Proceedings

Sustainable Planning Instruments 

and Biodiversity Conservation 

Proceedings of the 2nd North Vidzeme Bioshere Reserve and Vidzeme University 

of Applied Sciences International Scientific Conference of 13–14 November, 

2008, Valmiera, Latvia 

Edited by Agita Līviņa

UDK 502(474.3) 

Su 830 

Editor: Dr. Agita Līviņa, Latvia, Vidzeme University of Applied Science 

International Scientific Committee: 

Otars Opermanis, France, Museum national d' Histoire naturelle 

Yukichika Kawata, Japan, Faculty of Economics, Keio University 

Brian Craig, Canada, Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation 

Graham Whitelaw, Canada, School of Environmental Studies and School of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen’s 

University, Ontario 

All papers of the proceedings were peer reviewed by independent reviewers. 

English language editor: Silvija Kalniņš 

Proofreader: Māra Antenišķe 

Text layout and cover design: Ilze Reņģe 

Cover photo: Andris Soms 

© UNDP, ViA, NVBR 2009 

Printing of the "Sustainable Planning Instruments and Biodiversity Conservation” is financed by the United Nations 

Development Programme and Global Environment Facility Project “Biodiversity Protection in the North Vidzeme 

Biosphere Reserve”, and Latvian Council of Science 

Copyright disclaimer: the views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent 

those of the United Nations, including UNDP, or their Member States. 

All rights reserved. Printed in Latvia 

Suggested citation/example 

Bērziņa, A. 2009. Applying a Hierarchy Analysis in Assessing Political Viability of Strategic Tourism Direction 

Alternatives: the Case of Amata County. In: Sustainable Planning Instruments and Biodiversity Conservation 

(ed. Līviņa, A.). University of Latvia Press. Pp. 17–23. 

Contents 

Foreword 

BRIAN CRAIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Sustainable Development and Encouragement of Environmentally Friendly Branches 

in the Latvian National Economy 

DZINTRA ATSTĀJA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 

Integration of Requirements of Nature Management Plans into Spatial Planning: Methods and GIS Tools 

JOLANTA BĀRA, KRISTĪNA AKSJUTA, DAINIS LAZDĀNS, MĀRIS NITCIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Applying a Hierarchy Analysis in Assessing the Political Viability 

of Strategic Tourism Direction Alternatives: the Case of Amata County 

ILUTA BĒRZIŅA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 

Landscape Planning in Southern Caucasus, the Case of Georgia 

RUSUDAN CHOCHUA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 

Development of Visitor Impact Management in the Heritage Parks: Theoretical Findings 

TAMĀRA GRIZĀNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 

Consumptive Tourism and Conservation of Natural Resources 

YUKICHIKA KAWATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 

Spatial Structures of Tourism in the Rāzna National Park and Planning for Sustainable Development 

ANDRIS KLEPERS, MAIJA ROZĪTE, JURIS SMAĻINSKIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 

The Sustainable Development Profile Structure in the Biosphere Reserve 

AGITA LĪVIŅA, IVETA DRUVA-DRUVASKALNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 

Cultural and Natural Heritage: the Case Study of Vestiena Landscape Protected Area in Latvia 

AIJA MELLUMA, MĀRTIŅŠ LŪKINS, RONALDS KRŪMIŅŠ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 

Monitoring of the Great Snipe and the Black Grouse in Specially Protected Nature Territories 

EDWARD MONGIN, YURI BOGUTSKI, NICHOLAS CHERKAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 

Spatial Planning and Bioenergy: Use of GIS Instruments 

ILZE NEIMANE, JURIS ZARIŅŠ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 

Community-Based Monitoring in Support of Sustainable Planning and Biodiversity Conservation: 

a Case Study of the Monitoring the Moraine Project, Oak Ridges Moraine, Southern Ontario, Canada 

GRAHAM WHITELAW,DANIEL MCCARTHY, DEBBE CRANDALL, 

JOYCE CHAU, KATRINA BROUGHTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 

Road Mortality on the Long Point Causeway in 2008 

ADAM WILSON and BRIAN CRAIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 

ISBN 978-9984-45-121-3 

Publisher: Academic Press of the University of Latvia 

Printed by: Ltd “Latgales Druka” 

Available at: www.biosfera.gov.lv and www.va.lv

Foreword 

As society’s dependence on the resources delivered by 

ecosystems increases, due in large part to a burgeoning 

global population and escalating consumption, our 

ecosystems are experiencing increasing stress, and the 

need to assure ecological sustainability has become 

widely recognized. Healthy ecosystems are inextricably 

linked to healthy economies, and both are directly 

linked to a healthy quality of life. The United Nations 

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s 

(UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve Program was established 

to facilitate research and information sharing to advance 

healthy ecosystems, healthy economies, and healthy 

societies and cultures, which are integrated in the term 

sustainable development. 

The North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve (NVBR) 

designated by UNESCO in 1997 is one of 531 biosphere 

reserves in 105 countries around our globe. Biosphere 

reserves are areas of terrestrial or coastal ecosystems 

internationally recognized for promoting and 

demonstrating a balanced relationship between humans 

and nature. The principle tenants of the Biosphere 

Reserve Program include the conservation of ecosystems, 

landscapes, species and genetic variation; the promotion 

of economic development at the local level that is socially, 

culturally and ecologically sustainable; and support 

for scientific research and monitoring, education, and 

information sharing on issues of biodiversity conservation 

and sustainable economic development. 

The Second Scientific Conference of the North 

Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve attracted over a hundred 

local, national, and international participants and 

provided an excellent platform for presenters to share 

successes and challenges with respect to advancing 

ecological, economic, cultural and social sustainability. 

The papers delivered at the conference can be grouped 

into the disciplines of planning, tourism, and monitoring. 

A short synopsis of the delivered papers follows. 

Sustainable development depends on strategic 

planning at the local, regional, national and international 

level. Melluma et al’s paper describes how the 

Latvian government’s endorsement of the European 

Landscape Convention in 2007 is contributing to a 

holistic understanding of landscape conservation and 

management systems. The Vestiena protected landscape 

area is a prime example of planning for integrating 

cultural and natural heritage. The paper by Bāra et al 

illustrates the importance of completing the mapping of 

the specially protected nature territories in Latvia so that 

managers and developers have current information with 

which to avoid incompatible development that could 

threaten the habitats of the species of the European 

Union and international importance. Neimane and 

Zariņš demonstrate the value of Geographic Information 

Systems (GIS) for planning purposes to ensure resource 

availability, economic efficiency and sustainable use of 

biomass for heat and power production. The Atstāja paper 

demonstrates the need for a Latvian national pollution 

inventory to prioritize and guide pollution prevention, 

and, concomitantly, effective mechanisms to inform 

the public and decision makers of the enviromental 

consequences and economic rationale for pollution 

prevention. Cochua’s paper on the Caucasus Ecoregion, 

one of the 25 globally significant biodiversity hotspots, 

provides a good example of an international government 

and non-government cooperative landscape planning 

exercise to address ecological and economic stability. 

Sustainable tourism is proving to be a tangible 

economic driver in many countries, but only after 

adequate planning, collaboration, and infrastructure 

development, which often takes a number of years. 

The papers by Klepers et al and Bērziņa discuss 

the importance of entrepreneurial and institutional 

collaboration and provide examples of the cluster concept 

from the Rāzna National Park area and hierarchy analysis 

in Amata county. Grizāne addresses environment and 

tourism complexities with respect to minimizing visitor 

impacts. Kawata explores the two types of natural 

resource use – consumptive and non-consumptive – and 

demonstrates how these must often be balanced to ensure 

the conservation of the local landscape. 

Sustainable development also depends on sufficient 

monitoring at all scales. Whitelaw et al illustrate 

the valuable role of community-based monitoring in 

engaging government and citizens to track and respond 

to issues of common community concern. Mongin 

et al’s paper on the Great Snipe and Black Grouse 

explains how maintaining a mosaic of habitat types, and 

balancing consumptive use, is essential to biodiversity 

conservation. Both Wilson et al and Mongin et al’s 

5

Sustainable Planning Instruments and Biodiversity Conservation 

papers highlight the importance of long-term data sets in 

addressing ecological and species-specific issues. 

Of particular relevance to the North Vidzeme 

Biosphere Reserve (NVBR) is the paper by Līviņa 

and Druva-Druvaskalne. In their paper they describe 

the process of choosing 20 indicators divided into four 

thematic groups – environmental (35%), social (20%), 

economic (20%) and institutional (25%) – for describing 

and monitoring the current status and future development 

of the NVBR. After completing an extensive survey of 

a cross-section of residents, considering current theory, 

other biosphere reserve development profiles, and 

current plans and governance of the NVBR, the authors 

have posed three future scenarios for the NVBR, and 

included institutional and economic suggestions for 

achieving sustainability. 

BRIAN CRAIG 

Past-President, Canadian Biosphere Reserves Association 

Board of Directors, Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation 

The second scientificconferenceoftheNorthVidzeme 

Biosphere Reserve brought together participants and 

authors from Latvia, Belarus, Canada, France, Georgia, 

and Japan, demonstrating the interest and desire of the 

local and international community to share and learn from 

the successes and challenges of others so that sustainable 

development can be effectively implemented in their own 

community and county. The Brundtland Commission 

defined sustainable development as “meeting the 

needs of the present without compromising the ability 

of future generations to meet their own needs.” By 

continuing working together through the world network 

of biosphere reserves family – researching, monitoring, 

educating and sharing successes and challenges – we can 

maintain that balance between people and nature without 

compromising the resources of future generations. 

Sustainable Development and Encouragement of Environmentally 

Friendly Branches in the Latvian National Economy 

DZINTRA ATSTĀJA 1 

Abstract 

The Latvian national economy tends towards sustainable development and activities conform with EU requirements. 

The ideology of environmental protection is comparatively new in Latvia, and it is based on the concept that it is 

necessary to turn from the protection of separate nature elements and economical usage of resources to overall 

protection of ecosystems, the securing of the quality of human life environment and environmental policy which 

would provide lasting and balanced development. 

The author provides a review on the completed work, describes obtained results, emphasizes scientific novelty of the 

article, practical importance of obtained results and the necessity to introduce them in professional education and the 

national economy. The author did her research with the help of computer technology. 

The paper attempts to present the analysis of economic processes in today’s Latvia through finding the reasons for 

rapid economic growth and the implication of it on other macroeconomic processes. The author has researched 

and valued pollution caused by economic activities in Latvia, presenting advice and conclusions about the present 

situation in branches of the economy and the state. 

1 Introduction 

Human being’s life passes and its activities are carried out 

in interaction with nature. Man – society – nature: this 

triad has created numerous problems in the course of time, 

and they are of especially vital importance nowadays. An 

ideological conflict between environmental protection 

and providing social technological development has 

arisen in the industrialized part of the world. However, 

in the society this opinion has significantly changed 

lately in favour of environmental protection. Nowadays 

the transition to applying “clean” technologies and 

reducing senseless use of natural resources in the 

production process is taking place, in order to achieve 

sustainable development, for instance, management of a 

product’s “life cycle”, waste recycling and disposal in an 

environmentally friendly way. 

The basic idea of the author is to detect and avoid 

causes of environment protection problems and not to 

act only after the pollution has occurred. Sometimes 

avoiding pollution can help in the significant reduction of 

expenses. Up until now there was no united methodology 

for the calculation of economic losses from environment 

pollution caused by economic activities, as well as no 

system for improving effectiveness of nature protection 

activities within the economic activities and national 

economy in general. The pollution problem in general can 

be evaluated as consequences of “intellectual” pollution. 

By this, in the framework of this work, the author means 

that ignorance of pollution danger and its consequences 

make a human being uninterested in limiting and 

eliminating it through the human being’s activities. 

These considerations determined the choice of the article. 

Informing society about environment pollution caused 

by economic activities, as well as engaging society in 

environmental protection activities will be an instrument 

for conducting a national economic evaluation. The 

economic evaluation of environmental pollution, the 

resolution of its theoretical, practical and methodological 

problems give scientific grounds for certain conclusions 

and recommendations for introducing nature protection 

activities in the national economy. 

In the context of this research and sustainable 

development, the author offers to recognize branches 

with the lowest consumption of resources that can be 

measured, and the ones which create the minimal possible 

damage (pollution) to environment, as environmentally 

friendly. 

2 Methods 

The information for this paper is drawn from three 

sources: from dissertation research the author has carried 

out, study course materials and practical experience. 

Besides the above mentioned, the author has studied 

the experience in limiting environmental pollution and 

1 

Dr. oec., BA School of Business and Finance, Kr.Valdemāra 161, Riga, LV-1013, Latvia, e-mail: dzintra.atstaja@gmail.com 

6 

7


applying economic methods in other countries. In order 

to compare development tendencies of environmental 

protection activities, the experience of both the former 

Soviet Union’s republics and other countries has 

been studied. To inform society on a wider scale, as 

well as to inform interested persons and institutions, 

information technology possibilities were investigated 

and computerized distance learning approbated for 

popularizing the research results. 

To achieve the set goal and to fulfill tasks, the author 

has investigated and characterized the environment 

situation created by economic activities and macromodeling 

approach in market economy conditions. For 

easier perception of the research work, the author divides 

environment characteristics into two levels: a level of 

economic activities and a level of the national economy. 

Within the work it has been found out that methods 

of quantitative macro-economic analysis, statistics, 

econometrics, optimization, balance models and 

imitation models’ systems can be used in making analytic 

calculations. It is ascertained that Paul A. Samuelson’s 

three main macro-economic functions: effectiveness, 

fairness and stability, have to be observed in order to 

make an economic evaluation of pollution created 

by economic activities, when implementing various 

policies: economic policy, internal policy, economic 

foreign policy, demographic and regional policy, fiscal 

and monetary policy, etc. 

3 Results 

The author has chosen national economy branches 

according to the NACE 2 classification (Rew 1.1. 

Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the 

European Community). An important criterion for 

modeling is data availability. Currently the polluted and 

potentially polluted places can be identified by using 

statistical data about formerly functioning municipal 

and industrial waste dumping sites, oil holding areas, 

terminals, storehouses of artificial fertilizers and 

pesticides, cattle-breeding complexes and railway 

stations. In order to choose criteria for economic activity 

modeling, the author clarifies the suitable economic 

8 

Avoiding expected 

economic losses 

instruments used in the practice of other countries. 

The author recommends to arrange the most important 

environmental protection issues and tasks according to 

the branches and problems. 

Since terminology related to “sustainability” is used 

more and more often in the daily speeches of politicians 

and businessmen, people start understanding that 

environmental problems should be perceived in a wider 

context than they have up until now. These are not only 

environmental “protection” issues, but also reflect the 

long-term orientation of the development of economic 

activities and economic strategy. 

Sustainable development means solving any 

economic, social or environmental issue in a way that 

the accepted decision is favourable or unfavourable as 

little as possible for the development of other branches. 

The sustainable development concept includes physical 

conditions, political notions, meanings regarding the 

quality of life and welfare, and optimized influence on 

the environment in order to provide availability of its 

resources for future generations. It has been determined 

that a question on further effective restructuring of 

national economy sectors, promoting more rapid 

development of environmentally friendly branches, 

becomes vital in Latvia. Conclusions about the country’s 

development can be made by analyzing its economic 

parameters, and first of all, GDP. 

In making economic decisions on the national 

economy, the following parameters have to be analyzed: 

structure of all expenditures, financing sources 

and creation of their structure, and mechanisms of 

stimulating them, price of activities to avoid pollution, 

i.e. the positive and negative results of the activity. In 

Fig. 1, the author shows basic issues of rational economic 

activities, which are to be dealt with in order to achieve 

better economic effect. 

Through analyzing the environment of economic 

activities – theoretical aspects of the economic system, 

and building on the principles and methodology of 

environment economic monitoring, productive variables 

and parameters of model input have been chosen. Methods 

developed by several scientists and their analyses are 

Basic issues of economic decisions to achieve economic effect 

Reducing losses 

caused by economic 

sanctions 

Increasing profit 

by using resources 

saving technologies 

Figure 1. General schema of forecasting environment economic effectiveness 

2 

NACE – Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Union 

Gaining profit from 

selling, recycling and 

utilizing waste 

Regional socioeconomic 

effect 

Sustainable Development and Encouragement of Environmentally Friendly Branches in the Latvian National Economy 

Avoiding expected economic loss from 

possible technological faults and liquidating 

accident consequences 

n m 

T 

a 

q 

U = ∑ ∑ ρij 

⋅[ ( kγ 

ij 

⋅ M 

ijaij 

+ Cij 

) qij 

− C 

P 

ij 

] 

i= 

1 

j= 

1 

Reducing enterprises’ and organizations’ 

expenses for environment pollution caused as 

the result of economic activities 

l hN 

U 

N 

∆C 

= S 

fz 

⋅[ 

∆M 

fz 

+ ⋅( 

M 

fz 

− M 

fz 

)] 

S ∑ ∑ 

α 

f = 1 

z= 

1 

Regional social economic effect from nature 

preservation activities 

RE SE 

r 

Figure 2. Creating environment economic effect according to directions 

used for modeling, by creating new models and methods, 

which are appropriate for conditions in Latvia. Through 

analog mathematical coherences, mutual interaction 

between system parameters and external environment is 

shown, thus modeling the most important parameters of 

environment economic effectiveness: 

1) sum of discounted benefits, creating integral 

economic effect of environment according to certain 

directions; 

2) expected economic losses from possible technological 

faults and preventing or liquidating consequences 

after accidents; 

3) reducing enterprise’s/organization’s expenses that 

are connected with pollution created by economic 

activities; 

4) regional socio-economic effect; 

5) increase of profit by introducing resource-saving 

technologies in basic production; 

6) increase of profit gained by recycling, selling and 

utilizing waste; 

7) socio-economic effect in the country and within 

the municipalities from environmentally friendly 

activities; 

8) the sum of discounted expenditures from investments 

and invention of environment protection activities; 

9) criterion of environment economic effectiveness. 

