A podcast by CIPRA. In podcast, in the L'Acee Prandale podcast. The Acee Prandale podcast. Three-prin podcast.
Interviews, background talks and voices from all Alpine countries. Listen to this and more in the podcast of the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, www.cipra.org. Port slash podcast. Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the CIPRA podcast.
My name is Catherine Holshdan and I'm working at the Community Network Alliance in the Alps. Together with CIPRA International, we are currently working on the Alpine White Special Apps 2 project in which four pilot regions are testing measures for visitor management. Among these regions are the Tirola Lechnagea Park in Austria, the Kamnixavenia Alps in Slovenia, the Mountaineering Village, Balmain, Italy, and Padlachnal in Germany. If you've ever been to the Three Peaks in the Dolomites or Tibetis garden during the holiday season, you will certainly know how crowded places in the Alps can be.
And you've definitely been part of visitor management, whether you noticed it or not. The tourism industry has been growing constantly since the 1960s. This is especially noticeable due to the diversity of landscapes, species and cultures in the Alps. Where a few decades ago, there were still lonely valleys with mystical waterfalls and crystallically mountain lakes.
They are now kilometre long traffic jams on exes roads and masses of visitors, all in search of their own special experience. This is of course an exaggeration, but in some regions it is part of everyday life. Within the Special Apps 2 project, there were four regions in the Alps that have faced up to the regional challenges and tourism and developed visitor guidance measures. Visitor management is not a new topic, but it is still a sub-check to a heated debate.
Who is in charge of visitor management in the Alpine region? What are the main obstacles and how could they be solved? We ask people from our pilot regions, so let's find out. Katerina Shakal is the coordinator of the Cominexiavina Alps pilot region in Slovenia.
This is the main problem I see the status quo defined by the presentation of authorities, a lack of communication between decision makers and a certain indecisiveness about how to implement changes. An example of such as ignating situations or presentation of authority is the lack of ambition and addressing sustainable mobility. We must be aware that in our case we are mainly dealing with the tourist destinations, and for this reason too we should introduce sustainable mobility measures with a few to the efficient mobility of tourists on the one hand, and also the links between or services between tourists look at residents on the other. Visitor guidance is therefore not a topic purchased one person, but a cross-sectoral issue in which many stakeholders should be brought to the table.
This is also the opinion of Ivaria Katoen, the coordinator of the pilot region of the Tirola Leit nature park. As a distiller of the social and commission, we have a question of the team that is a part of the team's alignment of the event, the society of the city, the society of the public, the society of the city, the city of the city, the city of the city, the city of the city, the city of the city. The topic of visitor guidance is a cross-sexual issue, and therefore there is not always for suddenly one person shoulder or have a clear definition. For example, you first have to look at who is really affected by it or has an influence on it, and that means you have to bring these actors together as a first step.
That is important, of course, and you have to see who could take responsibility for what or how to take it further. This is really the first important step, and we have done this with the Tirola Leit and Nature Park. We started a part of the Prater process in the beginning because the protected area, even the protected area management, cannot cover all topics alone and is not exclusively responsible. Furthermore, it is also important to take the stakeholders into account and get them involved from the very beginning.
If you want something to emerge in which many people participate and then accept, so it's simply also about this idea. So let's say water sports associations, for example, that use a river as a recreational area. They don't have an understanding of what the needs are, so to speak, in the protected area. They can't behave accordingly, and that's why the involvement is so important.
So the first step is to bring the different parties to the table. Francesco Pastorelli, the coordinator of the Bileme Pilot Region and the Piedmontese Alps, has developed some solutions to tackle these problems. It could be solved through cultural change, through communication and awareness. It's been long-term and not about the immediate, realizing that it is better to give up something now to maintain a valuable asset for the future.
The natural landscape is the most valuable asset this region has. We need to understand that if it is compromised, this will mean irreversible damage. Unfortunately, there is a risk of not valuing assets such as landscape or biodiversity. We need to understand the importance of all ecosystem services, which are those services that nature gives to the community, not only in the form of providing food and raw materials, but also clean air and water, climate protection and recreational opportunities.
We are working to try to define for this tourist destination a load limit, a maximum number of cars that can go up to the plateau during a summer day. It is not easy to get this concept accepted, either by tourists who are not willing to accept limitations or by many valley residents who think that tourism can grow indefinitely. However, one should not be rushed and expect to solve problems right away. Once the direction is identified, it is better to take it one step at a time and the correct course is necessary.
Consensus needs to be built and not imposed. The most important ingredient in visitor management is patience. Patience and the willingness to compromise. The way to consensus is a long path.
This applies to all the players involved. But what contribution can politics make? Planchesco pastorelli? I think it is a big problem.
I think that the most important thing is that the general problem is that the problem is not possible. The most important thing is that the people who are not willing to deal with this problem. For two reasons. The first is that they often do not have the means, economic or human resources, for example, to carry out surveillance.
The second, which is even more important, is that the regulations have to be put in place when unpopular measures have to be taken and some discontent will always be there. The municipality would be much stronger if it could move within a regulatory framework that is at least regional, if not national or even EU-wide. We have an alpine convention, for example. All it would take is a national or regional regulation that transposes the alpine convention and stipulates that for a certain type of mountain road or for locations that attract a lot of tourists.
