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Determining the Damage Inflicted by Tourists on the Curonian Spit

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Determining the Damage Inflicted by Tourists on the Curonian Spit Ekológia (Bratislava) Vol. 31, No. 3, p. 341–353, 2012 doi:10.4149/ekol_2012_03_341 1 2 3 4 DETERMINING THE DAMAGE INFLICTED BY 5 TOURISTS ON THE CURONIAN SPIT NATIONAL PARK 6 7 AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES IN DUNE CREATION 8 9 10 REGINA MORKŪNAITĖ1, BRONIUS KARMAZA1, DAUMANTAS BAUŽA2 11 12 1 Quarternary Research Department, Institute of Geology and Geography of of Nature Research Centre, 13 Ševčenkos 13, LT-03223 Vilnius, Lithuania; e-mail: [email protected] 14 2 Quarternary Research Department, Institute of Geology and Geography of Reseach Centre, Ševčenkos 13, 15 LT-03223 Vilnius, Lithuania; e-mail:[email protected] 3 Landscape Geography Department, Institute of Geology and Geography of Reseach Centre, Ševčenkos 13, 16 LT-03223 Vilnius, Lithuania; e-mail: [email protected] 17 18 Abstract 19 Morkūnaitė R., Karmaza B., Bauža D.: Determining the damage inflicted by tourists on the Curo- 20 nian Spit National Park and preventive measures for dune creation. Ekológia (Bratislava), Vol. 31, 21 No. 3, p. 341–353, 2012. 22 This article contains the results of investigation into the recreational load carried out by agroup 23 of researchers in the Nagliai Nature Reserve in the Lithuanian Curonian Spit National Park, and 24 in the blown-out dunes south of Nida. The information concerning the trampled areas and their relative portion in the preserved territory, the definition of preserved areas and decisions related 25 to their use in the “Master Plan of the National park of Curonian spit” (CSNP), and also methods 26 used for calculation of recreational loads is presented herein. Comparison of the obtained results 27 with data reported by other authors provides the conclusion that the recreational load in the CSNP 28 is less than commonly presumed. Although this conclusion is partly predetermined by methodical differences, the presented data provides an important basis for further planning of recreational areas 29 and the preservation of sensitive habitats. 30 31 Key words: blown-out dunes, recreational conditions, Curonian Spit, adaptation measures, plan- ning documentation, dune preservation 32 33 34 35 Introduction and research objectives 36 37 The “dead” blown-out dunes of the CSNP have mainly been investigated from eolodynami- 38 cal, stratigraphical and palaeogeographical aspects. Except for the foredune ridge, scientific 39 research on these dunes has mainly concentrated on social or sociographic aspects. As 40 Jungierius pointed out in 2008, theories on dune formation are not always based exclusively 41 on geomorphological research. According to his report,, dune management using preserva- 42 43 341 1 tion and regulation measures is a very complicated task because coastal dunes are currently 2 expected to fulfil many social functions. These include; (1) protection of the shore from 3 wave action; (2) preservation of the natural environment; 3) recreation; 4) construction and 4 industry; 5) agriculture; and 6), military training (Jungierius, 2008). 5 The results obtained by the group of researchers while investigating the CSNP during 6 1995-2005, and especially those on the main dune ridge, have been reported at seminars with 7 representatives from the Klaipėda and Neringa municipalities, and published in transactions 8 of international conferences within the INTERREG III B project. 9 Bearing in mind the recent climate changes, this project seeks to establish adaptation 10 measures and strategies, and to explain to the wider public that adaptation measures under 11 these changing climate conditions are quite complex, as they encompass legal and finan- 12 cial “tools”, organizational skills and development of communication possibilities (www. 13 astra-project.org; Česnulevičius et al., 2007 ). The included material is considered useful 14 for practical purposes related to the preservation and regulation of dunes, and some of this 15 material has not previously been reported at conferences. 16 The aims of this study are: (1) to determine the importance of anthropogenic factors 17 in the blow-out processes, (2) to describe the possible management scenario based on the 18 obtained results and (3) to survey the planning document for the CSNP. 19 The primary task is to determine the role of natural and anthropogenic processes on 20 the dune dynamics in the CSNP. During investigation of the chosen reference areas in the 21 Nagliai Nature Reserve and the dunes south of Nida (Fig. 1), the following processes were 22 determined: (1) the trampled dune area, (2) the characteristics of trampling, (3) the depend- 23 ence of trampled paths on the slope forms, and (3) the “desire” of holiday-makers to reach 24 the sea or Curonian lagoon using the shortest way across the dunes. The recommended 25 measures for preservation of the eroded sand areas are presented. 