The model of the main parameters and directions 

of environment economic effectiveness are depicted in 

Fig. 2. 

Sum of discounted profits 

e T U W O 

P = U + ∆C 

+ ∆ 

r t p s P + ∆ 

r P + 

r Er 

or 

N 

e −t 

∑ (1 + r) 

Prt 

t= 

1 

Criterion of environment 

economic effectiveness 

N 

−t 

∑ Prt 

(1 + r) 

IP 

t= 

1 

r 

= 

N 

N 

∑ 

t= 

1 

I + 

∑ 

t= 

1 

C (1 + r) 

C t 

(1 + r) 

t 

−t 

Sum of discounted profits from 

w aste reducing and investments and 

n ature resources preserving 

activities 

−t 

SE 

Profit increase by using resource saving 

technologies in basic production 

v x 

W 

e e 

Z Z 

∆ = ∑ ∑ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅( − ) ⋅ ⋅? ? + ? P [ 

r W Q gk gk k 

+ 

gk gk K I 1 d 

= k = 

? U k C k 

g 1 1 

w 

w reg 

O O O 

+ Q ⋅∆K 

⋅ ? H + 

P 

− C 

?+ ? 

Q ⋅K 

⋅( 1− 

I ) ⋅C 

] 

gk gk k k gk gk gk gk k 

? 

Profit increase from selling, recycling and 

utilizing waste 

ϕ 

v ϕ 

O 

? OP Q OC 

∆ = + 

⋅ + ⋅ ∆ 

Q 

?+ ? 

Pr 

∑Q ∑ ∑ Q 

γ Pγ 

γ P γ Q 

g g gγ 

C gγ 

γ = 1 

g= 

1 γ = 1 

? 

x 

+ ∑ C ? 

⋅ ? ϕ 

O 

Z Z 

⋅ 1+ 

+ 

?? 

⋅∑ 

⋅∆ 

k 

k 

k= 

? 

d k 

? U k C k ?? 

W γ 

1 γ = 1 

x ϕ 

b 

w 

+ ∑ ∑ ⋅ ? W 

+ − 

k γ 

= γ = 

H k γ P k γ C 

k 1 1 

State social economic effect from nature 

preservation activities 

SE 

Scientific studies for the article were carried out 

based on systemic analysis and other research methods, 

solutions were prepared with analysis software SPPS 

(“Statistical Package for Social Sciences”) and the 

spreadsheet programme MS Excel. 

The author has concluded that the basic questions on 

using economic methods might be an important aspect 

in informing society and involving the latter into their 

acknowledgement and evaluation activities. A problem 

to compare values with different units and parameters 

occurs (expenses or profits), which means that all values 

connected to the utilization (or use) of environmental 

resources have to be converted into market meanings. In 

many cases it can be done, based on market prices. 

Within the work, it is determined that in the Western 

countries, in macroeconomic analysis and forecasting 

two macro-modeling approaches are used most often: 

AGE models, based on Leon Walras’ general balance 

theory, and macro-econometric models, mainly based 

on John F. Kain’s macro-economic balance. 

In Latvia, since the 60s of the 20 th century, interindustrial 

balances, based on inter-industry analysis 

or input-output analysis, which is a field of economics 

worked out by Vassiliy Leontief, Professor, Nobel Prize 

laureate in economy, have been prepared. Therefore, 

speaking about inter-industry analysis, very often the 

term “the Leontief’s model” is applied. Using this 

model in the national economy in general, coherences 

between amounts of production and services of various 

national economy branches and their production end 

use can be defined. 

? 

K 

? 

ow 

kγ 

reg 

k γ 

+ 

? ? 

? 

9


Development of computer technologies has turned 

inter-industry analysis into a widely used tool in planning 

and management of macro-economic processes. Using 

the system of input-output tables and improving the initial 

information, it is possible to make a complex analysis of 

the national economy and to make development forecasts, 

taking into consideration the following factors: 

a. changes in the structure of production costs and 

productivity; 

b. employment and unemployment; 

c. forming the capital and its effectiveness; 

d. end use and export structure; 

e. influence on the environment by manufacturing 

various products; 

f. necessary amounts of import, following the demand 

for energy resources; 

g. The possible impact of introducing new technologies, 

etc. 

Environmental sustainability is the process of 

making sure current processes of interaction with the 

environment are pursued with the idea of keeping the 

environment as pristine as naturally possible based 

on ideal-seeking behavior. The aim of sustainable 

development in Latvia is connected with measures to 

reduce increases in pollution and even faster increases in 

consumption, which are putting unsustainable pressure 

on our natural resource base. The pollution of branches 

is shown in Table 1. 

Table 1. Environment pollution created by economic activities 

Branch* 

10 

CO 2 

coefficient 

of the full 

costs 

(kg/LVL) 

Hard 

material 

BA 

(hazardous 

waste) coefficient 

of the 

full costs 

Analyzing data obtained by using the Leontjevs’ 

model, various proposals how to increase gross domestic 

product (GDP) and promote development of economy are 

made. The work clarifies that expansion of an industry 

branch causes an increase of GDP. Further investments 

in production modernization, also by attracting means 

of the EU funds, will enhance the productivity of the 

branch and its competitiveness. However, promoting the 

industry branch has also its disadvantages, as increase 

of its proportion in the GDP structure causes more 

substantial environmental pollution. This means that 

production should be promoted gradually, using natural 

resources carefully and taking into consideration the 

possibility of environmental pollution. 

4 Discussion 

Based on the results of the research, the author develops 

an environment inter-industry model in order to prove 

with further calculations a grounded necessity of the 

introduction of economic tools. It is implemented by 

working out and introducing innovation projects, as 

well as by attributing investments and supporting the 

development of environmentally friendly branches 

of the national economy, because in order for the 

national economy to develop, there is a need for 

planned calculations at the national level. By using the 

possibilities of computer technologies, calculations 

are made to verify the practical application of checked 

theoretical conclusions. These calculations make it 

SO 2 

coefficients 

of the full costs 

(kg/thousand 

LVL) 

The full air 

pollution 

(t/LVL) 

GOS and VOC 

coefficient of 

the full costs 

The full 

pollution 

of CnHm 

(mg/LVL) 

A 1.44 2.22 5.15 0.81 8.91 0.36 82.03 

B 2.11 0.74 6.33 1.16 6.40 0.30 54.32 

C 14.34 11.69 2.88 1.91 32.93 0.59 83.6 

D 3.97 3.00 46.81 1.61 13.62 0.77 128.42 

E 17.44 3.35 2.25 12.75 50.85 0.18 1985.81 

F 0.89 1.17 6.62 0.54 5.02 0.27 56.79 

G 0.27 0.49 4.86 0.54 3.98 0.66 118.1 

H 0.49 1.42 18.92 1.02 8.55 0.43 106.42 

I 0.40 0.46 3.93 0.72 5.61 2.34 68.66 

J 0.00 0.12 1.14 0.17 1.01 0.00 18.31 

K 1.01 0.54 3.78 0.73 5.18 0.28 96.13 

L 5.76 0.45 4.02 1.16 3.69 0.30 79.36 

M 2.66 0.92 3.63 1.12 7.62 0.00 104.11 

N 3.39 1.14 4.99 0.92 8.00 0.17 73.74 

O 3.14 0.91 2.69 3.86 11.24 0.23 102.39 

* The denotations of branches are taken from the NACE classification. 


Annual expenses 

Acceptable 

level of 

payments 

Tr.eff. 

0 50 100% 

0 50 100% 

Figure 3. Coherence between annual expenses and treatment effectiveness (Tr. eff.) 

possible to define the existing environment pollution, 

consumption of resources and the general situation from 

the inter-branch point of view. 

Results of the research are connected with the 

investigation and improvement of methods for making 

an economic evaluation of environmental polluton in 

order to use them in the national economy. 

Local municipalities in Latvia and other new 

member states of the European Union face many similar 

environmental problems, for instance, water, air and 

soil pollution, waste, uncontrolled use of resources. As 

the Latvian experience has shown, municipalities can 

degrade the environment significantly. Therefore, these 

institutions have to seriously improve their effectiveness 

in the field of environmental protection. 

The information mentioned and the inter-industry 

analysis provide grounds for developing economic 

activities at the regional level and determine the most 

important fields to avoid and reduce pollution. 

Results of the author’s research work and calculations 

prove their topicality, especially in the light of the fact that 

under the framework of the National Lisbon Programme 

of Latvia for 2005–2008, Latvia is to improve the 

quality of the activities related to technological transfer 

and strengthening cooperation between the educational 

and research establishments and branches of industry. 

Accordingly, one of the main goals of economic planning 

documents in innovation and industrial policy field in the 

framework of economic policy in Latvia, is knowledgebased 

economic development, which includes both the 

development of new branches with high added value 

and increasing efficiency and added value of traditional 

industrial branches. 

The introduction of sustainable production principles 

is closely connected with industry’s modernization 

processes and increasing productivity. 

One of the basic principles in avoiding pollution is 

not to increase expenses on the account of treatment 

processes, but in parallel to environmental improvements 

to create a positive economic effect. Annual expenses 

A 

Annual expenses 

A 

of the technology usually increase exponentially to 

treatment effectiveness (Figure 3 A). On the right side 

of Fig. 3, there is a case when to achieve high level of 

purification, the second generation environmental 

technologies (B) have to be introduced and there 

is a need to transfer further to the third generation 

technologies (C). Zones of intensive pollution have 

remained in the territory of Latvia. From there pollution 

spreads further into groundwaters, surface waters, food 

chains, and thus endangers human health. Part of these 

territories are governed by municipalities, which, in 

their turn, do not have enough means at their disposal 

and lack specialists, etc. 

In case the pollution occurred before April 30, 2007, 

investigation and rehabilitation of the polluted and 

potentially polluted places is performed according to the 

law “On Pollution”. 

Currently the polluted and potentially polluted places 

can be acknowledged by using statistical data about 

formerly functioning muncipal and industrial waste 

dumping sites, oil holding areas, terminals, storehouses 

of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, cattle-breeding 

complexes and railway stations. 

Lack of inventory and control processes over the 

polluted territories limits their planning and development 

in the future, because the land assessed value and amount 

of the relevant real estate tax depend on the land pollution 

level. The problem of polluted places in Latvia has not 

been considered a priority before, and there were not 

enough means for improvements of the polluted places. 

Although the relevant legislation exists, the process of 

acknowledgment of polluted and potentially polluted 

places is not yet completed, and rehabilitation of only 

a few of them has been carried out. The EU Member 

States have to identify industrial complexes performing 

polluting activities according to the economic sectors 

(NACE classification). 

Participating countries must identify industrial 

complexes whose annual air and water pollution levels 

exceed the defined quantity, and they must inform the 

B 

C 

Tr.eff. 

11



Number of facilities 

European Commission about these industries. The 

European industry branches that exceed the defined 

quantity are shown in Figure 4. 

The greatest numbers of companies that exceed 

pollution limits are in Rīga, Daugavpils and Liepāja. 

5 Concluding Remarks 

Based on the research carried out, the following main 

conclusions are drawn. 

1. Results of the research are connected with the 

investigation and improvement of the methods for 

economic evaluation of environmental pollution in 

order to apply them at enterprises and organizations, 

with developing economic-mathematical models and 

adjusting them to real planning of environmental 

protection activities and including them into strategic 

plans as well as in investment projects. From the 

economics point of view, it would be correct to choose 

that kind of resources’ utilization that would permit 

achieving the highest effectiveness. 

2. The structure of environmental pollution in Latvia 

depends on the structure of the national economy 

branches. It is complicated to choose the best method 

12 

3000 

2500 

2000 

1500 

1000 

500 

0 

895 

Combustion 

174 

Refineries 

Coke ovens 

17 15 

Coal plants 

825 

688 669 

Metal industry 

325 

34 

118 

328 

Activity 

Figure 4. Categories whose pollution limits are exceeded in Europe 

Cement, clinker, lime mineral 

Organic chemicals 

Inorganic chemicals 

Biocides and explosives 

Pharmaceuticals 

Hazardous/municipal waste 

908 

Nonhazardous waste/landfills 

402 

Pulp and paper 

131 26 

643 

Textiles 

Tanning 

Slaughterhouses, milk production 

for the evaluation of pollution created by economic 

activities, because due to unjustified, frequent changes 

in the requirements of legislation, the data structure 

(accounting and information) necessary for modeling 

also changes. The economic situation of Latvia is still 

in the stage of transmission from traditional economy 

to sustainable economy. 

3. Pollution and its increase depends on three main 

factors – the total number of population, welfare of 

society and devising and use of various technologies. 

Pollution development (direction) cannot always be 

measured. The increase in resource consumption 

is not necessarily needed for economic growth, as 

the same and even better results can be achieved 

by a more useful utilization of resources, including 

restructuring of branches, recycling of resources and 

introduction of environmental protection activities. 

4. There are problems with the various interpretations 

of the definition of sustainable development. Very 

often sustainable development is talked about as a 

totality of environmental protection activities only, 

or equal development of the regions and the centre, 

or sustainable development of the territory, or 

development of the national economy (sustainable 

21 

Animal waste 

2801 

Poultry and pigs 

346 

Surface treatment 

11 

Carbon 

growth, sustainable production development). It is 

necessary to use a common explanation of the term, 

which has been written into the law “On Environment 

Protection”: “sustainable development – integral 

and balanced development of society welfare, the 

environment and economy that satisfies the current 

social and economic needs of the population and 

permits observing requirements of environmental 

protection without endangering possibilities to satisfy 

the needs of future generations, as well as ensures 

preservation of biological diversity”. 

5. Economic activities always leave an impact on 

the environment. The strategy of sustainable 

development is based on the dematerialization 

conception – provision of a certain welfare level, at 

the same time reducing material consumption needs 

and resource consumption. Latvia as a European 

Union Member State has a duty to implement 

policies that provide sustainable development 

principles, but the government, in its turn, has to 

ensure implementation monitoring. Environmentally 

friendly economic activities have to be grounded on 

calculations of expenditures – benefits – resource 

consumption, and other calculations. 

Summarizing the conclusions of the research work, 

the author makes the following proposals. 

1. A national-level inventory is needed in order to 

ascertain current pollution, to acknowledge the 

possible pollution and to provide preventive activities. 

The classification of the polluted places is provided 

in the law “On Pollution”, but there is no instrument 

which would force municipalities to get involved 

and provide information. Therefore, the government 

should ensure the collection of relevant information 

and make it accessible for the society at large. 

2. Society lacks understanding about types of pollution, 

its amount and consequences. There is lack of 

information about particular branch pollution and 

possible risks; therefore, the Regional Boards of the 

State Environmental Inspectorate have to publish lists 

of the enterprises and organizations which have been 

notified about polluting activities, corresponding 

to the Cabinet of Ministers Regulations No. 294 of 

July 9, 2002, “Regulations on the procedure for the 

notification of category A, B and C polluting activities 

and issuing category A and B permits”. 

3. In calculations made for fostering development of 

environmentally friendly branches, the structural 

changes theory by economists A. C. Fisher and C. W. 

Clark, as well as V. Leontjevs’ inter-industry balance 

mathematical model, should be used for adjusting 

the economic instruments on the national level, for 

instance, for working out a more flexible tax policy. 

4. Municipalities should organize informative, 

explanatory and educative seminars and discussions, 

where the society on a broader scale would be able 

to clarify information about economic activities in 

the municipality’s territory and its impact on the 

environment, as well as provide free consultations for 

the population with the help of e-environment. 

5. Analyzing the impact of the EU structural funds on 

the Latvian environment infrastructure development, 

it is useful to evaluate the economic effectiveness of 

investments of the projects, including calculations of 

the economic effect of the treatment of environment. 

As an obligatory requirement for the economic 

grounds of investment projects, repayment time 

and expenditure base of environmental protection 

activities should be introduced. 

