soomaa national park as member of pan parks
DESCRIPTION
Presentation on ECOLNET workshop, 29th of July 2012 in Tartu, Estonia : Soomaa as Member of PAN ParksTRANSCRIPT
SOOMAA NATIONAL PARKa member of PAN Parks network
IMPACT ON TOURISM
Rait PartsIn the name of Murel Merivee
Photos: Soomaa NP archive, LBP of Soomaa
PAN ParksPAN PARKS WORKS TO PROTECT EUROPE’S LAST AREAS OF WILDERNESS
Fulufjället NP ©Gabor Salamon
Oulanka NP ©Kimmo Salminen
Paanajärvi NP ©Viktor Gritsuk
Archipelago NP ©ANP Archive
Peneda-Gerês NP ©PGNP Archive
Borjomi-Kharagauli NP © Vlado Vancura
Retezat NP ©Falk Kienas
Majella NP ©MNP Archive
Central Balkan NP ©Edit BorzaSoomaa NP ©Arne Ader
Rila NP ©iStock/Ljupco Smokovski
Central Balkan NP ©Edit Borza
Land of miresThe name “Soomaa” is translated land of mires. The name is very accurate, because large part of NP are freshwater wetlands. Only the bogs cover more than half from the NP, but in addition to bogs also the forests and grasslands and sometimes even gardens are turned into swamps because of the regular floods.
Soomaa NP is one of the biggest national parks in Estonia, its total area is 39 640 ha.The protection aim of the NP is to preserve mires, floodplains, forests in the Transitional forest-rich zone of Estonia.19571981199320052011
PAN PARKS IN SOOMAA2007 – IDEA!?!2008 – verification contract2009 – certification of the park and 7 business partners
Wildness of Soomaa• Soomaa NP is large and unfragmented;• Soomaa NP is part of Transitional Estonia and due to that it is surrounded with forests and bogs with minimal human impacts;•The small local community has learned to live with the wilderness.
I Natural Values Size: 39 640 ha, from which largest mire complex (core area): 11 530 haInternational recognition:Ramsar wetland of international importanceImportant Bird AreaNatura 2000 network
II ManagementProtection rulesManagement planEnvironmental BoardState Forest Management Centre
III Visitor management
•Protection regime and directing visitor flows•Maintenance of trails and other infrastructure•Nature education•Visitor monitoring and visitor surveys•Visitor impact monitoring
IV STDS
•In cooperation with local LEADER plan, Soomaa as a core area for LEADER Green Riverland•STDS outputs developing into legal territorial thematic plan for the counties.
V Business Partners
• Branded with nationally recognized sustainable tourism label.•Cooperation contract with Environmental Board•Approval from the cooperation panel (LPPG).
IMPACT ON TOURISM – indirect benefits from the certification
• Better cooperation locally between different stakeholders;
• Tourism strategy for the region -> now foundations for the thematic plan of Soomaa region;• EDEN award;• Good publicity for Soomaa through media coverage
IMPACT ON TOURISM – indirect benefits from the certificate
• More publicity (articles travel magazines etc);• Shared brand and responsibility to keep the quality for the whole network;• One park markets the other;• Possibilities to share experiences about tourism development in different protected areas.
IMPACT ON TOURISM –direct benefits from the certificate
• PAN Parks tourism model
Thank [email protected], +372 53 022 335