: 1,5 km Maintained, with information boards
11. Stuzica HT: 5 km Maintained
12. Dobrocsky – Information boards within the buffer
zone
13. HronceckyGrún – –
14. KlenovskyVepor HT: 2 km Maintained
15. Padva – –
16. Tlstá HT: 4 km Maintained
17. Zadná Pol’ana HT, ET 6 km Maintained, with information boards 18. Babia Hora HT, ET: 3 km Maintained, with information boards
19. Skalka HT: 3 km Maintained
20.– 21. Kôprová Valley HT: 3 km Maintained
I–II
22. Mlynická and HT, ET: 4 km Maintained, with information boards Mengusovská
Valleys
The primeval forests in Table 1 are listed according to their forest vegetation stage: oak (1–3), beech-oak (4–5), oak-beech (6), beech (7–10), fir-beech (11–13), beech-fir-spruce (14–16), spruce (17–20), and dwarf-pine (21–22). The localities have different types of bedrock: volcanic (3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17), cristalline (12, 19, 20–22) and sedimentary – mainly flysch, carbonates and alluvial deposits (1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 15, 16, 18). The relatively monotone geomorphology found on the flysch bedrock may help explain why some of the most valuable and unique primeval forests, such as Havesová or Stuzica located within the Poloniny National Park, receive comparatively little attention from the potential visitors.
The most famous primeval forests discussed in the section 3.2, i.e. the Badínsky Primeval Forest and the DobrocskyPrimeval Forest, are well-known because of the media coverage and not because they are easily accessible. The access to the Badínsky Primeval Forest is possible on a hard-surface forest road closed for general motor traffic. The walk from the nearest village of Badin takes approximately 1.5 hours and the primeval forest inspection on the educational trail equipped with two panels lasts a further hour. The educational trail leading to the DobrocskyPrimeval Forest across its buffer zone can be accessed via a hard-
surface forest road, which is also closed for general traffic. The walk from the Cierny Balog Village lasts around two hours, and the walk from the road to the primeval forest border takes an additional 30 minutes. The primeval forests with the best access by car and within less than a 30 minute walking distance from the nearest village were not mentioned by our respondents.
4 Discussion
The results of this study indicate that there is a low public awareness of the primeval forests in Slovakia, despite their penetration by maintained and marked hiking or educational trails.
We infer that public awareness can be increased through promotion of the forests such as in the case of the media coverage of the visit of the Prince of Wales to the Badínsky Primeval Forest. However, our study results do not indicate that such coverage would automatically translate into an increased interest in visiting the forests as attractive tourism destinations.
The low number of respondents who reported actually visiting the forest that had enjoyed so much media attention following the royal visit is not surprising though if the analysis of Slovakia’s natural conditions and the development of tourism in Slovakia are considered. As pointed out in the analysis, large contiguous tracts of forests are still common in Slovakia and the majority of population would likely respond, according to previous experience, only to an active advertising of primeval forests highlights. For example, it would be possible to advertise “the tallest European beech” growing in Havesová, 57 m in height, as a “product”
or a sensation similar to giant trees in other parts of the world. But it would mean entering the same mode that almost destroyed the Boubín Primeval Forest.
Our results can be generalized to a certain degree, as the newspaper we surveyed has readers from all segments of society. Thus, based on the very low awareness of primeval forests among the general public and the past and current patterns of tourism development in this country we deduce that in the foreseeable future there will be no significant rise in interest in primeval forests as an incentive or added value for domestic tourism, not even for mass tourism. This is because of the expectations of potential tourists. The primeval and natural forests are not the main attractors for tourism, at least not within the appropriate framework. Today, whoever wants to visit a natural forest may do so by choosing one of the marked hiking or educational trails. A moderate rise is possible through the current devel- opment of ecotourism in the adjacent areas; nevertheless primeval forests will remain an added value, not an aim itself. The majority of people are satisfied with what they can obtain in an “ordinary” forest.