References 

1. Atstāja D. Economic assessment of environment pollution 

created by economic activities in Latvia. Summary 

of Doctoral Dissertation. R: RTU, 2008. 42 p. ISBN 978- 

9984-32-855-3 

2. Arhipova I., Bāliņa S. Statistika ekonomikā. Risinājumi ar 

SPSS un Microsoft Excel. Rīga: Datorzinību centrs, 2003., 

352 lpp. ISBN 0084-665-19-4 

3. Frolova L. Matemātiskā modelēšana ekonomikā un 

menedžmentā. Teorija un prakse. Rīga: SIA JUMI, 2005., 

438 lpp. ISBN 9984-617-64-5 

4. Latvijas Izmaksu – izlaides tabulas 1997. Rīga: Latvijas 

Republikas Centrālā Statistikas pārvalde, 2001., 287 lpp. 

ISBN 9984-06-114-0 

5. Barry C. Field, Martha K. Field. Environmental economics: 

an introduction. Third Edition, NY: McGraw-Hill 

Companies, 2002, p. 510. ISBN 0-07-242921-6 

6. EPER, The European Pollutant Emission Register. http:// 

www.eper.cec.eu.int/eper/default.asp 

7. Perman R., Ma Y., McGilvray J., Common M. Natural 

Resource and Environmental Economics. Third Edition, 

London: Pearson Education Limited, 2003, p. 699. ISBN 

0273655590. 

8. Tietenberg T. Environmental Economics & Policy, 5 th edition. 

Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2007, p. 537. 

9. The History of Economic Thought. http://homepage. 

newschool.edu/het/ 

10. The world factbook. Field Listing – GDP – composition by 

sector GDP – composition by sector (%). http://www.cia. 

gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2012.html 

13

Integration of Requirements of Nature Management Plans into Spatial 

Planning: Methods and GIS Tools 

JOLANTA BĀRA, KRISTĪNA AKSJUTA, DAINIS LAZDĀNS, MĀRIS NITCIS 1 

Introduction 

Latvia has about 15 years experience of the development 

of nature management plans for Specially Protected 

Nature Territories (SPNTs). This process is currently 

regulated by several legal acts (laws and regulations 

of the Cabinet of Ministers). Nevertheless, it is still 

challenging to achieve integration of the requirements 

of nature management plans (NMPs) into spatial 

planning (SP). 

The article provides an analysis of the tools and 

methods for integration of nature conservation issues 

into spatial planning. This includes using GIS tools, 

Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) and 

other methods. 

Applying GIS tools in nature management plans 

and during their implementation helps to assess 

environmental impact and pressures of several activities 

to vulnerable habitats and species, as well as serves as an 

easily accessible source of information. It is necessary 

to accumulate data of various characteristics and from 

a range of sources for the creation of management plans 

for Specially Protected Nature Territories. This includes 

geographic, geological, biological, and ecological 

data as well as economic and legal analysis referring 

to SPNTs, structural zoning, encountered specially 

protected species and biotopes, land cadastre, forms 

of cadastre-registered property and land owners, etc. 

This vast expanse of information is best organized 

when thematically structured with electronic data bases 

accompanying each constituent component, which will 

facilitate its further use in the GIS setting for sampling, 

splitting or merging, and thematic restructuring of 

information (e.g. areas exposed to erosion or biologically 

valuable areas) (Lazdāns, Nitcis, 2008). 

Most of the habitats in SPNTs are vulnerable to 

recreational pressure and commercial activities. These 

habitats are not mapped and evaluated in all SPNTs. 

Therefore, the activities of lake owners, renters, water 

users, landowners and municipalities threaten these 

habitats. For example, houses, car parking places 

and camping sites can be accidentally built into the 

areas of endangered habitats. GIS mapping with the 

information identified above would allow managers to 

select less valuable habitats for building, thus leaving the 

endangered habitats untouched. 

All SPNTs contain habitats and species of EU and 

international importance, but they are not inventoried or 

mapped fully. Only the most important and immediate 

threats to such habitats are identified. There are no 

detailed habitat maps in municipalities. Due to incomplete 

information, further management and building activities 

can threaten the habitats. 

The GIS-based methods are one of the possibilities to 

achieve incorporation of nature conservation measures 

into spatial planning documents. 

Examples: 3-D modeling and erosion risk assessment 

(Lazdāns, Nitcis, 2008); 3-D modeling and planning of 

tourism infrastructure and build-up areas, and digital 

databases and interactive maps of nature values. 

Nevertheless, there are still gaps and limitations. 

The main gaps in transferring information from nature 

management plans to spatial plans can be linked to the 

low awareness of nature conservation among spatial 

planning specialists, as well as the limited knowledge 

among developers of nature management plans for 

SPNTs (Bāra, 2007). 

Other limitations are differences in procedures and 

contents of both planning documents (Table). Most 

influencing factors are the different aims of these 

planning documents (nature conservation in case of 

NMPs, and the regional development in case of SPs), 

and different procedures and structures of both planning 

documents, which can confuse and make suspicious 

spatial planners, municipality staff members and local 

people alike. The difference in administrative borders 

of SPNTs and municipalities/regions can be rated 

dually – both an advantage and challenge, because there 

is the opportunity to gather together more people from 

different municipalities and get more information and 

opinions, as well as the risk of more unsurfaced ambitions 

and personal/historical disagreements among people 

1 

Daugavpils University, Vienības iela 13, Daugavpils, LV-5400 Latvia, e-mail: jolanta.bara@biology.lv, 

kristina.aksjuta@biology.lv, dainis.lazdans@du.lv, maris.nitcis@biology.lv 

15


Table. Differences in procedures and contents of spatial plans and nature management plans 

Validity 

Nature management plans 

5–15 years 

Spatial plans 

12 years 

Administrative borders 

Border of SPNT (can include parts 

of several municipalities) 

Border of municipality or region 

Applying a Hierarchy Analysis in Assessing the Political Viability of 

Strategic Tourism Direction Alternatives: the Case of Amata County 

Procedure Different Different 

Structure Different Different 

Functional zoning Similar Similar 

Permitted and restricted activities Similar Similar 

Aims 

Sustainable land use 

Nature conservation 

from different administrative regions. Hence, the former 

disagreements among different towns or villages could 

be brought into the process of development of NMPs. 

Methods of Integration 

For the sake of co-operation and connectivity with spatial 

plans, nature management plan development should 

include: (1) analysis of all planned activities in SPs 

against nature conservation aims to identify potential 

conflicts between development, e.g. building, tourism, 

roads, railways and power lines, and rare species and 

habitats, and migratory routes; (2) based on such analysis, 

suggestions for amendments of SPs (if needed); (3) the 

map of functional (structural) zoning, and (4) draft 

individual regulations for specific SPNTs with restricted 

activities defined in each zone (Bāra, 2007). 

The same stands for the development of spatial plans: 

the procedure should include analysis of all NMPs in an 

administrative territory, applying requirements of draft 

individual regulations, suggestions for amendments and 

functional zoning to specific areas of SPNTs. 

One of the tools for integration of NMPs into spatial 

plans is the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment 

(SEIA) procedure, where all data layers from the NMP 

can be used. The SEIA is part of spatial planning 

procedure where all aspects of possible environmental 

impact during implementation of spatial plans have to 

Sustainable land use 

Regional development 

be evaluated and possible development scenarios must 

be provided. The SEIA includes analysis of impact 

on vulnerable habitats and species in SPNTs, even if 

potentially threatening activities are planned outside the 

SPNT. 

Conclusion 

Digital maps, data bases, functional zoning, appropriate 

protection measures, and management plans for habitats 

of European Union importance must be available 

in municipalities and governmental environmental 

institutions. This gives an opportunity to coordinate 

the activities and management actions presupposed by 

the SPNT nature management plans and by the local 

municipalities through spatial planning. 

More suggestions include: raising awareness and 

training among spatial planners and developers of nature 

management plans. 

References 

Lazdāns, D. Nitcis, M. 2009. Dabas aizsardzības plāns 

“Aizsargājamo ainavu apvidus “Kaučers””, Vides ministrija. 

Bāra, J. 2007. Dabas aizsardzības plāns “Dabas parks 

“Bauska””, Vides ministrija. 

Bāra, J. 2007. Dabas aizsardzības plāns “Dabas liegums 

“Raķupes ieleja””, Vides ministrija. 

ILUTA BĒRZIŅA 1 

Abstract 

The development of territories and industries is planned on different levels and one of them is the local government 

level. The development of tourism cannot be allowed without assessing solutions on the development of nature, cultural 

heritage, landscapes, and different levels of tourism policy. Based on the results of the tourism resource inspection 

conducted in Amata county in 2007 and on the necessity for the local government to start tourism planning in the 

territory, it is concluded that strategic state tourism resources in the province have the following characteristics: a 

rich heritage relating to the history of civilization – 55 monuments that are located in excellent scenes, and nature 

resources in a wide territory of 37.5% of the county. From all the resources only a small part has been involved in 

tourism – Āraiši lake castle, Āraiši windmill, Zvārtes rock. All current tourism development and business are based 

on these sites, exposing them to concentrated loads of tourists. Therefore, when starting to plan tourism development 

at the local government level, four alternatives were set to define a strategically supported type of tourism. To clarify 

the objectives of 21 tourism development stakeholders in the province and the policy conformity of the alternatives, 

an analysis of tourism institutional resources was needed based on the study of the operational policies of the parties 

involved, as well as expert opinions. The hierarchy analysis (HA) was used and, as a result, the most suitable course 

of strategically supported tourism for the Amata county of the Cēsis district – nature tourism – was defined. 


The necessity for planning tourism development in a 

local government appears when there is an opinion on 

the need for a better living environment; confidence that 

the existing traditional solution will not provide it; when 

alternative solutions exist which can be implemented 

using the available resources. Tourism development 

cannot be separated from natural and historical heritage, 

or from the assessment of landscapes and different levels 

of tourism policy (NGO “Zaļais ordenis”, 2007). After 

an audit of resources is conducted, alternatives and 

choices usually emerge, for instance, on finding a kind 

of tourism supported by the local government, which 

is very essential in planning the budget, environment 

protection, development and tourism. An alternative is 

“each of two or more possibilities that eliminate each 

other” (Baldunčiks, 2007). 

Two phases exist in the process of finding the 

final alternative: defining and evaluating alternatives 

(including assessment of their impact), and keeping the 

best (Valtenbergs, 2003). Three main principles must 

be considered in selecting and assessing alternatives: 

suitability, possibility (validity) and acceptance of 

the alternative (Caune et al, 2000). According to the 

opinion of the theorist V. Walker, a good alternative is 

characterized by five main criteria (groups of criteria) 

of alternative selection, which are also suggested by 

the foreign theorist E. Bardach: technical possibility; 

economic and financial possibility; political vitality 

(interested sides, their motivation and opinions, 

resources and effectiveness of skills); the capability of 

administrative action (Valtenbergs, 2003). 

Based on the results of several theorists’ studies 

(E. Alexander, T. Athley, R Behn, H. Brightman, P. Hall, 

D. McRae, P. May, A. Osborn, V. Walker, D. Weimer, etc), 

the methods by which it is possible to define alternatives 

include: past experience; brainstorming, manipulations 

with existing resources in creating new combinations; 

strategic modifications of existing solutions; an analysis of 

quick decision-making. In politics usually four basic modes 

of alternatives exist: to change nothing (it also serves as 

a point of reference in assessing alternatives); to perform 

system improvements; to add new system components; 

and to create a new system (Valtenbergs, 2003). 

Alternative solutions of tourism development have 

never previously been assessed using scientific methods 

in any of the local governments in Latvia. Instead, 

tourism has been developed based on the intuition of 

the leaders and specialists of local governments. This 

1 

PhD student of economics in Latvia University of Agriculture; Sociotechnical Systems Engineering Institute, Vidzeme 

University College, Cēsu iela 4, Valmiera, LV-4201, Latvia, e-mail: iluta.berzina@va.lv 

16 

17


Applying a Hierarchy Analysis in Assessing the Political Viability of Strategic Tourism Direction Alternatives... 

research, however, is an exception as it scientifically 

justifies strategically supported tourism direction in the 

territory of the Amata province, the Cēsis district. 

The 228.7 km 2 territory of the Amata province is 

located in the central altitude of Vidzeme and it borders 

the territories of seven local governments, uniting the 

Amata village and the Drabeši village (Regulations 

of the Cabinet of Ministers 15.09.2000, No. 280). The 

entrepreneurship in the Amata province represents 

four branches of industry – agriculture, forestry, real 

estate, and tourism. 105 companies operate in this area 

(2007), representing 35 companies per 1000 inhabitants, 

which exceeds the average rate of companies per 100 

inhabitants in Latvia by 15 (CRP, 2007). 23 active tourism 

enterprises operate in this area, permanently employing 

85 inhabitants with additional 109 employed during the 

tourism season. The typical activity of tourism business 

here is the offer of tourist accommodation and sauna for 

small numbers of visitors (5–20) (80%), another type of 

activity is organization of events and accommodation 

(30–180 guests), as well as catering, entertainment and 

active tourism. Entrepreneurs admit that they do not 

have information about the possibilities to vary their 

offer by using the natural and cultural heritage resources 

of the province (Bērziņa, 2007). This process could be 

facilitated through collaboration with the Gauja National 

Park (GNP), the local government, entrepreneurs and 

society in developing, for instance, nature or eco-tourism, 

possibly also culture tourism. 

The entrepreneurial opportunities in the Amata 

province are limited due to the natural and cultural 

environment of the region defined by the specific nature 

of Latvia’s strategic tourism resources and the need to 

preserve these resources through regulations. Almost 

40% of the territory of the province is covered by 

different protected nature areas. 35.7 % (81.7 km 2 ) (GNP, 

2004) of the territory of the province is located in the 

European classification nature protected area (Natura, 

2000) and 80% of all the nature and cultural heritage 

of Amata province is located in a national-level nature 

protected area – in the Gauja National Park (GNP). 

Besides the GNP, the nature restricted area “Melturu 

sils” covers 288 ha (2.88 km 2 ), there are 19 restricted 

micro areas with the total area of 26.1 ha. 59% of the 

territory of the province is covered by forests (Amatas 

novada dome, 2006a). On a national scale, the natural 

heritage of the Amata province stands out with its 

compact concentration in a small area: there are more 

than 20 rock openings and 10 of them are monuments of 

European and national significance, 38 protected trees 

and other biological values. The most visited tourism 

object is the Zvārtes rock. 

According to the records from 1998 to 1999, there 

are 547 culturally historical sites in the GNP and in its 

proximity. By adding the places of stories and legends to 

the total number, the number of sites would increase to 

about 200 (GNP, 2004). According to the information from 

the State Inspection of Cultural Monument Protection 

(SICMP), in the territory of the Amata province there 

are 55 culturally historical monuments – 37 of them 

of national significance and 18 of local importance. 

Of these, 29 are archaeological monuments (int. al. 18 

of local importance), 16 – architectural monuments, 

10 – monuments of art. Culturally historical monuments 

of local importance are mainly anthropogenic tourism 

resources – ancient burial sites, ritual places, medieval 

cemeteries, camps and ancient landmarks (Amatas 

novada dome, 2006b). Most (80% or 44) culturally 

historical monuments recorded in the register of SICMP 

are located in the territory of the former Drabeši village 

and the GNP. The most significant cultural tourism 

(archaeological) monument located in the territory of the 

province – a Latgallian camp of the 9th century – is the 

Āraiši Lake Castle, which has been reconstructed based 

on scientific research, and which is the most visited 

tourist attraction in the province. 

Judging from the number of existing tourism resources 

in the Amata province, the most appropriate tourism 

types could be nature tourism as well as culture tourism 

and eco-tourism. Therefore, the choice has been made 

for the alternatives of strategically supported tourism 

kinds in the Amata province. As a method for defining 

alternatives, manipulation with the existing resources in 

creating new combinations has been used: 

(1) tourism in the Amata province continues to develop 

on the base of the Āraiši Lake Castle, the GNP, 

and the initiative of the local entrepreneurs; 

(2) the local government defines nature tourism as 

a strategically supported kind of tourism in the 

province; 

(3) the local government defines culture tourism as 

a strategically supported kind of tourism in the 

province; 

(4) the local government defines eco-tourism as a 

strategically supported kind of tourism in the 

province. 

According to the basic choices of alternatives, the 

1st alternative complies with the choice to change 

nothing, the 2nd and the 3rd – with the choice to make 

improvements in the existing system, but the 4th – to 

introduce new system components that are connected 

with the issues of environmental education. The 

activities and product of eco-tourism are based on 

nature tourism, attracting elements and activities of 

local cultural environment and / or countryside elements 

(LR VARAM; LEtS, 2001). Eco-tourism as a branch of 

the tourism industry is only gradually establishing its 

place on the market of Latvia and has not yet developed 

enough. Eco-tourism requires an environmentallyfriendly 

attitude, a critical assessment of one’s behavior, 

for which the public and tourists in Latvia are not quite 

ready (Leitis 2005a; 2005b). 

