Using a participatory assessment of ecosystem services in the Dinaric Arc of Europe to support protected area management

Abstract

Economic and non-economic benefits of protected areas were assessed in 58 national parks in the Dinaric Arc of Europe, involving over a thousand local people and identifying major economic benefits from tourism, rural development and water. The study used the Protected Area Benefits Assessment Tool in stakeholder workshops in all the parks studied. The results are being applied to improve protected area management and enhance collaboration with local stakeholders. The Dinaric Arc includes parts of eight countries in south-eastern Europe. While being one of the continent's most important areas for biodiversity conservation, it is under intense pressures from development and many of the region's protected areas are underfunded and undervalued. Understanding the full range of values and benefits of protected areas to stakeholders provides a good basis for developing management and policy responses and has proved popular with both governments and donor organizations. The results suggest that protected areas already provide significant economic benefits to local people in the region, often in places with few other options, and that further utilization of many ecosystem services is possible without undermining protected area objectives and effectiveness.

Social impacts of European Protected Areas and policy recommendations

“…The 49 studies selected to be included in this review where from 17 European countries (Table S1, Supplementary material). The largest studies were 6 national reports ( Ivanić et al, 2017 ) using the PA-BAT tool ( Dudley and Stolton, 2009 ) assessing benefits in several national parks across different East European countries. The number of studies has increased in the past decade, as shown in Fig.…”

“…A number of studies focus on the benefits of conservation on these broad categories (e.g. Ivanić et al, 2017 ). However, the designation of PAs is linked both with negative and positive aspects of these impacts for users ( Jones et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Oldekop et al, 2015 ) that need to be taken into consideration both before and after the PA designation.…”

Mitigating the Pressures: The Role of Participatory Planning in Protected Area Management

“…To establish a supportive attitude towards PAs among the range of stakeholders, it is vital to communicate effectively and achieve a common understanding of PA values and benefits, hence laying a robust ground for management and policy development (Ivanić et al 2017). In this regard, the importance of the perception of people living in protected areas has been particularly highlighted (Pelegrina-López et al 2018;Hirschnitz-Garbers and Stoll-Kleemann 2011).…”

Assessment of cultural, historical and ecosystem values of Đerdap National Park

“…Процена екосистемских услуга доприноси и реализацији глобалних циљева одрживог развоја до 2030. године, а нарочито циља број 15, подциљ 15.4. према којем је потребно очувати екосистеме ради пружања користи од суштинског значаја за одрживи развој (UN, 2015). Нарочито је важно укључивање различитих интересних група у доношење одлука у управљање природним добрима (Ivanić et al, 2017;Dobričić & Josimović, 2018), као и укључивање резултата вредновања екосистемских услуга у друге секторске области (Stojkov & Dobričić, 2012;Dobričić et al, 2017;Dobričić, 2012). Тако нпр, према Lam & Conway (2018) политика планирања коришћења земљишта кроз израду планских докумената помаже власти да планира, регулише и различитим политикама и мерама усмерава одрживи просторни развој тог подручја, али и доприноси заштити и унапређењу екосистемских услуга у овим подручјима.…”

“…PA-BAT метод је осмишљен од стране Dudley & Stolton (2009) и до сада je примењен на заштићеним подручјима у седам земаља Динарског лука (Ivanić et al, 2017), и то: Словенији, Хрватској, Босни и Херцеговини, Црној Гори, Северној Македонији, Албанији и Србији. Поред наведених земаља југоисточне Европе PA-BAT метод је примењен и у другим земљама света, као што су Колумбија, Турска, Мјанмар, САД и Етиопија (Ivanić et al, 2020).…”