Webinar: Management of visitors and education in protected areas

On 14th June 2021 Parks Dinarides, in cooperation with WWF Adria, organized webinar on the topic –  Visitor Management and Education in Protected Areas.

Due to epidemiological measures, the event, which was attended by about 60 participants, was held via the Zoom platform in the period from 11:00 to 13:00.

The aim of the event was to provide an opportunity for representatives of protected areas in the Dinarides region as well as other interested public to exchange experiences and information on the process of development and implementation of visitor management plans in protected areas. Through examples of parks that already have and implement these plans, such as NP Krka from Croatia or have a history of organized work with visitors (Škocjan Caves Park from Slovenia), valuable information is presented to those areas that are in the process of preparing visitor management plans or intend to start the process in the next period.  

In addition, at the event, representatives of NP Tara spoke about the problems they faced during 2020, due to the unexpected influx of tourists to this protected area, and due to the lack of appropriate infrastructure and mechanism for working and managing visitors.

In addition, the webinar will focus on education and communication with visitors in protected areas as a very important and active segment of the work of protected areas.

As a good example of work on visitor education and cooperation with schools, the WWF regional project Network of Schools in Protected Areas was presented, which has been implemented since 2016, and within which numerous partnerships of protected areas in the region and educational institutions have been established.

Skadar Lake National Park, as one of the areas that participated in the School Network in Protected Areas project, presented the results and benefits they achieved through work on education and cooperation with educational institutions in that area, which continued after the project activities.

Krka National Park also presented its educational programs and ways of working with the youngest visitors and educational institutions that are one of the best developed in the region.

In addition, Parks Dinarides and WWF Adria presented graphic solutions with messages for visitors about responsible behavior in protected areas, which are prepared in all languages ​​of the region and free to use through communication channels that use protected areas.