One of the politically stated development priorities in 

the province that has been included in the development 

program for 2006–2018 is facilitating tourism activities 

by considering the protection principles of culturally 

historical heritage (Amatas novada dome, 2006b). The 

local government needs to consider conceptual tourism 

development. Up to now it was difficult to analyze the 

development priorities due to the fact that the planned 

and existing operational policies of the interested parties 

had not yet been revised or evaluated. These include 21 

viewpoints, strategies and actions of various institutions of 

the Amata county interested in the tourism development. 

The interested parties include organizations working in 

the tourism industry, managers of national cultural and 

nature resources, and non-governmental organizations 

(NGO) that represent the management of small 

businesses. Some of the stakeholders are: the Cēsis district 

government (CRP); 7 neighbor local governments of the 

Amata county; the Vidzeme Tourism Association (VTA); 

the GNP, etc. This means that the political viability 

of the characteristic criteria of the alternatives in each 

respective criteria group needs to be analyzed, focusing 

on the principle of the suitability of the alternative and, 

as a result, to determine the type of tourism which is to 

be strategically and locally supported within the Amata 

region. For this purpose, 18 national, regional and locallevel 

tourism policy planning documents were analyzed: 

territory plans, development programs, strategies, actions 

and environment protection plans. 

2 Methods 

Nine methods for assessment of alternatives exist which, 

according to the opinions of theorists K. McKenna, 

N. Litchefield, M. Hill, B. Goeller and E. Stockey, help to 

make a choice: pair comparisons; analysis of satisfactory 

cases; lexicographical order; non-dominating analysis 

of alternatives; the equivalent alternative method; the 

standard alternative method; the Goeller’s matrix; 

the target reaching matrix, and planning balance 

report. All of them except the last one are based on the 

principle of logical comparison (Valtenbergs, 2003). 

The criteria for the assessment of alternatives applied 

by the European Commission (EC) – suitability, 

possibility and acceptance – are essentially equal to 

the term impact of alternatives. Their assessment 

methods are characterized in the assessment guidelines 

of the EC (The Impact Assessment Guidelines, 2005), 

where it is suggested to apply (according to suitability 

and necessity) five methods in assessing the selected 

alternatives. They include: Input-Output analysis (I/O); 

expense-effectiveness analysis; multi-criteria analysis; 

risk analysis; and sensitivity analysis (EC 2005). In 

assessing the suitability of alternatives, Latvian theorists 

J. Caune, A. Dzedons and L. Pētersons suggest using 

such methods as comparison in the industry, decisiontree 

method and ranging, which are almost analog to 

lexicographical order and non-dominating alternative 

analysis (Caune et al, 2000). 

As interests of the stakeholders are exposed to 

different objectives and, in the mutual hierarchy, are 

located at different levels, decision-making about the 

tourism direction supported by the government depends 

on many criteria important to each institution. Therefore, 

there is a need to use the multi-criteria analysis method – 

hierarchy analysis (HA) – in assessing political viability 

and suitability. 

2.1 Hierarchy Analysis Method 

The HA method has been elaborated by the American 

scientist Thomas Saaty and it is a systematic procedure 

for the hierarchic element order (Saaty, 1980). The 

problem is gradually divided in easier parts, which 12 

experts in this study compare in pairs and assess the 

intensity grade of elements in numbers. At the basis of 

HA lies hierarchy creation, pair comparison and priority 

calculation. 

2.1.1 Hierarchy Creation 

A four-level hierarchy scheme foresees to select four 

alternatives and include them in the 4th assessment 

level followed by assessment criteria, which is the 3rd 

level. It is in turn included in the criteria groups – the 

2nd level. The 1st level is the objective – to find the 

most appropriate alternative that can be implemented by 

assessing and comparing in pairs the elements existing 

in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th level. Therefore, based on the 

number of the most often selected development priorities, 

four criteria groups were set: interests of institutions; 

interests of entrepreneurs; impact on the assessment 

results of the resources and province tourism resources 

and stakeholders’ interests; finances. 

Criteria included in the criteria group “interests 

of institutions” were extracted from the analyzed 

action policy documents – the goals defined the most 

frequently in the planning documents. The most often 

mentioned goals include: acquisition of the financing 

of the EU and other support funds; sustainable use of 

nature heritage as a resource in tourism; sustainable use 

of culturally historical heritage as a resource in tourism; 

infrastructure development of nature tourism; facilitating 

environmental education; raising the popularity of the 

Amata county territory. 

The “impact on the assessment results of the resources 

and province tourism resources and stakeholders’ 

interests” included criteria identified as the most essential 

drawbacks in, or obstacles for, tourism development in 

the province. These include: lack of motivation in the 

managers of nature and culturally historical heritage; 

lack of collaboration among institutions; homogeneity 

in the tourism offer; not utilizing the full potential of 

the tourism resources; and unclear tourism market in the 

province. 

18 

19



The criteria group “entrepreneurs’ interests in 

the province” included interests identified in the 

entrepreneur survey, which at the same time are 

drawbacks in the tourism development in the province. 

These are: providing information access; improvement 

of tourism infrastructure; variation of the offer; increase 

of utilization capacity. 

The criterion of the criteria group “finances” 

“maintenance expenses” was set as a filter between 

the alternative the expert desired and the realistic 

possibilities, thereby producing a response of higher 

validity. The criterion “potential income” could show 

their place in each alternative. 

All criteria of the 3rd level of hierarchy are those 

indicators whose proportion shows the motives of the 

expert’s final decision. However, experts experienced 

difficulties to perform 4-level hierarchy assessments; I 

believe the reason for it to be their lack of knowledge 

and understanding. Therefore, for assessment a 3-level 

hierarchy was created, where criteria groups changed for 

assessment criteria, the author of the article refuses to 

reveal the experts’ motives. 

2.1.2 Pair Comparison 

After creating a hierarchy, the relative importance 

(advantages) between two elements at one level were 

compared on a 10-point scale in relation to one another. 

Comparison should have been made for all elements of 

the problem in all hierarchy levels which I included in 

the matrix. The format of the matrix is presented in the 

Table. When comparing elements, experts had to ask the 

question, how much more important are the elements 

in the left column in comparison to the elements in the 

upper row? Comparing the element to itself, the ratio is 

one. 

2.1.3 Priority Calculation 

One of the best ways to calculate specific vectors or global 

priorities (x), is the geometrical average. 3 equations need 

to be used for calculating it: ((1); (2); (3)) This algorithm 

is shown in Table. It is also important to check the mutual 

dependence of each criteria or element – conformity of 

priorities among the experts’ opinions. For this purpose, 

two indicators are used: coherence index (SI) – deviation 

from the coherence; coherence relationship (SA) – the 

closer the λ max 

value to n, the more cohered the result. 

The calculations of these algorithms are shown in the 

Table ((4); (5); (6)). 

The most appropriate alternative according to the 

experts’ opinions is the alternative with the highest global 

priority value (x) and lowest minimum and maximum bias 

(SI) disparity between the average values of the opinion 

coherence (Romānovs, 2006; Krūzmētra, 1999). In order 

to perform the calculations, the experts’ assessments 

were entered in MS Excel, but the calculations can also 

be done in the software Expert Choice. 

3 Results 

In assessing alternatives I have used two methods: 

pair comparison, where two or more alternatives are 

compared according to the principle “the best wins”, 

and non-dominating alternative analysis, when all 

alternatives are assessed according to each criteria, 

admitting one alternative to be the best. 

Analyzing data received from the expert survey, I 

noticed the following sequence in the characterization 

of the results: analyzing the experts’ opinions as a whole 

(by criteria in each alternative); defining the compromise 

solution. 

According to the alternative suitability assessed 

criteria in the 1st alternative – to do nothing – for the 

experts the criterion Finances seems the most important. 

As a four-level hierarchy analysis was not performed, it is 

impossible to identify which of the finance components – 

maintenance expenses or potential incomes – motivated 

the experts to assess this criterion as of the highest 

importance in the alternative. My interpretation is that the 

situation to do nothing does not facilitate earning potential 

and requires tourism infrastructure maintenance without 

any objective. That makes this criterion important. The 

next important criterion subsequently was the potential 

increase of negative impact on the drawbacks of the 

province. A similar situation is observed regarding the 

criteria related to fulfilling the interests of institutions 

and entrepreneurs. However, there was a disparity of 

opinions among the experts in all the selected criteria. 

In the 2nd alternative, the criterion “finances” was 

also marked as of the highest importance; at the same 

time, there were the biggest differences in expert 

opinions. By selecting nature tourism as the most 

strategically important type of tourism, the meaning of 

the criterion “interests of stakeholders and institutions” 

decreases. I explain it in the way that, by developing 

this kind of tourism, the interests of the institutions 

and entrepreneurs are essentially satisfied. There was a 

larger coherence of opinions on these criteria. The 2nd 

alternative has got the most part of priorities among all 

4 alternatives. 

In the 3rd alternative, the criterion “finances” was 

also assessed as having the highest importance. This can 

be explained by the fact that the development of culture 

tourism requires high financial capacity when renewing 

cultural heritage. Moreover, there are only long-term 

potential earnings, which is why there is an awareness 

of the high maintenance expenses of the heritage. In the 

3rd alternative, “interests of stakeholders” are of high 

importance. This is understandable because currently 

there is a significant impact of the GNP that manages and 

protects a large part of the territory of the Amata county, 

but by developing culture tourism, the importance of 

the objectives of the institution declines. Experts also 

assessed that developing culture tourism would give 

much to decreasing the drawbacks of tourism in the 

province but not as much as developing nature tourism. 

However, the coherence of opinions in assessing the 

impact on tourism development in the province in the 

3rd alternative was higher than in the 2nd alternative. 

The 4th alternative is the only one about which 

the experts did not think the criterion “finances” is 

of the highest importance. On the one hand, it could 

be interpreted so that the money has no importance in 

development of eco-tourism only; on the other hand – 

experts think that that requires fewer expenses. This 

indicates that for assessing alternatives in the context 

of the research, a four-level hierarchy analysis was 

necessary. The importance of this criterion in the 2nd 

alternative was higher. Possibly the experts did not have 

quite complete understanding of the differences between 

eco-tourism and nature tourism. I am of the opinion that 

eco-tourism requires financial investments that are more 

substantial than in nature tourism because the stress is 

put on educating society – regular, long-term, ambitious, 

which cannot be compared to the expenses of making 

landscapes, paths and sites, and which does not create 

high return on investments in short-term but potentially 

only in long-term. It seems that this inconsequence about 

stakeholders’ interests also occurs because of lack of 

understanding of eco-tourism. Therefore, summarizing 

the experts’ general priority values in each alternative, the 

2nd alternative, according to the experts’ opinions, is the 

most suitable for the Amata local municipality (Figure). 

Considering that eco-tourism in Latvia is only at 

an early stage of development and it is being developed 

on the basis of a well-developed nature tourism, it 

can be concluded that the 2nd alternative – the local 

government defines nature tourism as a strategically 

supported kind of tourism in the Amata province – is the 

most suitable and politically viable from the 4 selected 

alternatives. We have arrived at such a conclusion only 

because a four-level hierarchy analysis was not conducted 

and the reasons (experts’ motives) which possibly could 

change the final decision were not revealed. 

4 Discussion 

The analyzed documents lay an emphasis on involving or 

not involving strategically important tourism resources 

in tourism as well as the objectives and actions of 18 

stakeholders for facilitating tourism development. An 

interesting importance criterion was the number of 

similarly defined goals. 8 stakeholders defined natural 

and culturally historical resources as a priority in 

tourism. However, the result of expert interviews showed 

that tourism development based on natural resources was 

more important. That confirmed the stability of political 

viability and potential external support. 

According to the theorist V. Walker’s beliefs, a good 

alternative is characterized by the following criteria: 

expenses, stability, reliability, immunity, flexibility, risk 

level, communicability, value, simplicity, compatibility, 

feedback (Valtenbergs, 2003). Do the selected alternatives 

correspond to this conception? 

Expenses (and the reduction of expenses) can 

definitely be positively affected by mutual collaboration 

among stakeholders that have higher financial capacity, 

for instance, the GNP. 

Stability: currently the only threat to the Amata local 

government is the administratively territorial reform, 

which envisages to include the province within the Cēsis 

province. I think the alternative is not threatened because 

the research results are a recommendation. If the local 

government retains their independence, the objectives 

will be achieved. 

Reliability: for the alternative to work without 

interruption, a development program or strategy of the 

province should first be developed and implemented. The 

role of collaboration among the stakeholders is essential 

to ensure success. 

Immunity: if any of the components of the alternative 

are missing, the alternative can still work because there 

is a great concentration of resources in the Amata county 

which theoretically can replace each other. 

Flexibility: the alternative is flexible because it would 

help to reach the goal of nature protection. 

Risk level: possibility of failure of the alternative 

can be affected by institutional collaboration and lack of 

work with society. 

Communicability: the alternative has been formulated 

in such a way that it is easily understandable to people 

involved in planning tourism development. For others 

to understand, it can be necessary to look for additional 

information, for instance, explanation of tourism policy 

planning documents, tourism differences, etc. 

Value: the alternative offers a solution, showing the 

position of the Amata local government for the further 

development of tourism in the province. 

Simplicity: will it be possible to implement the 

alternative? Developing nature tourism is not as long 

and expensive a process as developing culture tourism, 

requiring large capacities. Moreover, the GNP has 

thorough experience in nature tourism. Collaboration 

also plays an important role. 

Compatibility: the alternative offers no newly 

created systems; therefore, the author believes that it is 

incorporated in the present plans of the GNP. 

Feedback: how difficult will it be to return to the initial 

position if the alternative fails? This is the only point 

where the existing traditions of stakeholders can do harm 

in returning back to the initial positions – stakeholders’ 

interests more or less will be stable and satisfied. It is 

also possible that, while implementing the alternative, 

new players and interested parties/stakeholders emerge. 

20 

21


Providing feedback is not desirable because it threatens 

the protection of the natural and culturally historical 

resources. 

5 Conclusions 

According to the results of the calculations, the 2nd 

alternative – the local government defines nature 

tourism as a strategically supported kind of tourism in 

the Amata province – is the most suitable and politically 

vital from the 4 selected alternatives. By developing the 

second alternative in planning the tourism development in 

the Amata local municipality, an effective use of resources 

can be accomplished, moreover, in compliance with other 

institutions. The basic condition is fruitful, mutually 

interested institutional collaboration. However, for a 

well-rounded alternative assessment, it is also necessary 

to define possibility and acceptance of alternatives that 

require more research with such methods as analysis of 

Input/Output; Input/Effectiveness; risks and sensitivity. 

Acknowledgements 

For participating in assessing alternatives, I thank the 

experts: spatial development planner of the Vidzeme 

Planning Region Jānis Antons, the executive of the 

Department of Territory Planning and Development at 

the Cēsis local government Jānis Butāns, project manager 

at Vidzeme Tourism Association Inga Vilde, the head of 

the Department of Development of Vidzeme History and 

Tourism Centre Elīna Kalniņa, the head of the Līgatne 

local government Guntars Pīpkalējs, the head expert of 

the Association “Lauku ceļotājs” Linda Kornete, the 

head of the Nature Tourism Department at the Gauja 

National Park Jolanta Skrastiņa, tourism entrepreneurs 

of the Amata province Baiba Stepiņa, Ieva Meiere, the 

head of M. Vanaga Museum Ingrīda Lāce, the inspector 

of the Cēsis Department of State Cultural Monument 

Protection Inspection Laura Šenroka. 

References 

Baldunčiks, J. 2007. Svešvārdu vārdnīca. Rīga, Jumava. 

Caune, J., Dzedons, A., Pētersons, L. 2000. Stratēģiskā 

vadīšana. Rīga: Kamene. 

Krūzmētra, M., Ramute, L., Rivža, B., Rivža, P. 1999. Valsts 

administratīvi reģionālais iedalījums: problēmas, metodes, 

risinājumi. Jelgava. 

Saaty, T. L. 1980. The Analytical Hierarchy Process. New 

York: Mc-Graw Hill. 

Amatas novada dome. 2006a. Amatas novada Teritorijas 

plānojums 2006.–2018. gadam. I sējums. Paskaidrojuma 

raksts. Amatas novads. 

Amatas novada dome. 2006b. Amatas novada attīstības programma 

2006.–2018. gadam. Amatas novads, 17.–46. lpp. 

Bērziņa, I. 2007. Amatas novada tūrisma resursu un tūrisma 

uzņēmumu apsekojums (jūnijs – augusts). 

CRP. 2000. Cēsu rajona attīstības programma. Available at: 

http://www.cesurajons.lv/faili/Cesu_rajona_attistibas_ 

programma.pdf (14.09.2008) 

22 

European Comission (EC). 2005. Impact Assessement 

Quidelines [Annexes to Impact Assessement Quidelines. 

Methods to Comparing Impacts]. Available at: http:// 

ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/docs/key_docs/sec_ 

2005_0791_anx_en.pdf. (21.10.2008.) 