26 The detailed analysis of zones distinguished in the CSNP planning documentation (“Man- 27 agement plan of the National park of Curonian spit, 1994”) served as a basis for analysis 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Fig. 1. The distribution scheme of the investigated areas. 42 Fig. 1. Investigated areas of eolian or grey dunes. 43 342 and comparison of plausibility of legal statements, related to the boundaries of preserved 1 relief areas and the actual current situation. The above aims emanated from the preserved 2 territories, as follows; (status: “National park; nature reserves”). (1) the flow of holiday-mak- 3 ers to the CSNP has intensified since 1990, (2) this increased the anthropogenic load on the 4 Main dune ridge (Česnulevičius et al., 2006). Therefore, requests for development (3), the 5 regulation of recreation (4) and also measures for aeolian sand protection (5) have gained 6 special importance. These are referred to as the socio-geographical factors which affect re- 7 cent dune degradation. According to Schmidt-Thome, (2006), regulation of environmental 8 problems in planning documentation began in Germany 30 years ago with the advent of 9 relief devastation, while mitigation of environmental effects in most other countries has 10 been regulated in planning documentation since 1980. 11 There have been many questionnaire-based researches reporting results of surveys of 12 holiday-makers, including holiday-making numbers, their social status, the attractive des- 13 tinations requested and distances covered. One such research was carried out in the Baltic 14 Sea coasts, foredune ridge and beaches by Jarmalavičius and Žilinskas (2007). The character 15 of research of recreational resources was also described by Professor P Kavaliauskas (1995), 16 together with plans for geo-morphological educational paths (Kavaliauskas et al., 2004). 17 Foreign researchers have focused on investigations of aeolian relief in other than marine 18 locations. For example aeolian relief has been developing (1) as a result of anthropogenic 19 processes in the eastern part of the Silesian upland; (2) in the Olkusz mining industry lo- 20 cality, and (3) in the Starczynov “desert” which has longitudinal dunes which are not typi- 21 cally found in such climatic conditions (Pelka–Gosciniak, 2000). Blown-out sand areas in 22 the territory between the Chika and Selenga rivers of the Western Trans-Baikal have been 23 described where the species composition of vegetation changed due to intensive animal 24 breeding. Here, the substratum was saturated with nitrogen compounds from animal faeces 25 (Szcypek et al., 2000). 26 Presentations at the Southport international conference in England discussed damage to 27 coastal sand areas by military detachments and scientifically based feasible practical strategies 28 for their preservation (Baker, 2001). When erosion of the coastal dune system of Scotland 29 was associated with tourist activity, research work was published which showed that dunes 30 are the centre of attraction in all coastal landscapes (Wood, 2001.). Efforts to mitigate the 31 damage to the Rømø island of Denmark included recommendations to regulate the flows 32 of visitors by means of fences and signs. The Danish dunes occupy an area of 127,000 ha, 33 and with the population of Denmark at approximately 5 million, the erosion induced by 34 holiday-makers is not currently very intensive (Reimers, 2001). However, recent problems 35 of dune erosion in the West Jutland have become so acute that it is now necessary to re- 36 gionalize and manage this territory. Discussions are currently continuing, to decide where 37 the “white” dunes should be preserved and where it is necessary to reinforce the dunes and 38 to regulate the flows of visitors (Reimers, 2001). 39 Anthropogenic transformation of aeolian massifs is determined and assessed in differ- 40 ent ways. For example, in the aeolian massifs in the Fore-Urals (Kumak sand fields) this is 41 explained by the increasing numbers of cattle, sheep and goat herds (Čibiliov et al., 2004). 42 43 343 1 The number of cattle there dramatically increased in 1970–1980 and with the coinciding 2 atmospheric aridity, these two factors caused the movement of sand massifs. 3 These given examples illustrate the variety of ways in which wind-damage erosion can 4 be determined. 5 6 7 Methods and study area 8 9 Methods 10 11 Trampled areas were investigated in the environs of Nagliai and Parnidis dunes using the Etrex navigation device. 12 This was utilized during field investigations to fix coordinates of investigated objects. This research is also basedon 13 large-scale topographic maps (1:10 000), ortophotographs and other cartographic sources. These were analyzed to 14 determine the boundaries of investigated territories and the dune areas which were most sensitive to treading. The anthropogenically affected areas were identified between July 26–28, and October 6–8 in 2004. The- longi 15 tudinal and latitudinal coordinates of localities were converted into the LKS 94 national coordinates system, and 16 areas of anthropogenic impact near the footpaths were marked using graphic SURFER software. Ortophotoplans 17 (1:10 000) were used for determining the density and length of footpaths.
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