Nature protection and sustainable tourism interaction in selected Ramsar Sites in Vojvodina (Northern Serbia)

  • Vladimir Stojanović Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
  • Lazar Lazić Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
  • Jelena Dunjić Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Keywords: Ramsar sites, Vojvodina, nature protection, sustainable development, ecotourism,

Abstract


This paper explores wetland-based tourism in four Ramsar sites in northern Serbian province Vojvodina, as well as a connection between tourism and nature protection. These regions are of great importance for Vojvodina, especially from the point of view of ecosystem services, because 83.3% of its territory are agricultural areas. Explored Ramsar sites were designated in period from 2004 to 2008 and they have been included in many plans as important areas for tourism development. However, the level of tourism development in these sites is not uniform because it depends on variety of factors such as touristic attractions value, engagement of nature protection managers in tourism development, and level of nature degradation and protection. The main objective of this paper is to determine the interconnection between nature degradation, nature protection and tourism development in selected Ramsar areas of Vojvodina, based on the Internal data of protected area managers,Report on the state of the environment and the scope of tourism development (infrastructure, services, development plans).

 

References

Asaad, I., Lundquist, C. J., Erdmann, M. V., & Costello, M. J. (2017). Ecological criteria to identify areas for biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation, 213, 309-316.

Bego, F., & Malltezi, J. (2011). Ecotourism opportunities and challenges in Butrint, Albania, a unique UNESCO and Ramsar site. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue no. 61, 150-157.

Chen, L. J., Chen, W. P., 2015. Push-pull factors in international birders’ travel. Tourism management, 48. 416-425.

Do, Y., Kim, S. B., Kim, J. Y., Joo, G. J. 2015. Wetland based tourism in South Korea: who, when and why. Wetland ecology management, 23. 779-787.

Farrell, B., Runyan, D. 1991. Ecology and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 18. 26-40.

Hettiarachchi, M., Morrison, T.H., McAlpine, C. 2015. Forty-three years of Ramsar and urban wetlands. Global Environmental Change, 32. 57-66.

Holden, A. 2000. Environment and Tourism, Routledge Introductions to Environment Series. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York.

Igić, R., Stojšić, V., Vukov, D., Panjković, B. 2001. Rare and protected plants of Zasavica river. Zasavica 2001. 42-48pp.

Institute for nature conservation of Vojvodina province. 2011. Medium-term Programme of Nature Assets Protection for the period 2011-2020 (in Serbian)

Institute for nature conservation of Vojvodina province. 2015. Report on Nature Condition in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina for the period 2010-2014 (in Serbian)

Lazić, L., Pavić, D., Stojanović, V., Tomić, P., Romelić, J., Pivac, T., Košić, K., Besermenji, S., Kicošev, S., Đarmati, Z., Puzović, S., Đureković-Tešić, O., Stojanović, T., Marić, B., Vig, L., Panjković, B., Habijan-Mikeš, V., Sabadoš, K., Delić, J., Kovačević, B., Stojšić, V., Korać, J. 2008. Protected areas and ecotourism of Vojvodina. Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, Novi Sad. (in Serbian)

Marković, S., Lukač, Š., Kicošev, S. 1997. Slano Kopovo. Zaštita prirode, 48-49. 321-326. (in Serbian)

Matthews, G.V.T. 2013. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: its History and Development. Ramsar Convention Bureau, Gland Switzerland.

Mauerhofer, V., Kim R. E, & Stevens, C. (2015). When implementation works: A comparison of Ramsar Convention implementation in different continents. Environmental Science and Policy, 51, 95-105.

Mauerhofer, V. (2011). A bottom-up ‘Convention-Check’ to improve top-down global protected area governance. Land Use Policy, 28, 877-886

McNeilage, A. 1996. Ecotourism and mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes. In: V.J. Taylor and N. Dunstone (eds.) The Exploitation of Mammals Population, pp. 334-344. London, UK: Chapman & Hall.

Ostrovskaya, E., Douven, W., Schwartz, K., Pataki, B, Mukuyu, P., & Kaggwa, R.C. (2013). Capacity for sustainable management of wetlands: Lessons from the WETwin project. Environmental Science and Policy, 34, 128-137.

Panjković, B. 2000. Significant Biodiversity Components at Apatinski and Monoštorski rit (YU). Limnological reports: Proceedings of the 33th IAD Conferencein Osijek, Croatia, 3-9 September 2000.

Panjković, B., Stojnić, N. 2011.Biodiversity and protected areas. In: Puzović, S., Radovanović-Jovin, H. [eds.] Environment in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection. Novi Sad.

Puzović, S., Đureković-Tešić, O., Marić, B., Stojanović, T., Vig, L., Stojnić, N., Perić, R., Ham, I., Lazić, L., Stojanović, V., Pavić, D., Vasić, I., Olđa, M. 2014. Labudovo okno Ramsar Site. Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning and Environmental Protection, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Novi Sad.(in Serbian)

Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2010. Wise use of wetlands: Concepts and approaches for the wise use of wetlands. Ramsar handbooks for the wise use of wetlands, 4th edition, vol. 1. Ramsar Convention Bureau, Gland Switzerland.

Smart, M. & Canters, K.J. (1991). Ramsar participation and wise use. Landscape Urban Plann., 20, 269-274.

Stojanović, V. 2005. Sustainable development in special nature reserves of Vojvodina. Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, Novi Sad. (in Serbian)

Stojanović, V. 2011. Tourism and sustainable development. Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, Novi Sad. (in Serbian)

Stojanović, V, Lazić, L., Pavić, D., Panjković, B., Košić, K., Dragin, A., Stankov, U., Jovanović, M., Pantelić, M., Stamenković, I., & Ivanović, Lj. (2011). A feasibility study on the development of ecotourism in the protected natural areas of Vojvodina (with special emphasis on Ramsar areas). Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, Novi Sad. (in Serbian)

The Law on Nature Conservation.Official Gazette RS. 36/2009; 88/2010; 91/2010 i 14/2016. (in Serbian)

UNWTO 2010. Tourism and Biodiversity – Achieving Common Goals Towards Sustainability, World Tourism Organization, Madrid, Spain.

Verhoeven, T.A. J. (2014). Wetlands in Europe: Perspectives for restoration of a lost paradise. Ecological Engineering, 66, 6-9.

Vig, L., Đureković-Tešić, O., Marić, B., Stojanović, T., Puzović, S., Stojnić, N., Knežev, N., Lazić, L., Stojanović, V. 2012. Slano Kopovo Ramsar Site. Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning and Environmental Protection, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Novi Sad.(in Serbian)

Wall Reinius, S., Fredman, P. 2007. Protected Areas as Attractions. Annals of Tourism Research 34- 4, 839-854.

Wetland tourism: A great Experience. Responsible tourism supports wetlands and people. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Gland, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Madrid, 2012.

http://www.ramsar.org/

Published
2018/09/24
Section
Original Research