Search

In many mountainous regions, ongoing reforestation leads to the permanent shrinkage of traditional landscapes connected with past human activity. Tourism is often perceived as a measure for the protection of traditional landscapes. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of in-depth studies exploring the connection between mountain glade conservation and tourism development. This paper aimed to determine whether tourism development can prevent the reforestation of temperate mountain glades and to assess the extent of its influence on traditional glade landscapes. Based on the example of the Western Beskids (Poland), we investigated the change in the range of glades in relation to tourist development, which has not been analysed until now. Cartographic analyses were used to examine how the landscape has changed since 1983. To determine the influence of tourist development on the landscape, the tourism landscape footprint (TLF) index was calculated. Two trends were detected: reforestation in glades that are touristically utilized and the gradual tourist development of the remnants of traditional landscapes within preserved non-forested areas. The study reveals that despite tourism, reforestation within glades is continuing, and simultaneously, the share of tourist elements in the shrinking glades is increasing. In the case of areas intensively used for tourism, the traditional landscape is disappearing as it is transformed into a tourist landscape. Further studies are necessary to assess the level of tourism development that will provide traditional landscape conservation in accordance with the principles of sustainable development., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The dynamic and magnitude of landscape changes have increased since the 18 and 19th centuries and accelerated after the Second World War. As a result, traditional landscapes are vanishing rapidly. In this paper, the problems of difficulties in traditional landscape restoration and conservation are discussed, based on studies conducted in the Western Beskids. In this area, the vanishing of the traditional landscape of seasonal mountain economy is observed mainly as a result of land abandonment. The method of historical analysis which draws from varied contemporary and historical data was used. The range of non-forest areas has decreased by more than half since 1848 in two study sites. The traditional landscape is relatively durable in areas that are still utilised by residents or protected using nature conservation activities. Nevertheless, individual landscape elements (terrain forms and objects) are relatively well preserved also in abandoned areas covered with forest. Preserved traces of past human activity are mainly connected with tillage and settlement as past mowing and grazing did not lead to the creation of tough terrain forms. Despite this region's traditional landscape was shaped by seasonal animal grazing and land cultivation, only pastures located in the higher parts of the study area are contemporarily protected. If the current nature conservation in the Western Beskids is continued, only small fragments of the traditional landscape will be preserved as a relic landscape. The study results show that landscape restoration and conservation is still a source of many questions concerning the possibilities, approaches, and effectiveness of these activities. Further studies should focus on assessing the possibility of restoring the historical state of the landscape, which can be the basis for the selection of elements to be protected, spatial range, and methods used. This will allow the development of effective strategies for preserving the traditional landscape. • The issue of landscape restoration and conservation is a source of many doubts. • Possibility of landscape restoration is crucial for landscape conservation. • Justifying conservation needs as a basis for landscape management. • Reconciliation of many voices is indispensable in landscape management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Landscapes in national parks bear at least slight traces of human activity. • The proposed method could be the basis for designating protected areas. • The method enables calculation of the degree of landscape transformation by humans. • A supra-regional land cover map with greater detail should be developed. Establishing national parks should result from a desire to protect natural or near natural landscapes with the lowest degree of anthropogenic transformation. This paper tries to ascertain whether national parks in Poland protect the most natural landscapes and how far they have been affected by humans. The level of anthropogenic transformation of natural landscapes was assessed based on an analysis of the percentage of natural, semi-natural and anthropogenic land cover. The vast majority of national parks in Poland (21 out of 23) protect landscapes which have been minimally transformed by humans (RAT TNP ranges from 1.01 to 1.16). Only two kinds of natural landscapes, those that are the most transformed by humans, are not represented within the set of the Polish national parks. Hence, the distribution of national parks reflects the degree of anthropogenic landscape transformation. The proposed method could be applied to any type of spatial unit and thus be the basis for designating areas that should be protected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]