Measures must be taken to curb the effect of motorised traffic and the impact of tourists and municipalities would have an easier time taking certain measures that are seen as restricting citizens' freedom. Instead, mayors risk being criticised by both their citizens and tourists. In fact, the contracting states of the alpine convention commit themselves to harmonised tourism and leisure with the social and ecological requirements of the region. According to the tourism protocol of 1991, the contracting states should promote visitor guidance to protect the continued existence of the areas.
However, it is not clearly defined who is exactly responsible for visitor guidance in the Alps. The distribution of tasks arise from country to country, which makes uniform and cross-border cooperation difficult. Therefore, a unified strategy and clear responsibilities are needed, both at the regional and national level in the Alps. As I have said earlier, I am not sure what to explain.
I am not sure what to explain. I am not sure what to explain. I am not sure what to explain. I am not sure what to explain.
I am not sure what to explain. I am not sure what to explain. In our region, we thought about it in the sense that we needed clear strategy, we needed responsibilities and we needed a good cooperation. These are the three essential success factors for cross-sectional topic of visitor guidance.
And we have to take four essential steps in the Tyrola Leitch Nature Park, which can now be summarized as followed. First of all, we carried out a broad participation process in which we tried to involve everyone to let everybody think for themselves. We then spun our catalogs of measures, specific ones at the nature parks, which it continued to implement under its main responsibility. And this also meant on a high level that we then passed on to various representatives.
Then we created a steering group from the Soweto Defined Group, which we have now also been able to use in the Soweto project. In parallel, it was simply also a really good time. There were various new hires among key players. The most important thing of course was the funding of this, and we tried to include the topic of regional funding programs.
This no doubt that human and financial resources are required, but it also needs a clear strategy in a central point of contact where all the knowledge comes together and is coordinated. A networking point for all actors of visitor guidance. You also have to understand where the hotpots are. Where are the areas of conflict?
Where is the youth harmful? Where is something becoming too much? And what do you need to keep an eye on? This can only be done at a regional level.
That's why it clearly needs people in the region to deal with this and take a closer look. A visitor management doesn't stop today, it continues all the time. You have to ensure continuity. Which is why it is important to think about what could be done on a super-regional level.
I believe that a coordination centre for such things can make sense. And then think about who I need regionally, so that I can get the information, someone who has an overview and then can do the regional coordination. Both are needed, and there would clearly be a need of personal resources on both sides, at the regional and the super-regional level. Projects and initiatives regarding visitor guidance are usually supported by various funding pots and for a certain period of time.
But the need for visitor guidance does not stop after the funding period. Trusts keep visiting the region, it's kind of an ever-ending story. Marcus Bajlattna from the Urban Planning Institute in Munich therefore has a specific request. We have to make a decision on this.
We have to make a decision on this. Policies should change, so that such support, such projects, such subsidies are not just pulled out briefly and spatially, but are long enough so that those involved, which is often the administration or authorities, can deal with them for a sufficiently long time. And then they are sustainable and have a much longer impact than just short and quick projects that are then often not continued. If I'm Maria Kattuan, we'd like to see more innovation and experimentation in visitor guidance.
I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer any questions. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer any questions. Visitor guidance is a relatively new topic and not sufficiently visible everywhere. It is getting better all the time, but with something so recent and under research, then we must always have to encourage the test or experiment with other things.
I would also like to call on you again and again to say that we should innovate in this area and see if we can make progress above the methods, because we have seen that some of them do not work in all situations. At the moment, it is still being neglected. We should get more of this autonomousism in the things that are checked, partly scientifically but also partly by the actors themselves. I would find it very interesting if there was even more knowledge about all this.
The joy of experimentation has already infected the pilot region of Bileman Italy. An idea arose that was already known from the past century. Close to Bileman is a plateau called the Pian de La Musa, which is surrounded by a beautiful mountain rage. On sunny summer days, the view of the mountain is boiled by cars parked all over the plateau.
Francesco Pastorelli would like to change this. You can start by organizing a car free Sunday, mainly for demonstration purposes, to show how the area could change without cars, to get people moving on foot or by alternative means, to fully enjoy the nature of the place. Remember that we are in a SCI, therefore a protected area, and then gradually one step at a time, fit to the point of not eliminating cars altogether, but of having a constant reduction, at least during the periods of greatest pressure. The concept of low limits, a maximum number of cars that can go up to the Pian in one day, should be explained to visitors.
This is not a way to drive tourists away, but a tool to preserve an area and at the same time offer tourists a better quality of stay. So how might a region with good visitor management look like in the future? First of all, communication is key. So is cooperation between decision makers and neighboring regions.
With a clear strategy and a reasonable distribution of tasks, visitor management could be more structured. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and visitor management also doesn't have to be a dry topic. Creative approaches, by experimentation, can also lead to successful visitor management. If you want to hear more about the project and what you can do to protect the Alps through your behaviour, you can listen to the previous podcast.
The link is available in the show notes. This podcast was produced in the context of the Alpine-wide project Special Ops 2, in which four pilot regions are testing measures to guide visitors, the Tirola Lechnager Park, the Kamnicks Avinja Alps, the Mount Nearing Village Bileman and Patraitenhal. The project is supported by Sea Brantanational and the Alliance in the Ops Network of Monocipalities. It is made possible by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.
My name is Khatan Holstein, thank you for listening and goodbye.