Eiropas komisija. 2006. Komisijas paziņojums “Atjauninātā 

ES tūrisma politika – veidojot spēcīgāku Eiropas tūrisma 

partnerību COM (2006) 134” [galīgā redakcija]. Available 

at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ. 

do?uri=COM:2006:0134:FIN:LV:HTML. (12.10.2008.) 

GNP. 2004. Gaujas Nacionālā parka dabas aizsardzības plāns 

2004.–2014. gadam. Sigulda, 11.–87. lpp. 

Valtenbergs, V. 2003. Politikas plānošanas metodoloģija un 

vadlīnijas. Literatūras pārskats. Rīga: Valsts kanceleja. 

Cēsu rajona padomes portāls. 2007. Cēsu rajona raksturojums 

[Uzņēmējdarbība]. Available at: http://www.cesurajons. 

lv/?id=10&x=1. (04.09.2008) 

CSP. 2007. Galvenie rādītāji. Reģionālā statistika [IKP rajonos 

un reģionos]. Available at: http://www.csb.gov.lv/ 

csp/content/?cat=2389. (01.10.2008) 

NGO “Zaļais ordenis”. 2007. Ekotūrisms – dabai un 

sabiedrībai. Available at: http://www.undine.lv/lat/ 

EkoTurisms.htm. (25.10.2008) 

Leitis, Ē. 2005a. Neizpostītas dabas nestā peļņa. Available at: 

http://www.undine.lv/lat/avize/ekoturisms.html. (25.09.2008) 

Leitis, Ē. 2005b. Ekotūrisms prasa saudzēt. Available at: 

http://www.lu.lv/print/laikraksts/viedoklis/18/index.html. 

(25.09.2008) 

Romānovs, A. 2006. Daudzkritēriju analīzes metožu pielietošana 

tūrisma informācijas sistēmas izstrādāšanā. Rīga. 

6 Appendixes 

Figure. The weight of alternatives by the average value 

of priorities and min, max value of experts’ judgments 

0.7 

0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

0.3 

0.2 

0.1 

0 

0.1 

0.24 

0.32 

0.63 

0.05 0.12 

0.27 

0.59 

0.14 

1 2 3 4 

Alternatives 

0.31 

0.63 

0.05 

Table. Methodology for conducting calculations of experts’ assessments to compare alternatives 

A 1 A 2 ... A n x a S 

a 1 

A 1 1 w 1 /w 2 ... w 1 /w n 

S 

(3) 

a 

w 

w 

w 

w 

1 1 1 

1 

1 

= n × × × ...× 

w1 

w2 

w3 

w n 

a 2 w2 

w2 

w2 

w2 

A 2 w 2 /w 1 1 ... w 2 /w n a n 

S 

2 

= × × × ...× S = ∑ a 

w w w 

j= 

1 

... ... ... 1 ... ... ... ... 

A n w n /w 1 w n /w 2 ... 1 

⎛ w 

⎜ 

⎝ 

w 

w 

⎞ 

⎟ 

⎠ 

a n 

S 

1,00 

⎛ w 

⎜ 

⎝ 

1 2 

n 

x 

w w w ⎟ ⋅ 

1 2 

λ max 

= ⎜ + + ... + 

1 

+ ... + 

⎜ 

+ + ... 

1 1 

1 

wn 

wn 

λmax 

− n 

SI= 

n − 1 

SV in a 4x4 matrix it’s 0,90 

SI 

SA= SV 


w 

1 

w 

n n n 

a 

n 

= n × × × ... × 

w1 

w2 

w3 

w 

w 

+ 

w 

n 

n 

2 

⎞ 

⎟ ⋅ x 

⎠ 

A – alternative; 

w –importance given by experts or intensity according to the relative importance scale; 

1 – the sum of priority vector coordinates is always 1; 

a – local priority; 

x – normalized specific vector value or global priority; 

S – priority of each element; 

n – number of elements; 

λ 

max – the multiple sum of column elements; 

SI – coherence index of experts’ opinions; 

SV – possible coherence (average mathematical value based on experimental data by T. Saaty); 

SA – coherence proportion of experts’ opinions. 

(Saaty, 1980; Romānovs, 2006; Krūzmētra, 1999) 

n 

w 

3 

w n 

w 

w 

n 

n 

(1) 

S 

S 

= 

= 

n 

∑ 

j= 

1 

n 

∑ 

a 

1 

(2) 

2 

n 

a n 

j= 

1 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

23


RUSUDAN CHOCHUA 1 

Abstract 

Caucasus Ecoregion is unique with its conservation value. It is considered to be one of the 34 globally significant 

“biodiversity hotspots”, based on the richness of species and the high level of endemism. Because of its significance, 

the German government has implemented different projects on sustainable development and nature conservation in 

this region. One of them is the Landscape Planning Project in Southern Caucasus. This project was implemented 

with the support from the National Agency of Nature Conservation (BFN). The project was connected with another 

project “ECO Regional Conservation Programme” established by the Transboundary Joint Secretariat for the 

Southern Caucasus (TJS) and supported by the Reconstruction Credit Bank of Germany (KFW) and the World 

Wildlife Fund (WWF). 

The Landscape Planning Project was supported and advised by the Institute of Geography, Siberian Branch of 

Russian Academy of Sciences and by the Technical University of Berlin. 

Keywords: landscape planning, ecoregion, Caucasus. 


The activities were based on the German model of 

landscape planning, taking into account the Russian 

model of landscape planning. A national methodology 

was developed collaboratively; it included description of 

landscape planning instruments, analysis and estimation 

of the legal aspects and performance of model areas and 

planning. The product of the project is the Caucasus 

Methodology of Landscape Planning based on the 

examples of the three countries. 

The collaboration of this project with another KFW 

project (which is supported by WWF and implemented by 

TJS) which included creation of a transboundary protected 

area, was very useful because, in general, landscape planning 

is dedicated to structure, zoning and the management 

process. This process is common for both projects. 

The planning was conducted in two fields: plants and 

biotopes (30 units) and landscapes (13 units). 

The project targeted three model regions in Georgia, 

Azerbaijan and Armenia. The planning process was 

carried out at three levels: the landscape program in 

Georgia for Adjara (scale: 1 : 200 000), the landscape 

framework plan in Armenia for the Sevan Lake Region 

(scale: 1 : 100 000) and the landscape plan in Azerbaijan 

for the Shirvan National Park (scale: 1 : 25 000). 

The activities were based on the German model of 

landscape planning and included some elements of the 

Russian model of landscape planning. In addition, a 

national methodology was developed collaboratively, 

which included description of landscape planning 

instruments, analysis of legal aspects, and performance 

of model areas and planning. The final product of the 

project was the Caucasus Methodology of Landscape 

Planning based on the examples of the three countries. 

The collaboration of this project with another TJS 

joint project focused on the creation of a transboundary 

protected areas. This was crucial for the overall success 

of the project. 

The first goal of the project was to identify, describe 

and estimate especially important areas along with areas 

of conflicts, e.g. conflicts between the local population 

and nature. 

For the three countries, landscape planning included 

the following steps: collecting the data (terrain, geology, 

soils, hydrology, climate, plants, animals, etc); description 

of natural, historical and cultural resources; description 

of problems associated with land-use and use of nature; 

identification of the main problems; formulation of the 

main goals; development of the concept; formulation of 

measures; and preparation of maps. 

2 Model Area – Georgia 

The Autonomous Republic of Adjara 

Selecting the Autonomous Republic of Adjara for 

landscape planning in Georgia was based on several 

principles. 

1 

Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia Agency of Protected Areas, 

e-mail: tatachochua@yahoo.com 

25



Topicality – this is a region where the agricultural 

profile and land-use forms have changed rapidly. One of 

the main problems is to preserve the traditional forms 

of forestry and subtropical economies. Changes in the 

demographics of the region are also observed. Adjara is 

increasingly drawing the attention of not only regional but 

also transnational corporations. Several environmental 

projects are implemented in the region. 

Uniqueness – Adjara is distinguished by its landscape 

and biological diversity. All natural zones are presented 

there. Adjara is home to several endemic and relict species, 

biotopes and ecotones. More than 100 medical plant species 

and several groups of mineral water are found in the area. 

The region is rich in beautiful landscapes of recreation 

value. Due to the armed conflict in Abkhazia, one of the 

most popular seaside resorts in the former Soviet Union, 

Adjara has become one of the most visited alternative 

regions of the Black Sea for recreational activities. 

Social-economic tension – parallel to its increased 

popularity, the area is experiencing increased human 

pressure on the costal landscape. Hotels and other 

infrastructure are increasing. Accordingly, water 

use is increasing, and the landscape is changing. All 

manufacturing has ceased in Adjara. 

Ecological tension – ecological tension can be 

categorized into the following conflicts: 

• Natural – geodynamical processes in the middle and 

high mountain regions, caused by their geological 

structure and climatic and anthropogenic processes, 

and costal processes connected with the elimination 

of sediment dynamics of the river Chorokhi. These 

are also connected with flooding and unsteady 

territories that compose more than half of Adjara. 

• Anthropogenic – high density of the population in 

different areas, and transport and communication 

infrastructure in the middle and high mountain 

regions. There is a large-scale use of the land for 

pastures in sub-alpine and alpine landscapes. A 

transformation of forest areas because of cultured 

plants and cattle-breeding occurs. Production of 

agriculture also occurs on steep slopes. 

• Legislative – the conflict is connected with costal 

zones, river sides and flooded forests, green line 

zones with plants and plantations of populated areas 

and resort forests. The environmental legislation in 

Georgia is based on the Constitution, international 

conventions and the main environmental laws and 

regulations. 

3 Problems of the Model Area 

General Geographical Features 

The Autonomous Region of Adjara is located in the 

south-western part of Georgia, on the Coast of the Black 

Sea. Its area is composed of 2.9 thousand square km. 

(4.2% of the country’s territory). The capital is Batumi. 

The population is 377 thousand people (reduction of 

population noted due to the emigration provoked by 

ecological factors (eco-emigration). 

86% of the area is mountainous and hilly. The range 

of highness of mountains is within 0-3000 meters. 

Geographical barriers play a great role in creating the 

geological conditions (orographical, geological and 

climatic). The climate is damp, sea-like and warm. . 

Adjara is famous for the abundance of sediments 

(2500 mm on the sea coast per year, 4000 mm in the 

mountain of Mtirala). The region is distinguished by its 

diversity of plants – 1900 Kolkhic, Mediterranean and 

Asian species of flora. Adjara is rich in forests, which 

constitute 65% of the territory. 

Adjara is characterized by its soil variety. We can 

see here mountains as well as low landscapes divided 

in 8 types, 13 families and several groups of species. 

There are several protected areas: the Kintrishi Reserve, 

the Mtirala National Park, the Kobuleti Reserve and 

Managed Nature Reserve with the total area of more 

than 30 000 ha. 

4 Estimation of Sustainability and Means of 

Landscapes 

Estimation of Sustainability 

Based on the criteria like slope inclinations, geological 

constructions, depth of soils, exposition, quality of 

humidity, the character of geodynamical processes, and 

hypsometry, there are five types of landscape estimation: 

stable, middle stable, less stable, middle unstable and 

unstable landscapes. 

Estimation of Means 

There are four categories: with highest dignity, high 

dignity, middle dignity and low rank. 

Estimation of hydrological resources is based on the 

index of quantity of the surface layer of water, and there 

are three categories: high, medium and low indexes. 

Soils and soil resources: there are 13 soil types, 

their estimation is based on uniqueness, productiveness, 

steadiness, as well as mechanical indexes, etc. 

Estimation of landscapes and recreational resources 

is based on diversity, uniqueness, environmental, 

recreational, cultural, esthetical aspects, etc. There are 

also three types: high, medium and low landscapes. 

5 Conflicts and Goals 

Biotopes and Plants 

Conflicts 

There is an increasing interest in the forest resources 

of the region, which provide the main energy resource 

for the population. Traditionally, valuable wood species 

belonging to the List of Threatened Species (Red List) 

have been used for wood, for example chestnut tree and 

oak. Forest degradation is ongoing near settlements 

and resorts in forests. Agricultural cultivation is taking 

place on ecologically-unsustainable slopes. Landscapeecological 

conditions are ignored, and there is an 

increased anthropogenic stressor: overgrazing on the 

high mountains. 

Planning Goals 

One of the most important purposes of landscape planning 

in Adjara is to preserve the environmental functions of 

the variability of live nature species, wooded places and 

migratory ways of wild animals and forest landscapes, 

and to manage these actions through the broadening of 

the network of protected areas. 

Measures and Recommendations 

The planned actions can be achieved by: 

1. unification of existing and planned protected areas; 

2. creation of ecological corridors to connect protected 

areas which exist within the region to areas outside of 

it; 

3. preservation of natural landscapes in the costal 

resorts zones; 

4. regulation of mountain cattlemen, forestry, 

recreational and private economies; 

5. development of ecological and scientific tourism. 

Landscapes and Recreational Recourses 

Conflicts 

The recreational economy in the costal zone of Adjara 

is developing without consideration of the ecological 

potential and environmental legislation. A maximum 

concentration of industrial, transport and recreational 

economy can be observed. The tea plantations are 

degrading to a critical level. The biggest ecological 

problem is the utilization of domestic and industrial 

waste in the territories near the cities. 

Planning goals 

Landscape planning, landscapes and recreational 

resources include the preservation of costal dune zones, 

development of tourist infrastructure in mountain 

regions, regeneration of the tea economy, and planning 

and the development of esthetic areas. 

Measures and Recommendations 

The most important recommendations for the development 

of the recreational activities are as follows: 

1. identification of a prospective direction of economy; 

2. integration of tourism infrastructure; 

3. rehabilitation of costal and dune zones; 

4. preparation of GIS systems in connection with 

recreational issues; 

5. development of scientific tourism in the protected 

areas; 

6. treatment of waste and building wastes, integration 

of cleaning mechanisms; 

7. addressing the problem of loudness in urban zones. 

Hydrology and Hydrological Resources 

Conflicts 

Some of the most important ecological problems of the 

Adjara region are the washing out of parts of sea coast 

areas and large-scale pollution. Significant numbers 

of cattle and agricultural wastes have accumulated 

specifically in river ponds. The increasing frequency 

of flooding and ineffective environmental legislation 

provides additional challenges. 


1. Rational use of the hydrological resources of Adjara. 

2. Identification, improvement, and preservation of 

areas where water resources are forming. 

3. Inclusion of society in these processes. 

4. Preservation of forest resources characterized by a 

high level of transformation of atmospheric dampness 

and accumulation. 

Measures and recommendations 

1. Regulated use of forest resources. 

2. Planning actions for the restoration of forest resources 

in the high mountain and sub-alpine landscapes. 

3. Construction of water clean buildings. 

4. Monitoring for the forecast of floods. 

5. Seasonal use of sea currents and wave energies for 

the mechanical restoration of dune strips. 

6. Preventing manufacture and domestic waste to enter 

river ponds. 

7. Enforcement of the water regulations. 

Soils and Soil Resources 

Conflicts 

The main problem in Adjara connected with the land 

use system is soil cultivation in unsustainable landscape 

ecological areas and in territories characterized by 

high indexes of development of the erosion-denudation 

processes. There is an increasing amount of ecocide 

territories, destructed environment, especially willfully, 

on the southern and assimilated northern slopes. The 

development of the geodynamical process has been 

observed, such as landslides and streams as well as 

erosion in the areas of intense grazing. 


The goals of landscape planning and rational use of 

land are preservation of the structure and productivity 

of red soils, reduction of development scales of erosion, 

denudation and geodynamical processes, and the 

development of Adjara’s agriculture. 

Measures and recommendations 

1. Regulation and limitation of use of arable lands in red 

soil zones. 

26 

27


2. Restoration of degraded tea plantations. 

3. Regulation of use of pastures. 

4. Secure development of subtropical fruit growing and 

nut-tree cultures in the areas of red soils. 

5. Building of water protection objects for the preservation 

of productive alluvial soils and terraces. 

6 Conclusions 

The result of landscape planning is the identification of 

the functions of and measures for the main landscapes 

phases. The Adjarian landscapes all have geological 

and social-economic functions, which are documented 

in landscape ecological research. With these functions, 

it is possible to identify the measures which, when 

implemented, may guarantee the ecological stability and 

balance at the landscape program level. The measures and 

activities which are determined at this level are grouped 

into three categories: preservation, development, and 

improvement. The ecological condition of landscapes of 

most of the territory (more than 2/3) of Adjara is based 

on preservation. 

The functions of the Adjara landscapes in most cases 

(3/4 of all landscapes) are combined, which determines 

the corresponding picture of measures and activities. For 

example, the lower and mountain hill landscapes have 

both recreational and urban functions and they demand 

improvement as well as preservation. 

