Page 63 - A bird’s-eye view of recreation - Rogier Pouwels

Relating local impacts to regional conservation targets
4.1 Introduction
The concept of establishing protected areas for landscape features and nature
values is an approach that has been in use for several hundred years (Jones-Walters
and Čivić, 2013). National Parks have been protected to conserve biodiversity and
safeguard experiences like the appreciation of tranquillity and magnificent scenery for
future generations. Over the past century, due to the implementation of policies for
biodiversity, the area of protected areas is now almost 15% of the terrestrial surface of
the earth (http://www.wdpa.org/). The main objective of protected areas has shifted
from a general safeguarding the landscape for future generations to a more specific
protection of ecosystems, habitats and species. The Act that designated Yellowstone
as the first US National Park in 1872 states that it should be “set apart as a public
park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” (Eagles et al.,
2002). However, following the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
categories for protected areas, nowadays the primary objective of protected areas is
given as protection of species, ecosystems or landscapes (Dudley, 2008). Furthermore 4 the EU (European Union) Birds and Habitats Directives, which together form the
cornerstone of biodiversity policy in the European Union, require the establishment of an EU-wide network of protected areas (Natura 2000) and state that the conservation objectives should be met “while taking into account economic, social, cultural requirements and regional and local characteristics”. Member States need to designate these areas and to adopt conservation measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the specific values of the nature that they protect (EC, 1992, EC, 2009). Outdoor recreation targets are still taken into account, but the increased emphasis on biodiversity conservation objectives has led to a growing number of debates about whether outdoor recreation should be restricted in parts of protected areas (Reed and Merenlender, 2008, Marzano and Dandy, 2012), particularly in areas where population growth and economic developments have caused increased visitor numbers (Booth et al., 2009, Reed and Merenlender, 2008).
In this debate birds take a prominent place. They are susceptible to disturbance by visitors (Blanc et al., 2006, Sutherland et al., 2006), are of public interest (Emlen, 1995, Konishi et al., 1989), good ecological knowledge is available for many species (Konishi et al., 1989, Eken et al., 2004, McCarthy et al., 2012) and often conservation targets in protected areas include bird species (Eken et al., 2004, Hoffmann et al., 2010, Osieck and Mörzer Bruyns, 1981). The past 30 years have witnessed an increasing number of
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