Local People’s Perceptions of the Sumava National Park in the Czech Republic over a Span of Ten Years (1998-2008) | Chapter 4 | Current Approaches in Science and Technology Research Vol. 2

 The Sumava National Park (NP), Central Europe's largest protected area, is both fascinating and worrisome (historical development, conflicts between regional development and landscape protection). The attitudes of local park residents were surveyed over a ten-year period in order to measure the success of the Park's policies. In August of 1998 and August of 2008, two polls (N = 181 and N = 200) were undertaken. The surveys had 43 questions divided into three categories: (a) socio-demographic data, (b) environment and nature conservation, and (c) sustainable tourism and travel. development of the local area When the results from 1998 and 2008 were compared, the residents of the Park thought that life in the Park was getting better and that the nature conservation strategy was either “optimal” or “stricter.” The most common local concern, according to the studies, is the loss of work possibilities. Subjects were categorized into four opinion groups ranging from "optimists" to "grumblers" in a cluster analysis based on impressions of (a) the Park, (b) the environment, and (c) the Park Administration. The most "positive (optimistic)" group found minimal link between the Park's existence and job losses, whilst the most "negative" group found a big link. The Park management was successful not just in controlling the issue, but also in leveraging it to strengthen the social atmosphere and acceptance of the NP among the residents.

Author (s) Details

Tomas Gorner
Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benatska Street, Prague, 12801, Czech Republic and Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic, Kaplanova Street, Prague, 14800, Czech Republic.

Klara Najmanova
Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benatska Street, Prague, 12801, Czech Republic.

Martin Cihar
Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benatska Street, Prague, 12801, Czech Republic and Czech Environmental Inspectorate, Wolkerova Street 40/11, Prague, 16000, Czech Republic.

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