The planned actions and measures are dedicated to 

environmental protection and restoration. Middle and 

high mountain landscapes are mostly characterized by 

functions of protection and restoration 

Low and front mountain landscapes have resource 

formatted and Seliteb or Urban functions. Two categories 

of improvement or development are defined for them: 

preservation and improvement. 

Particular landscapes have corresponding forms of 

measures and activities. 

Contents of the Map of Adjara 

1. Contemporary land-use including discussion of 

comparative period 

Contemporary land-use 

Historical development in the comparing period; 

1 : 100 000 

Protected Areas 

2. Steps of inventories and estimation of all natural 

components 

Soils; 1 : 200 000 

Surface waters; 1 : 200 000 

Underground waters; 1 : 200 000 

Types and biotopes; 1 : 100 000 

Landscape and recreational potential; 1 : 100 000 

Dangerous factors of nature; 1 : 200 000 

3. Identification of conflicts for all natural components, 

1: 100 000 

Soils 

Surface waters 

Underground waters 

Types and biotopes 

Landscape and recreational potential 

Dangerous factors of nature 

4. Identification of zones and types of goals 

Map of goals 1 : 100 000 

5. Collaboration of measures and demands to specific 

types of use of all nature components 

Plan of action; 1 : 100 000 

Landscape Planning Governmental Stakeholders in 

Georgia 

Ministry of Economy 

Ministry of Agriculture 

Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural 

Resources 

Local Government Agencies 

Development of Visitor Impact Management in the Heritage Parks: 

Theoretical Findings 

TAMĀRA GRIZĀNE 1 

Abstract 

The quality of the environment is essential for sustainable tourism development. However, relationship of tourism 

with the environment is complex. This complexity also pertains to tourism in the North Vidzeme Biosphere 

Reserve (hereinafter: NVBR). In order to assure sustainable use of heritage park resources, the negative impacts 

must be minimized. It is particularly important to meet the goal of the concept of sustainable development in the 

NVBR. Regulatory measures may help to offset negative impacts by controlling the number of visitors’ activities 

and movement in heritage parks within the NVBR. The purpose of this study was to find the best Visitor Impact 

Management Models for the NVBR heritage parks. Nature diversity protection and heritage is of great importance in 

the NVBR Heritage Parks in Latvia. 


Each country or region has its own special classification 

of biodiversity management areas based on the value 

system developed by the non-profit corporation ‘The 

Parks of the World’. In other words, “if we design 

our environment to balance human needs and those 

of ecosystem, humankind will live in a sustainable 

environment” (Parks of the World, 2008a; Parks of the 

World, 2008b). 

Each country or region has specific types of biodiversity 

management areas referring to different park 

classifications. The parks studied in this research are 

simultaneously resource and country parks by the World 

Park standards (Parks of the World, 2008c). 

Management methods of heritage parks (hereinafter: 

HP) are not separated; therefore, the author has based her 

observations on visitor impact management technique 

that is widely used in protected area management. 

The goal of a heritage park is to educate visitors and 

increase public knowledge regarding the culture from 

pre-contact times to the present, the cross-dependence 

of society and the natural environment, and the 

importance, in this case, of Northern Latvian culture 

for the present and the future. For that reason, visitor 

management plays an important role in the ecological 

sustainability of park systems. The purpose of this 

study is to find the best Visitor Impact Management 

Models for the NVBR heritage parks. 

2 Materials and Methods 

2.1 Study Area 

The North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve (NVBR), which 

covers 6% of the territory of Latvia, contains within 

its territory 42 heritage parks. Some of them are wellmaintained 

and renewed, for example, the Valtenbergu 

and Bīriņu Parks; others require reconstruction. The 

study area is the theoretical knowledge of visitor impact 

management and the usage of professional practical 

experience. 

2.2 Study Methods 

To find the Visitor Impact Management Model for HP, the 

author has used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). 

The AHP is one of the multi-criteria selection methods, 

which has been applied to a variety of decision-making 

processes. This method was developed by Saaty (1980, 

1990 and 1997). This is a mathematical method and 

can be used in analyzing complex decision-making and 

in gathering data through surveys based on pair-wise 

comparison judgments. Similar to many other multicriteria 

analyses, what it does is aggregates the separate 

performance indicators into integrated performance 

indicators (Bouma et al, 2000). The author has applied 

the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in the following 

steps: (1) defined the goal or objective (identified the 

considered choice; outlined the major factors that would 

be taken into account to evaluate each option; identified 

criteria; continued to build a hierarchy of decision criteria 

until all factors were identified and linked); (2) established 

28 

1 

Faculty of Economics, Latvia University of Agriculture, Svetes Street 18, Jelgava, LV-3001, Latvia, 

e-mail: aramat49@inbox.lv 

29


priorities (using paired comparison, determined criteria 

preferences; rated these preferences from 1 to 9 (1 is of 

equal importance, 3 – weak importance (of one over 

the other), 5 – strong importance, 7 – demonstrates 

importance over the other, 9 – utmost importance, and 

2, 4, 6, 8 – intermediate values); repeated this for each 

level in hierarchy); (3) synthesized the ratings (calculated 

weighted criteria scores that combine all of the ranking 

data); (4) compared the alternatives (using the combined 

scores, calculated the final score for each alternative). 

Moreover, the author has studied theoretical and 

research literature on the issues of development of 

visitor impact management, examined several park 

visitor management methods and tools used in Canada 

(Banff National Park of Canada), Switzerland (Saxon 

Switzerland National Park), Australia (The Coral Sea 

Heritage Park), the United States (Yosemite National 

Park, Royal Park Management in Bethel Park) and in the 

United Kingdom (Yorkshire Dales National Park) that 

may be used in the heritage parks in the NVBR territory. 

(About.com. The Swiss National Park, Australian 

Government Pennsylvania Department of Conservation 

and Natural Resource, Parks and Gardens UK). Bald 

Eagle State Park 

To reach these goals, the author chose one of the 

visitor impact management models, and 3 experts with 

knowledge and experience in heritage tourism and 

heritage park management were asked for their opinion. 

The specific choice of experts was also determined 

because of their common work done in organizing 

the renovation of heritage parks of the town of Cēsis 

and partial management of the national architecture 

monument “The ensemble of the Old and New Building 

of the Castle”. The parks have been declared to be among 

the 100 best-preserved culture monuments in Latvia. 

Such specialist team is unique in Latvia. 

The experts were the Managing Director of a 

company; a landscape architect; and Head Tourism 

Officer and Spatial Planner of the local government of the 

Cēsis district, Latvia. The author’s choice of the Visitor 

Impact Management Model was mainly influenced by 

the characteristics of the management model regarding 

heritage sustainability and heritage management 

(Table 1). Experts chose the management models relying 

on their knowledge and mainly practical experience in 

HP maintenance. 

The author offered: (1) the key characteristics of 

management models VIMM, VAMP and TOMM, and 

offered to choose three important characteristics to use 

for determining the most appropriate Visitor Impact 

Management Model by expert choice; (2) to estimate 

alternatives of the Visitor Impact Management Model 

with grades 1–9. 

The author analysed the obtained data with the help of 

the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) (Saaty, 1997) and 

processed them with the Expert Choice 11.5 software. 

30 

3 Literature Review 

The authors of recent park management literature have 

been preoccupied with the confused understanding and 

application of carrying capacity. Carrying capacity (CC) 

presumes that all other variables are removed, and that 

both the environment and people do not change. Here are 

a few definitions for carrying capacity: 1) the maximum 

number of individuals that a given environment can 

support without detrimental effect (Answers.com, 2009); 

2) the maximum, equilibrium number of organisms of 

particular species that can be supported indefinitely in 

the given environment (Dictionary.com, 2009). 

The carrying capacity has proven to be a useful 

concept in wildlife and range management, where it 

generally refers to the number of animals of any species 

that can be sustained in the given habitat. Carrying 

capacity has obvious parallels with and intuitive appeal 

for the sphere of parks. The concept of carrying capacity 

was more complex in this new management context. 

At first, as might be expected, the focus was on the 

relationship between the use of environment by visitors 

and the condition of the environment. 

The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) was the 

first to propose a workable definition of tourism carrying 

capacity (TCC). The carrying capacity of a tourist resort 

may be defined as: the maximum number of people that 

may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without 

causing destruction of the physical, economic and sociocultural 

environment and an unacceptable decrease in 

the quality of the visitors' satisfaction (WTO, 1981). 

There are many different forms of carrying capacity 

referred to tourism; however, this article will focus on 

social CC and ecological CC. 

Social CC relates to the negative socio-cultural 

attitude related to tourism development. The indicators 

for exceeded social carrying capacity are reduced local 

tolerance to tourism, reduced visitor enjoyment and 

increased crime (en.wikipedia.org, 2009). 

Ecological CC is the overall ability of an ecosystem to 

maintain its natural or current condition and to produce 

goods and services. This includes both the current stock 

and the ability of an ecosystem to produce more specific 

resources. This in turn includes surface and subsurface 

renewable resources. 

Recreation ecology studies human-nature ecological 

relationships in recreation contexts. Previous studies 

have focused primarily on the visitors’ impacts on 

recreation resources. Who are they then – recreators or 

tourists? It is determined by the CC division – ecological 

CC and tourism CC. 

For that reason, visitor management plays an important 

role in the ecological sustainability of park systems. Paul 

Eagles, Stephen McCool and Christopher Haynes (2002) 

have examined visitor management trends to see parks 

“as a model for sensitive tourism development.” 

The nature protection factor is more emphasized, 

less attention is paid to the use of parks in the research 

on HP. J. Alan Wagar (1964) developed the first formal 

exploration of the recreational carrying capacity. With 

tourism and recreation, there are two capacities: the 

ecological capacity and the social capacity (the impact 

on visitors’ experiences) (see Figure 1). The figure 

schematically demonstrates three potential relationships 

between the use levels and amount of the resulting 

biophysical and social impact. Curves (A) and (C) 

represent the different consumption of resources. Curve 

(A) represents an increasing consumption of resources 

at gradual increase of the number of users. This could 

be explained by the lack of visitors’ knowledge and 

experience, the local tolerance for tourism or any other 

factor. Curve (C) represents an increasing number of 

resource users and that shows a rapid consumption. 

Curve (B) represents a situation when impacts are a 

linear function of the level of use and shows the optimal 

average number between resources of curves (A) and (C) 

at a gradual increase of the number of visitors. J. Alan 

Wagar’s (1974) concept requires that limits of use are 

established so the biophysical and social impact of visitors 

can be reduced through other management actions such 

as zoning, engineering, persuasion, and the management 

of biotic communities. Eventually, the concept is focused 

Impacts on biological and physical resources 

Y 1 

A 

Y 2 

X 1 

X 2 

Recreation use 

Figure 1. Impacts of recreation use difference in carrying 

capacity (developed from Wagar, 1964). 

Table 1. Qualitative assessment of Visitor Management Models (Butler & Waldbrook, 2003; Cole & Stankey, 1997; 

Manning & Lime, 1999) 

Visitor Impact Management Model 

Recreation Opportunity Spectrum 

(ROS) 

1979 

Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) 

1985 

Visitor Experience and Resource 

Protection Model (VERP) 

1990 

Visitor Impact Management Model 

(VIMM) 

1999 

Visitor Activity Management Program 

(VAMP) 

1993 

Tourism Optimisation Management 

Model (TOMM) 

1996 


Key characteristics of the management model 

• acknowledges the diversity of recreation opportunities 

• the 3 key components of recreation are Setting (opportunity), Activity 

and Experience 

• a tool for recreation planning (zoning) 

• identifies areas of issues 

• defines and describes management objectives 

• inventories resource and social conditions 

• selects indicators of resource and social conditions 

• updates standards for resource and social conditions 

• updates alternatives 

• determines management actions for each alternative 

• evaluates and selects an alternative 

• implements actions and monitoring 

• determines the most appropriate visitor experiences 

• includes crucial components of public participation 

• standards set for zones within the park 

• monitoring 

• control of the impacts of threats to the quality of heritage and visitor 

• monitoring to determine heritage condition 

• resolves conflicts among visitors, heritage and heritage managers 

• designates visitor groups 

• integrates visitor needs with resources 

• limits visitor activity as the goal of heritage sustainability 

• economic and socio-cultural benefit for the local community 

B 

C 

31



on the number of visitors “how to plan and manage a 

particular recreation resource” (Lime, 1976). According 

to Bo Shelby and Thomas A. Heberlein’s (1984) decision 

on evaluative standards and descriptive information on 

relationships between use, management and impacts, it is 

a relatively simple matter to define a visitor management 

program. Thus, the question revolves around “acceptable 

change”. Management methods are approached to define 

the objectives. It is an important task to determine which 

among the small number of tourism frameworks available 

are similar in their characteristics and most suitable 

(Table 1). Model Recreation Opportunity Spectrum 

(ROS) and Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC), Visitor 

Experience and Resource Protection Model (VERP) 

(Yosemite National Park) have originated from the 

United States, Visitor Activity Management Program 

(VAMP) from Forest Tourism and Recreation in Canada, 

but the Visitor Impact Management Model (VIMM) is 

very similar to the LAC – devised specifically for the US 

Parks Service. 

Eventually, the Tourism Optimisation Management 

Model (TOMM) originated from Australia. It is very 

similar to LAC, with a focus on overcoming the lack 

of stakeholder support in LAC and VIMM. The terms 

‘impact’ and ‘limits’ are perceived as discouraging 

growth by tourism businesses, and this model adapts to 

tourism needs. 

The development of recreation and tourism 

frameworks has only occurred in the last 25 years. Such 

development generally arose in response to specific 

planning and implementation issues (Manning, 2004). 

There is a significant body of literature related 

to parks and protected area management (Butler & 

Waldbrook, 2003; Cole et al, 1997; Manning, 1999; 

Manidis, 1997). Recently, the literature has included 

visitor impact management which is necessary in parks 

and protected areas, like HP. Nowadays heritage parks 

are becoming settings for activities that are beyond 

recreation: cultural events, after-school activities, job 

training, environmental programs, enterprises, volunteer 

programs, family picnics, and more. 

Recreational activity in HP has become more 

prevalent, and many managers have noticed problems 

associated with increased visitation. Many of these 

problems require complex solutions through regulatory 

methods (Payne & Graham, 1993). 

According to the opinion of Australian scientists 

Michel Hall and Simon McArthur (1998), two main 

difficulties in choosing the Visitor Impact Management 

Model are: (1) preparation for drafting of a management 

plan, and (2) inability to write clear management 

objectives. 

The author of this article finds two more reasons 

which hinder the process: (1) incomplete knowledge 

about classical methods of Visitor Impact Management 

Models, (2) lack of knowledge on using different 

computer software for choosing better alternatives. 

To make it easier to choose alternatives, the author 

suggests using the software Expert Choice. This 

program is devised for using the method of Analytic 

Hierarchy Process. The initial version of Expert Choice 

was programmed by Ernest Forman from George 

Washington University – user-friendly software which 

is not so time-consuming (Wasil, 2003). 

The answer to the question which is the most 

appropriate model for visitor management of heritage 

parks is not simple. The following difficulties have been 

mentioned by Stephen F. McCool: “Visitor management 

framework provides a systematic process so that managers 

who are decision makers are fully aware of (1) the desired 

future they wish to attain, (2) the alternative routes to the 

future, and (3) the consequences of those alternatives” 

(McCool, 2005, p. 4). 

The choice of alternative visitor management models 

for the HP is a future task of the NVBR. It has been 

scheduled to renew the Braslava HP near Mazsalaca 

in the NVBR within the United Nations Development 

Programme (UNDP) and Global Environmental Facility 

(GEF) project “Biodiversity Protection in the North 

Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve.” 

Heritage parks are intended to “provide a foundation 

for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor 

opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and 

culturally compatible.” (WCMC, 2004) 

4 Results and Discussion 

After examining several parks in Canada, Switzerland, 

Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom 

in comparison with NVBR in Latvia, the author 

established that in these countries HP have: (1) larger 

areas; (2) predominance of public properties; (3) larger 

HP activity commercialization. However, in the NVBR, 

heritage parks have: (1) smaller areas; (2) different forms 

of property; (3) each place has specific conditions which 

require individual planning and management solutions 

for each HP in the NVBR. 

An analysis of the study data showed differences 

among the HP, which indicated a necessity to choose the 

most appropriate management model for each particular 

NVBR heritage park. 

As a result of this study, the author distinguished three 

possible Visitor Management Models: VIMM, VAMP 

and TOMM, which were used in further research. The 

processing of response data from the research involving 

three experts showed that (1) through the application of 

three main criteria, the highest ranked was the level of 

sustainable tourism followed by the level of application 

by management and the level of visitor friendliness. In 

the case if the data consistency ratio (CR) = 0.1 or more, 

for example, for TOMM with the advantage of 35.7%, 

inconsistency and lack of uniformity among the criteria 

occur. However, if the value of the consistency ratio is 

smaller or equal to 10%, the inconsistency is acceptable. 