Nevertheless, the promotion of primeval forests is necessary in order to ensure public support for their protection in the currently prevailing atmosphere of exploitative pressure on Slovak forests in general. Our study has demonstrated that this can be achieved through the involvement of publicly known opinion leaders.
There is a different trend among children aged 8–16 years than among adults. Based on empirical data collected by Vydra, a Slovak NGO, there has been a rise in the number of school children who took a guided tour with their teachers to the border of Dobrocsky Primeval Forest during recent years, increasing from 360 in 1999 to 1100 in 2002. The children are provided with explanations by trained guides, for instance, on the differences between tropical virgin forests that are well known and temperate natural forests (SLÁVIK 2003).
More schools are organising such trips because the new geography curriculum takes a more ecological approach. Textbooks now contain information on natural forests in Slovakia,
especially the DobrocskyPrimeval Forest that obtained a European Diploma awarded by the Council of Europe. Several schools also organized guided tours of the Badín Primeval Forest in the wake of Prince Charles’ visit. In response to requests from primary schools for guidance through a natural forest, the Centre for Scientific Tourism in Slovakia set up a proxy educational trail in a semi-natural forest in Central Slovakia, in close proximity to the ruins of Old Zvolen Castle. The protective forest has not been managed for at least eighty years and features many traits that make it look similar to a primeval forest, mainly fallen or broken trees, a variety of trees species and rugged terrain. In addition, it also provides a unique opportunity for explaining the underlying connection between the natural and cultural heritage and the impact of humans on nature. To enhance the educational value of this proxy educational trail, a GPS-aided system coupled with Pocket PCs has been devel- oped and implemented as a virtual component of the trail. Location-specific, GPS- controlled dynamic animations run on the Pocket PCs distributed among the visitors prior to the tour. The animations pre-installed on the hand-held devices help the visitors to visualize the long-term ecological processes in the forest, as explained by the guides. According to teachers who have guided pupils through the Badínsky Primeval Forests and on the new education trail through the PustyHrad Forest, the emotional impact and educational value (at pupils’ level) tend to be similar in both localities.
5 Conclusions
In Slovakia, marked hiking trails have made natural forests well accessible since the 1950s.
Many of them have explanation boards. However, the local population, who have a pre- vailingly rural origin, has not yet perceived the difference between managed forests and truly natural forests as significant. This is also due to the semi-natural character of the majority of Slovak forests. The awareness of natural forests is low. The “primeval forest status” is usually only associated with the Boubín Reserve in the Sumava Mts., which has been described in textbooks as a national monument and a source of pride in the past almost entirely without ecological explanation. This is starting to change for the better with the younger generation, following the inclusion of a more appropriate, ecological interpretation of natural forests in modern textbooks.
Natural forests cannot be considered a primary attraction for developing ecotourism among the Slovaks. We therefore do not recommend actively advertising mass tourism in natural forests at present, as the pursuit of such activities would inevitably strain the ecosys- tems. This may change in a few years when children now exposed to the new ecological and environmental curriculum grow up and respond more positively to the restrictions necessary to preserve the pristine ecosystems of natural forests, including having to be under rangers’
guidance. Subsequently, a domestic target group for ecotourism with primeval forests as one of the main attractions is expected to emerge. Until then, scientific tourism at various levels that takes into account the interests of both local and foreign visitors, perhaps scaled down as interpretative tourism when necessary for informed laypeople and students, is likely to be the best market.
However, an active information policy and promotion of primeval forests as natural treasures can be recommended in order to secure their sustained protection with sufficient number of reserves, area and protection management. The findings of our study suggest that the involvement of well-known and supportive personalities can help to achieve this goal.
Acknowledgements
This work was partly supported by the Swiss Department for Co-operation and Development, British Know-How Fund and Dutch MATRA–KAP project. We thank Silvia Dingwall for improving the English.
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Accepted May 13, 2005
