Gaps in socio-economic research in Šumava National Park, Czech Republic.

The currently prevailing approach to nature conservation aims to balance environmental protection with human well-being and economic welfare of local communities in protected areas and surrounding regions. However, maintaining environmental objectives while meeting the demand of local inhabitants for socio- economic development has proven difficult. In the Czech Republic, this holds especially for Šumava National Park (NP), which has been facing a continuous dissention in terms of the extent to which the local conservation regime influences economic welfare and socio-economic sustainability of the area. The first aim of this study was to review socio-economic research in Šumava NP since its establishment and identify its potential gaps. Second, we aimed to present a pilot summary of available socio-economic data for this study area, namely population trends, unemployment rate and municipal budget revenues, and to compare their levels with other protected areas in the Czech Republic, as well as non-protected areas and the national average. To achieve this, we conducted a systematic literature review and utilized publicly available statistical datasets and databases to derive socio-economic data between 1991 and 2011. The results showed that Šumava NP has undergone a moderate decrease in population in the study period, while the unemployment rate and budget revenues performed the same or better than in other protected and non-protected areas in the Czech Republic. The evidence presented in this paper is in line with previous studies suggesting that there is a gap between the socio-economic reality of the communities in Šumava NP and the prevailing way the quality of life is perceived by local inhabitants and presented in the media. The paper concludes that further systematic socio-economic research is urgently needed to support sustainable nature conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]