If the consistency ratio is greater than 10%, the subjective 

judgment needs to be revised. Synthesis with respect 

to the level of sustainability gave preference to VAMP 

by 39.9% and CR = 0.02. Synthesis with respect to the 

level of application by management gave preference to 

TOMM by 36.6% and CR = 0.01. Synthesis with respect 

to the level of visitor friendliness with consistency ratio 

(CR) = 0.1 gave preference to TOMM by 37.7%. Synthesis 

with respect to the goal: best model with CR = 0.1 gave 

preference to TOMM by 35.7%, VIMM was in the third 

place – 29.5%. 

5 Conclusions and Recommendations 

As a result of the research, the author draws the 

conclusion that, considering three alternatives – TOMM, 

VIMM and VAMP – with the three criteria of the level 

of sustainability, the level of application by management 

and the level of visitor friendliness, the TOMM 

alternative was given significant preference over other 

alternatives, especially over VIMM. That means that it 

is necessary to continue the research while expanding 

the areas of research criteria. While performing the task 

of the research, the author met an insufficient number 

of experts in the sphere of Visitor Impact Management 

Models because of the lack of knowledge on classical 

methodical questions on visitor impact management. 

The author concedes that the reason could be the lack of 

education and language barriers. The author recommends 

NVBR specialists to turn their attention to the choice of 

a HP Visitor Impact Management Model and to improve 

their knowledge in this particular field. Finally, different 

methods and tools would allow heritage park managers 

to have better insight into how the tourism industry 

operates, which should make it possible for them to 

minimize the impact of visitors on the heritage parks in 

the NVBR through making use of the knowledge on the 

HP Visitor Impact Management Model as a sustainable 

planning instrument. 


The author would like to thank Iluta Bērziņa, Jānis 

Sirlaks and Aleksandrs Raubiško for their participation 

and contribution to this research. 

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Madrid. 


YUKICHIKA KAWATA 1 

Abstract 

There are two types of natural resource use: consumptive and non-consumptive. The former is a traditional style 

of usage exemplified by hunting, processing, and the physical consumption of natural resources, whereas the latter 

is a relatively recent style of usage exemplified by ecotourism and/or green tourism. A shift from consumptive to 

non-consumptive use may result in the decrease of natural resources, which may lead to some problematic issues. 

For example, game animals have traditionally been utilized physically; this reduces their population size and 

contributes to the alleviation of agricultural/forestry damages. However, as the non-consumptive use becomes more 

prevalent, people tend to be more inclined toward the protection of natural resources; this results in an increase in 

the game population, which causes further damage to agriculture and forests, as well as vegetation. Therefore, for the 

conservation of the local landscape as a whole, consumptive use should be maintained. In order to examine this topic, 

first, we address the problem in greater detail; second, we search for a solution and propose consumptive tourism; and 

finally, we discuss the remaining issues of our research. 


The human being has various kinds of routine relationships 

with the natural environment, which take tangible 

and intangible forms and, as a result, we have received 

tremendous spiritual and physical influences from the 

natural environment. The relationship between the human 

being and the natural environment is not stationary. Most 

of the natural environment changes because of succession 

and disturbance while human society changes because 

of economic development, technology advancement and 

cultural transformation. As a result, the relationships 

between the natural environment and human society 

change continuously. Nevertheless, if the natural 

environment and human society successfully coexists, 

it may happen because the speed of mutual intervention 

and/or the speed of transition are appropriate to each 

other. 

The natural environment can be classified into the 

wilderness areas and secondary nature. A wilderness 

area is the state when succession has finished, and it is in 

a stable condition. On the other hand, secondary nature 

is formed by human influences to varying degrees. In 

other words, secondary nature belongs to the so-called 

cultural landscapes. It is not easy to define cultural 

landscape, but in the broad sense, it is seen as natural 

environment which has been affected by human beings 

in the full sense. The situation is quite different in the 

case of human society. When technology advancement 

is slow, or similar politics and culture sustain for long 

periods, human society is relatively stable throughout 

the time. However, as economy develops, it seems that 

the speed of social change tends to accelerate. 

When the percentage of the wilderness area in the 

whole natural environment is high and the speed of 

change in human society is slow, the relationship between 

the natural environment and human society changes 

slowly. The speed of change of both natural environment 

and human society is so slow that both can cope with 

the change of the other. However, when the percentage 

of secondary nature in the whole natural environment 

is high and the speed of change in human society is 

high, there is a higher possibility that the relationships 

between the natural environment and human society 

change drastically in the short term. In this case, nature 

cannot keep up with the change of human society, and in 

some cases nature is forced to undergo irreversible and 

rapid change. 

To use some examples – large-scale development of 

rainforests, extermination of wild game animals, introduction 

of alien invasive species and huge development 

of rivers and lakes such as the Aral Sea. All of these 

are drastic changes in the natural environment which are 

attributed to the excessive use of the natural environment 

or its components by human beings. We can show 

1 

Division of Food Hygiene, Department of Animal and Food Hygiene, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary 

Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan, e-mail: ykawata@obihiro.ac.jp. 

34 

35



an example in detail as follows, which is quoted from 

Leopold. 

Since then, I have lived to see state after state 

extirpate its wolves. I have watched the face of many 

a newly wolfless mountain, and seen the southfacing 

slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer 

trails. I have seen every edible bush and seedling 

browsed, first to anaemic desuetude, and then to 

death. I have seen every edible tree defoliated to 

the height of saddlehorn. Such a mountain looks as 

if someone had given God a new pruning shears, 

and forbidden Him all other exercise. In the end 

the starved bones of the hoped for deer herd, dead 

of its own too-much, bleach with the bones of the 

dead sage, or molder under the high-lined junipers. 

(Leopold, 1949, pp. 130–132) 

These issues which are attributed to over-use by 

human beings are already well recognized by the 

general public, and various actions have already been 

taken. What is required from now on is to cope with 

the issues which are attributed to under-use and drastic 

changes of natural environment because of under-use. 

Therefore, the purposes of this paper are as follows. 

Firstly, we point out the possible issues attributed to the 

transition from consumptive use to non-consumptive use 

of the natural environment. This is because, as we will 

examine below, the decrease in the consumptive use of 

the natural environment may lead to serious concerns in 

conservation. 

Secondly, we reexamine traditional sustainable tourism 

concepts and propose the necessity of tourism based 

on consumptive use. By doing so, we may control the 

under-use problem more or less and we can discuss rural 

development from a different point of view. 

2 Sustainable Tourism Revisited 

2.1 Eco Tourism and Green Tourism 

It is necessary to review the existing sustainable tourism 

concept before we propose a new view in this paper. In 

this section, therefore, we briefly review the traditional 

sustainable tourism concept largely based on Kawata 

(2008). Originally, tourism dates back to overseas studies 

of the children of the British higher social stratum, which 

was called “the grand tour” in the 18th century. In the 

19th century, Thomas Cook made plans for group tours, 

which marked the origin of the package tour introduced 

at a later time. In the 1960s, the jumbo jet aircraft made 

mass transportation possible and mass tourism began. 

However, mass tourism has revealed environmental 

issues in sightseeing areas. 

After the emergence of mass tourism, a new tourism 

concept was proposed, which confronted with mass 

tourism in various terms such as alternative tourism, 

sustainable tourism and responsible tourism. Below 

we adopt sustainable tourism as a generic name of the 

tourism concept opposite to mass tourism. 

There are several types of sustainable tourism, 

and here we simply classify these tourism types into 

ecotourism and green tourism for descriptive purposes. 

The emergence of the ecotourism concept dates back to 

the 1960s. The term ‘ecotourism’ seems to be coined 

by a Mexican architect Hector Ceballos-Lascurain. 

He used the term “turismo-ecologico” in 1983, and he 

stated ecotourism is “tourism that involves traveling to 

relatively undisturbed natural areas with the specific 

object of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery 

and the wild plants and animals, as well as any existing 

cultural aspects (both past and present) found in these 

areas.” 

The concept of ecotourism had started to spread 

throughout the world in 1980 because of the momentum 

event of “World Conservation Strategy” proposed by 

IUCN, UNEP and WWF. In 1982, ecotourism as well 

as Debt-for-Nature Swap were discussed in the 3rd 

World Parks Congress (World Conference on National 

Parks) held in Indonesia. The spread of the concept of 

ecotourism accelerated in the 1990s, especially after the 

United Nations summit in 2002 “The International Year 

of Ecotourism” and the World Ecotourism Summit held 

in Quebec, Canada, in 2002. 

Green tourism, however, is quite common in 

European countries. Green tourism is referred to in 

different ways: rural tourism and sustainable tourism 

in Britain, agro-tourism in Italy, Spain and Austria. As 

these different terms suggest, green tourism generally 

takes a form that urban residents travel to rural areas 

for holiday. From the brief history above, ecotourism 

has developed under the necessity of preservation 

and protection of the natural environment, whereas 

green tourism has traditionally provided travellers 

with satisfaction on vacation, which results in the 

conservation of the natural environment. 

2.2 Protection and Conservation 

The natural environment can be classified as the 

wilderness areas where there is no human intervention, 

and cultural landscapes that have developed more or 

less under human intervention. The concept of cultural 

landscapes can be applied to the landscapes which 

have not been physically influenced by human beings 

but contain sites of religion. In addition to these holy 

sites, borrowed landscape, rural landscape and urban 

landscape can be classified as cultural landscape. 

When faced with such a variety of landscapes, it 

is important to distinguish between conservation and 

protection. We define that protection is the activity 

which permits the natural environment to change 

but excludes any influence of human beings with the 

intent to utilize the natural environment. Among the 

natural environment, a wilderness area is the target 

of protection. Once human influence is exerted upon 

a wilderness area, it is no longer a wilderness area. In 

addition, some parts of secondary nature should be 

protected, for example – when abstaining from using 

some organism whose population size has drastically 

declined. Another example is forests which recharge 

groundwater: by restraining harvest of these forests, we 

can enjoy multifunction such as groundwater recharge 

etc. In this case, the forest itself is under protection. 

On the other hand, in the case of conservation, 

the natural environment itself is permitted to change 

and human beings are also permitted to alter the 

natural environment as long as the alteration is based 

on rational and sustainable use. One of the most well 

known examples of conservation may be the “wise 

use” proposed in the Article 3.1 of the 1971 Ramsar 

Convention, which states that 

[t]he Contracting Parties "shall formulate and 

implement their planning so as to promote the 

conservation of the wetlands included in the List 

and, as far as possible the wise use of wetlands in 

their territory." (Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, 

2008) 

Moreover, based on the Ramsar Convention on 

Wetlands, 

[t]he wise use concept was defined at the 3rd 

Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting 

Parties held in Regina, Canada, in 1987 

(Recommendation 3.3), as "the sustainable utilization 

of wetlands for benefit of humankind in 

a way compatible with the maintenance of the 

natural properties of the ecosystem." (Ramsar 

Convention on Wetlands, 2008) 

2.3 Rearranging Ecotourism and Green Tourism 

Because ecotourism and green tourism are similar in 

many ways, they are sometimes confused with each other. 

However, as we have seen above, these two concepts have 

different development trails. In this paper, we further 

describe these concepts as follows: firstly, the purpose 

of ecotourism is to utilize profit for the protection of 

the natural environment, which has mainly remained in 

developing countries. It is expected that visitors who visit 

these natural environments in developing countries avoid 

influential activities as much as possible. The main target 

natural environments are wilderness areas and some 

parts of secondary nature which require protection. It 

will be possible to produce economic value by sustaining 

these natural environments and, as a result, development 

will be restrained. Ecotourism is, in one sense, a tool for 

facilitating protection. 

Secondly, green tourism aims to provide the opportunity 

for people mainly from developed countries to 

enjoy staying and sightseeing activities in rural areas of 

their own country or neighbouring countries for a vacation. 

Therefore, the main target natural environment is 

secondary nature. Secondary nature, especially that of 

rural areas, has been created, developed, maintained 

and improved in quality through agricultural activities 

by human beings. It is essential to provide moderate and 

sustainable intervention by human beings for maintaining 

favourable rural landscapes. Green tourism is an 

activity to conserve the natural environment through 

desirable utilization. 

Because ecotourism and green tourism differs in 

that the former emphasizes protection and the latter 

emphasizes conservation, these two types of tourism 

also differ in utilization of the natural environment: 

consumptive or non-consumptive. If resources are 

extracted from the natural environment and consumed 

and/or altered physically, it is called consumptive use. 

If the resources are not extracted from the natural 

environment and used without altering them physically 

or replacing the position, it is called non-consumptive 

use. You may gather fuelwood in fuelwood forests. In 

that case, your activity of gathering fuel is consumptive 

use but your activity of enjoying scenery during the 

gathering activity is non-consumptive use of the 

fuelwood forest. 

As we have already seen, natural environment can be 

classified as the wilderness area and secondary nature. 

The former is at a stable condition. Because human 

intervention should be avoided in a wilderness area, it 

should be protected and human use should be limited 

to non-consumptive use. Ecotourism is one of the most 

promising methods to give incentive for economic agents 

who are concerned with protection. 

On the other hand, secondary nature has been created 

because of the mutual relationship between the natural 

environment and human beings. Therefore, most of the 

secondary nature should be conserved, and consumptive 

use by human beings is essential. Originally, control of 

over-consumptive use was not the aim of green tourism. 

However, thanks to the green tourism activities, rural areas 

can be sustained because those who enjoy green tourism 

have sustained appropriate and rational consumptive 

use of the natural environment (say conservation). On 

the whole, it can be said that green tourism has given 

the economic incentive to appropriately sustain rural 

resources which can otherwise suffer from over- or 

under-use. 

Isaacs (2000, p. 62) quotes the definition of ecotourism 

by Boo presented in Luzar et al (1995, p. 545) and states 

as follows. 

This definition includes hiking, canoeing, 

camping, photography, wildlife observation, and 

other activities that do not involve the taking of 

fish and wildlife. Exclusion of hunting and fishing 

36 

37


is not a depreciation of their capacity to contribute 

to habitat conservation, but an acknowledgement 

of the distinction between hunting and what is 

generally considered to be the rubric of ecotourism 

(Isaacs, 2000, p. 62). 

As Isaacs clearly states above, consumptive use such 

as hunting and fishing is not included in ecotourism. 

Tisdell (2003, p. 84) also states that “in general, 

ecotourism has been associated with non-consumptive 

passive form of wildlife-based tourism,” and Butcher 

(2006) describes “ecotourism based development upon 

the non-consumption of natural resources.” Kawata 

(2008, p. 18) reviewed several definitions of ecotourism 

and concluded that it seems that definitions by societies 

other than Japan tend to limit ecotourism activities to 

non-consumptive ones, whereas definitions by societies 

in Japan tend to include consumptive activities. 

2.4 Non-Consumptive Use and Its Problems 

Until recently, the concern of inappropriate use of the 

natural environment has mainly been over consumptive 

use issues. One of the examples is the destruction of 

wilderness, and ecotourism prevents such activities. 

However, there is a possibility that ecotourism causes 

excess use by the ecotourists which is beyond the 

carrying capacity of the ecotour site. Anyway, the 

problem is the degradation of the environmental quality 

of the wilderness area caused by over-use. As the 

solution, control of usage is essential, and ecotourism is a 

promising method. Occasionally, institutional measures 

such as access limitation or economic instruments such 

as admission charge are used. 

Recently, the problem of secondary nature degradation 

has worsened. Surprisingly, one of the main reasons 

is the under-use of secondary nature. For a deeper 

understanding of the issue, it is necessary to introduce 

the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis of 1978 by 

38 

protection 

conservation 

Figure 1. 

CLASSIFICATION OF LANDSCAPE 

wilderness area 

secondary nature 

holy place 

borrowed landscape 

J. H. Connell, which states that biodiversity reaches its 

maximum when the disturbance by human beings is 

intermediate (Connell, 1978). As this hypothesis suggests, 

moderate intervention will create and sustain higher 

biodiversity in secondary nature, and the reduction of 

intervention will result in the degradation of the quality 

of the natural environment. 

As we have seen above, reduction of consumptive use 

leads to the problem of under-use. In the case of Japan, 

forests, storage reservoirs and some wild animals are 

typical examples, of which wild animals have caused 

severe issues in absence of natural predators (Kawata, 

2009a). Moreover, Kawata (2007) points out that underuse 

of wild animals may lead to the following two 

problems. 

Recently, consumptive use has shown a 

decrease whereas non-consumptive use has 

witnessed an increase. This shift can induce two 

problems in the management of game animals in a 

scenario encompassing the decline in consumptive 

use, increase in non-consumptive use and absence 

of predators. [..] The first problem is that as 

this shift occurs, the person who utilizes game 

animals to gain benefits (user) and the person who 

suffers damage (victim) may not be the same. [..] 

The second problem is that the utilization of game 

animals as beneficial animals will not alleviate 

the damage they cause as pests (Kawata, 2007, 

pp. 349–350). 

An outline of the aforesaid is presented in Figure 1. 

