Nineteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Today landscapes experience enormous transformations, and the once common biodiversity ceases to be normalized and is considered an invisible wealth, something unusual, precious and fragile, something that needs to be preserved from deterioration, disappearance, extinction. For this reason, nature parks and national parks are being created in Croatia, as well as elsewhere in the world. In the last ten years, National Parks on the Croatian coast have recorded a 100% increase in attendance. Economic, ecological and social factor influence the mission of conservation, which is embedded in the very core of national parks and nature parks, bringing it in conflict with the cultural demands of today’s society. Under the pressure of consumerism, these special places have shifted the narrative and then the practice from conservation to being the providers of exceptional, unique experience content, which puts them significantly at odds with the idea of biodiversity conservation. Even promotion of what is considered sustainable tourism today, such as bicycle tourism or nautical tourism, does not guarantee the preservation of the biodiversity of these areas. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of the research that we are conducting in Paklenica National Park with a focus on balancing strategies between the demands of the active tourists and the need to preserve the biodiversity of protected area.