Challenges in the Management of Plitvice Lakes National Park, Republic of Croatia

Abstract

Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest protected area in the Republic of Croatia and the biggest by its surface. The park is designated as the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Outstanding universal value is recognized within significant natural and geological processes, habitats and biodiversity. Only 1% of the park's large surface is the main focal point for visitors and active tourism. We evaluated management of the park through Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis interpreting internal and external factors. High conservation of biodiversity, investments in different projects and high number of employees are considered as strengths. High number of visitors in small area and lack of visitor management plan, educational programs and marketing strategy are weaknesses. Threats are present through the inadequate management of drinking water supplies, lack of wastewater treatment plant and excessive construction in villages. Our opportunity definitely lies in protected nature and biodiversity. Considering very good status of the park's finances, there aren't any significant barriers for sustainable tourism approach, development of educational programs, various investments and adoption of new management plans. However, these activities must be beyond any potential political influence and they should have continuity in order for the park to be an example of quality management in the years to come.

Exploring National Park Visitors’ Judgements from Social Media: The Case Study of Plitvice Lakes National Park

“…Thus, protected areas and nature-based tourism represent fundamental access for people to cultural ecosystem services [25,35,36]. Particularly, national parks are characterized by a high level of biodiversity protection among protected areas and, at the same time, provide tourism opportunities [5,26,27,37]. Thus, national parks play a very important role also in the tourism sector.…”

“…In addition, Plitvice is the only Croatian national park that is on the UNESCO World Heritage list (1979) as natural heritage and is entirely identified as a Natura 2000 site. Despite the large area of the park, only a small part of it represents the point of major tourist interest [37]. It is a lake system which includes 16 main lakes characteristic for their waterfalls, to which are added several other smaller lakes [51].…”

“…The park's finances derive entirely from the entrance tickets and hospitality services, including four hotels (380 accommodation units and 820 beds), two camping sites (2850 parking spaces for campers), seven restaurants, and eight other small park facilities (just under 3000 seats) [52]. The income of these activities is used for management and investments within the park area [37].…”

Exploring Tourist Preferences on the Visitor Management System: the Case Study of Plitvice Lakes National Park

“…sports; outdoor education; nature conservation). In particular, PAs and nature reserve areas (especially NPs) represent the predominant setting for nature-based tourism activities (Smolćić Jurdana 2009, Kaffashi et al 2015, Perera et al 2015, Sandell 2016, Vurnek et al 2018.…”

“…The PLNP is part of the Dinaric karst area and is the largest national park in the country with nearly 30,000 hectares of forests, lakes and caves. The aquatic area of the PLNP represents about 1% of the total surface and is the most important attraction for visitors (Vurnek et al 2018, Mandić 2021. The remaining 99% of the surface consists mostly of forests and grasslands.…”