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ŠUMARSKI LIST 5-6/2022 str. 80     <-- 80 -->        PDF

NATURE DEGRADATION AND CHALLENGES OF PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT
DEGRADACIJA PRIRODE I IZAZOVI UPRAVLJANJA ZAŠTIĆENIM PODRUČJEM
The main forms of nature degradation in Nature Park Kopački rit and Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve are similar in their character, which additionally emphasizes their belonging to the same type of environment, primarily to the wet habitats of the spacious floodplains in the Danube valley.
Threats in the Kopački Rit Nature Park are numerous and are mostly caused by various human activities. One of the most dangerous threats is unsustainable management of water resources, i.e., the disruption of natural processes on rivers, their channelling, adjustment for easier navigation, and flood prevention. Irrigation of agricultural land also affects the loss of wetlands and swamp habitats, while intensive agriculture, using fertilizers and pesticides, negatively affects water and soil quality representing at the same time a complete loss of biodiversity due to the use of monocultures. Absence of systematic waste disposal and drainage causes a further negative impact on water quality in Kopački Rit (Management Plan, 2006).
The change in the groundwater regime causes the succession of vegetation, drying of forests, and the increased occurrence of invasive species. Finally, poaching and poaching in fishing, as well as inadequate fishing, also pose a threat to the natural values of the Park, especially poaching during spawning can disrupt the stability of the fish population (Management Plan, 2006).
The manager of the protected area tries to fight the identified threats in Kopački Rit by carrying out numerous activities for the protection and preservation of natural values envisaged in the management plan as well as by participating in numerous national and international projects. The projects are related to the suppression of habitat fragmentation, i.e., to the revitalization and maintenance of the connection of all elements of the habitat, and the preservation of biodiversity (https://pp-kopacki-rit.hr). Then there is also an important project aimed at clearing mines, and biological reforestation (Franjić, 2020), as well as a project developing a framework for the management of the Natura 2000 ecological network.
Gornje Podunavlje SNR is the most endangered by melioration works, embankment construction and construction of canal network which has intersected natural river flows (Karapandža and Monoštorski rit are the places that have been struck the hardest). Poplar plantations have been systematically replacing the areas of the old autochthonous forests of white poplar for decades (Stojanović, 2005). Loss and fragmentation of habitats, especially in terms of natural forests of pedunculated oak, willow, white and black poplar, wet meadows and ponds, as well as the raising of embankments in the past, negatively affected biodiversity. Besides that, this protected area is endangered by the spread of invasive species that is also affecting the native and protected species in negative manner (Puzović et al, 2015). Habitat fragmentation is also affected by the construction of forest roads, which make this area significantly more open and accessible through the road infrastructure (Panjković & Stojnić, 2011).
In order to overcome the cases of nature degradation, the Manager of Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve, together with other nature protection institutions (such as Institute for Nature Conservation of Voivodina Province, Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning and Environmental Protection), implements activities and measures in order to revitalize the wetlands, habitats of protected species, as well as with the aim of preserving the birds and their habitats (Puzović et al, 2015).
ORGANISATION OF TOURISM
ORGANIZACIJA TURIZMA
Tourism has traditionally been an activity of marginal economic importance for the Slavonia-Baranja County. However, but during the last 10 years significant breakthroughs have been made. Kopački Rit Nature Park is recognized as one of the main carriers of tourism development in the County (Master Plan of Tourism of the Osijek-Baranja County (OBC), 2016). As a protected area, Kopački Rit Nature Park has been more intensely engaged in the increase of visits, either through development of strategic planning documents related to tourism development or investments in visitor infrastructure improvement, as well as focusing on providing accompanying interpretation and education services. The visitor reception plan, i.e., the carrying capacity, was developed for the Special Zoological Reserve and for the entire area of the Park.According to the plan Kopački Rit can accommodate a maximum of about 250,000 visitors a year without compromising natural values (Institute for Spatial Planning, 2006). The structure and attitudes of its visitors were also explored (TOMAS, 2006).