Because of over-consumptive use, precious species of 

animals and plants have been destroyed in the wilderness 

area and regional resources have been depleted in 

secondary nature. Ecotourism and green tourism have 

been planned to prevent the occurrence of these issues. 

On the other hand, consumptive under-use of secondary 

rural landscape 

urban landscape 

cultural landscape 

eco tourism 

green tourism 

over-use: 

excess 

consumptive 

use 

COUNTERMEASURES 

consumptive 

tourism 

under-use: 

under 

consumptive 

use 

CAUSES OF THE PROBLEMS 

nature has brought uncontrolled regional resources, 

which result in the reduction of biodiversity and other 

issues. However, in case of a wilderness area, under-use 

issues will not be revealed because it is desirable for this 

area to remove any effect of human beings. 

3 Consumptive Tourism 

3.1 The Reason for Decline in Consumptive Use 

The reason why we need to promote consumptive tourism 

is just as we discussed above: reduction of the negative 

influence of consumptive use on secondary nature. This 

negative influence may result in a negative impact on 

human society. For example, if we abandon agricultural 

activities, the multi-functionality of agricultural lands 

may be lost and biodiversity may decrease, all of which 

is a loss for human society. 

Then, although we know it will have negative impacts 

on human society, what is the reason for the decline of 

consumptive use? Here we discuss two topics. Firstly, it 

is concerned with the fact that secondary nature is a kind 

of public good, as it is well-recognized in social sciences. 

Public goods have two characteristics: non-rivalness and 

non-excludability. Non-rivalness means that consumption 

by one person will not reduce the consumption of another 

person. Non-excludability means that it is impossible to 

exclude those who refuse to pay for use. 

A number of people may understand that, as the use 

of secondary nature decreases, the quality of secondary 

nature will also decrease. However, even if everyone 

concerned understands this concept well, the use of 

secondary nature will decrease. This is because once a 

person engages in agricultural activities at a cost, others 

enjoy benefits generated from this secondary nature 

without bearing any cost. In short, the so-called free 

ride problems occur. Once consumptive use has started 

to diminish, because of the free ride problem, most of 

the people may refuse to take actions for stopping this 

diminishment. 

Nonetheless, the description above does not explain 

why consumptive use starts to diminish. To explain 

this, we pose the following hypothesis: in short, the use 

of secondary nature is also under the influence of the 

Petty-Clark’s law. This empirical rule states that as the 

national income level improves, the weight shifts from 

the primary industry to secondary and tertiary industry. 

It was stated in “The Conditions of Economic Progress” 

by C. Clark in 1940 and confirmed by S. S. Kuznets 

in “Modern Economic Growth” in 1996. The original 

idea appeared in “Political Arithmetick” by W. Petty 

in 1690. 

Use of agricultural lands and artificial forests is 

included in the use of secondary nature, all of which 

is classified as activities in the primary industry. 

Based on the Petty-Clark’s law, the primary industry 


weakens as the national income increases; it follows 

that agricultural lands and artificial forests will not 

be maintained in time. Human beings have influence 

on the natural environment through hunting activities, 

which may maintain population size of game ungulates 

at low level. Once hunting has been abandoned, such 

influences diminish, resulting in the increase of 

ungulates; consequently, the rural landscape, where 

ungulates reside, will change. As we have already 

seen, if predators do not exist, it may result in a drastic 

deterioration of the rural landscape. 

Above we suggested that the Petty-Clark’s law may 

explain the reason for the consumptive use diminishment 

and pointed out the free ride problem because of the failure 

to stop consumptive use diminishment. Consumptive 

tourism is necessary because, as we will examine in 

the next section, it seems to be an effective method to 

prevent the diminishment of consumptive use. 

3.2 Validity of Consumptive Tourism 

In what follows, we will discuss the effectiveness of 

consumptive tourism for sustaining consumptive use. 

We suggested the Petty-Clark’s law to explain the reason 

for consumptive use diminishment, but this law is an 

empirical rule and not the norm. It means that human 

society need not advance in the direction this law 

suggests; otherwise some issues concerning consumptive 

use diminishment will occur. In short, at least in the 

context of consumptive use, we need not emphasize the 

Petty-Clark’s law. 

However, then we have some doubt: whether 

it is possible to put the brakes on consumptive 

use diminishment through the implementation of 

consumptive tourism. For this doubt, we have the 

following suggestion: even if industries shift from 

primary to secondary and tertiary, we need to consume 

a certain amount of products from the primary industry. 

Therefore, the point is if there is profit from producing 

agricultural products and/or hunting game animals to 

provide meat, and other satisfactory outcomes, as long 

as these activities are as profitable as other industries, 

it must be possible to maintain consumptive use. 

Consumptive tourism can be regarded as a system which 

produces these benefits. 

In addition, sometimes an exceptional case may 

occur. For example, Kawata (2009b) points out based 

on the data of 19 European countries that game hunting, 

which is one of consumptive uses, has increased when 

the per capita GDP is between 10 000 and 20 000 USD, 

but once the per capita GDP crosses 20 000 USD, two 

groups come to the fore. In one group, the number of 

hunters continues to increase, whereas in the other 

group, the number of hunters decreases. It suggests that 

for several reasons, there will be exceptional situations 

of the Petty-Clark’s law. 

39



3.3 Arranging Consumptive Tourism among 

Sustainable Tourism 

Many attempts have been instigated so far to arrange 

ecotourism and green tourism from various points of 

view. In this paper, we have already proposed the possible 

selection of hunting tourism as one type of consumptive 

tourism. There are other studies which show a similar 

point of view. For example, Tisdell (2003) examined 

wildlife-based tourism as a type of ecotourism, pointing 

out that ecotourism, which may take the form of either 

consumptive use or non-consumptive use, will bring 

negative impacts on the conservation of the natural 

environment. Isaacs (2000, p. 61) states that ecotourism 

will face limitation in the conservation of wild animals 

and points out the following. 

The potential of ecotourism as a wildlife 

conservation strategy is limited by its inability to 

insure the long-term protection of environmental 

assets and by its tendency to contribute directly to 

environmental degradation. (Isaacs, 2000, p. 61) 

Some of the studies have pointed out that ecotourism 

is not enough for the protection of wild animals from 

the perspectives of non-consumptive use and long-term 

management. These issues may be inevitable because 

ecotourism involves self-contradiction. The purpose of 

ecotourism is to protect scarce nature while tending to 

use protected areas to create the economic incentive for 

protection. Non-consumptive use accounts for a large 

share of use. However, once visitors (ecotourists) come 

to a protected area for a non-consumptive tour, they 

inevitably make some impact on the area. In addition, 

ecotourism largely relies on non-consumptive use, 

and there is a limitation on the creation of economic 

values, and the amount of these economic values may be 

influenced according to the social situation. 

In fact, according to Frost and Bond (2008), nonconsumptive 

use may bring lesser amounts of money to 

the local community. They examine the Communal Areas 

Management Programme for Indigenous Resources 

(CAMPFIRE) in Zimbabwe and reveal that CAMPFIRE 

transferred over 20 million USD to the participating 

communities, 95.2% of which came from safari hunting 

(89.5%) and others (5.7%), whereas tourism accounted 

for only 2.3%. 

Many previous studies have been conducted in this 

area, probably because, unfortunately, these problems 

are characteristic of ecotourism. On the other hand, 

green tourism has not been studied extensively, perhaps 

because it is one of the activities for vacation and 

consumptive use has not brought similar problems to 

consumptive use diminishment. However, in the future 

there is some possibility that the under-use problem will 

be a serious issue, and it is judicious to examine a new 

touring type which can cope with under-use issues. 

Due to the fact that green tourism promotes 

appropriate and sustainable use of regional resources, 

which form the rural landscape, it has already played a 

role of controlling not only over-use but also under-use 

of secondary nature and its components. The sustainable 

tourism proposed in this paper is the one which aims 

to find a solution to under-use problems; therefore, this 

tourism can be seen as a type of green tourism. 

Let us review what has been said above from the 

viewpoints of types of use and the purpose of management 

as shown in Figure 2. Here, we show hunting tourism as 

one of the examples of consumptive tourism. Both the 

natural environment and human society will receive 

expected effects of some tour by implementing this 

tour, which satisfies specific conditions. Tourism is the 

system which builds a preferable relationship between 

the natural environment and human society through the 

implementation of “some tour.” Namely, hunting tourism 

is the system which increases consumptive use, solves 

the under-use problem and develops a desirable cultural 

landscape through the implementation of this tour. 

3.4 Some Issues Regarding Consumptive Tourism 

Consumptive tourism, on the one hand, contributes 

to the resolution of consumptive use diminishment; 

on the other hand, there is a possibility it will cause 

several problems in the execution of the resolution. 

The first problem is competition between consumptive 

use and non-consumptive activities. For example, wild 

animal watching tours as a type of non-consumptive 

use have become popular in various places. This tour 

will be more successful as the number of population 

increases and disturbance by human beings decreases. 

However, if hunting activity has proceeded, the number 

of population will decrease; also, because of hunting 

pressures wild animals are more careful; hence, 

watching tours will be less successful. Moreover, 

there will be a limitation that both consumptive and 

non-consumptive activities cannot occur at the same 

place and time. However, if a place is a good place for 

observation, it is also a good one for hunting. Therefore, 

hunting and animal watching tours are competing with 

one another concerning the place and time; one will 

need to select one of them. 

Secondly, although we always need some amount of 

products of the primary industry, there are some products 

which are no longer needed. For example, a meal of wild 

animals will be unnecessary as animal products are in 

abundance. In such cases, game meat seeking hunting 

will no longer continue. Then it will be a realistic 

method to make extractive resource use activities such 

as sports hunting (enjoying the hunting process itself) 

more attractive to control the issues accompanying the 

transition to non-consumptive use. 

5 Conclusion 

In this paper we categorize sustainable tourism into 

ecotourism and green tourism, each of which contributes 

to the protection of the wilderness area and conservation 

of secondary nature, respectively. Some level of human 

disturbance is required for secondary nature because it is 

developed and maintained under the influence of human 

activities. Traditionally, the over-use problem has tended 

to be a social issue; recently, the under use-problem 

has also become a big issue, and a new type of tourism 

should be proposed to cope with the under-use problem. 

As we discussed above, this new type of tourism can be 

classified as a type of green tourism, but it is different form 

of green tourism in that it controls the under-use problem 

and aims at making consumptive use to continue. 

Refferences 

Butcher, J. 2006. Natural Capital and the Advocacy of 

Ecotourism as Sustainable Development. Journal of 

Sustainable Tourism 14(6): 529–544. 

Clark, C. 1940. The Conditions of Economic Progress. 

Macmillan. 

Connell, J. H. 1978. Diversity in Tropical Rain Forests and 

Coral Reefs. Science 199: 1302–1309. 

Frost, P. G. H. and I. Bond. 2008. The CAMPFIRE Programme 

in Zimbabwe: Payments for Wildlife Services. Ecological 

Economics 65: 776–787. 

Isaacs, J. C. 2000. The Limited Potential of Ecotourism to 

Contribute to Wildlife Conservation. Wildlife Society 

Bulletin. 28(1): 61–69. 

Kawata, Y. 2007. To Hunt or Not to Hunt? Problems of Underuse 

and Another Criticality of Natural Resource Use. Journal 

of Rural Economics, Special Issue 2007: 347–354. 

Kawata, Y. 2008. Another Sustainable Tourism. KESDP 07– 

10: 33 p. 

Kawata, Y. 2009a. Under-use Problems of Natural Capitals, in: 

K. Asano (ed.), Conservation and Evaluation of Natural 

Capital. Minerva Publishing Co. Ltd (in print). 

Kawata, Y. 2009b. Economic Growth and Trend Changes in 

Wildlife Hunting (mimeo). 

Kuznets, S. S. 1966. Modern Economic Growth: Rate, 

Structure, and Spread. Yale University Press. 

Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand Country Almanac and Sketches 

Here and There. Oxford University Press. 

Luzar, E. J., A. Diagne, C. Gan and B. R. Henning. 1995. 

Evaluating nature-based tourism using the new environmental 

paradigm. Journal of Agricultural and Applied 

Economics 27: 544–555. 

Petty, W. 1690. Political Arithmetick. 

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. 2008. Additional Guidance 

for the Implementation of the Wise Use Concept. Adopted 

as an annex to Resolution 5.6 of the 5th Meeting of the 

Conference of the Contracting Parties held in Kushiro, 

Japan, 1993. http://ramsar.org/key_guide_wiseuse_add_ 

e.htm 

Tisdell, C. 2003. Economic Aspects of Ecotourism: Wildlifebased 

Tourism and Its Contribution to Nature. Sri Lankan 

Journal of Agricultural Economics 5(1): 83–95. 

control of over-use 

purpose of management 

control of under-use 

practice 

use 

type 

consumptive use 

non-consumptive use 

eco tourism 

g r e e n 

t o u r i s m 

hunting tourism 

hunting tour 

rural tour 

eco tour 

Figure 2. Types of use and the purpose of management 

40 

41

Spatial Structures of Tourism in the Rāzna National Park and 

Planning for Sustainable Development 

ANDRIS KLEPERS 1 , MAIJA ROZĪTE 2 , JURIS SMAĻINSKIS 3 

Abstract 

The goal of this research is to evaluate the role of tourism in sustainable regional development in one of the newest 

tourist destinations of Latvia – the Rāzna National Park. The authors have focused on the identification and mapping 

of tourism spatial structures in the park in the context of local social networking and nature protection objectives. 

The concept of clusters has been chosen as the most appropriate theory for analyzing tourism spatial structures of 

this particular Natura 2000 site. As a result, different spatial processes of tourism development were discovered. 

However, the tourism cluster around Rāzna Lake remained undiscovered even with all the prerequisites because 

of poor communication among stakeholders. This research has not only confirmed the different understanding of 

stakeholders about sustainability and tourism opportunities, but also has progressed towards being actively involved 

in the elaboration of a tourism development plan for the territory. 

Keywords: tourism in Natura 2000, spatial structures, social networking, cluster concept, sustainable tourism. 


The Rāzna National Park was established in 2007 with the 

aim of preserving Lake Rāzna and the species diversity, 

landscapes, and cultural heritage associated with it, as 

well as for the sustainable development of nature-friendly 

agriculture, tourism, and ecological education. The total 

area of this specially protected nature territory and 

Natura 2000 site is 532 km 2 . (Law on the Rāzna National 

Park, 2006). The status of the national park, diverse 

resources and tourism potential are prerequisites for the 

popularity of the destination. However, experience of 

mass tourism here is part of history when in soviet times 

a tourist camp at Lake Ežezers accommodated around 

800 guests per day regularly. 

There are around 8000 inhabitants living today 

within the boundaries of the national park, as well as 15 

specially protected bird species and 14 specially protected 

habitats. The Rāzna National Park as a destination has 

the total capacity of 578 beds for tourists. At the same 

time, there are 21 destination management institutions 

responsible for promoting this destination or part of it. 

Spatial structures of tourism cannot be described 

exclusively on the basis of physical parameters, even 

if they are the cornerstone of these structures. Tourism 

is based on social relationships and the values created 

therein even if we are referring to nature tourism. The 

German geographer Schamp (2000) argues that the 

social sciences have a great role to play in explaining 

the contemporary processes of economic geography. 

Sustainable tourism developement in Natura 2000 area 

represents a partnership among all the stakeholders: 

local people, entrepreneurs, government, and visitors of 

the particular area. According to Newsome, Dowling and 

Moore (2005), sustainable tourism is gaining acceptance 

because it is economically feasible and can benefit all 

partners. Burns and Sofield (2001) maintain that the host 

community is an important element to consider in the 

concept of sustainability, and that the sustainability of 

wildlife tourism depends, in part, on its support from 

the areas’ residents. Ashley and Roe (1998) note that the 

tendency of community involvement in wildlife tourism 

has increased due to its perceived local economic, social 

and conservation benefits. The development of naturebased 

tourism offers local residents income generation, 

job opportunities, and specific skill development. 

It is also a way in which they can gain benefits from 

wildlife that in the past may have only brought costs or 

restrictions. 

Social networking and the importance of communication 

for stakeholder engagement in nature conservation 

has parallels with the cluster concept, developed for 

local scale economy growth. 

1 

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, University of Latvia, Cēsu iela 4, Valmiera, LV-4200, Latvia, 

e-mail: andris.klepers@va.lv 

2 

University of Latvia, School of Business Administration Turība, Graudu iela 68, Rīga, LV-1058, Latvia, e-mail: maija@turiba.lv 

3 

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Cēsu iela 4, Valmiera, LV-4200, Latvia, e-mail: juris.smalinskis@va.lv 

43


Porter (1990) defined a cluster as a group of 

companies, suppliers, service providers and institutions 

that are interrelated in a single sector, are in geographic 

proximity, and engage both in mutual competition and 

co-operation. Local residents have the same resources 

to create the tourism product, and they will have similar 

target groups and business strategies – they will compete. 

Higher social control of wildlife conservation will 

increase in the community at the same time because of 

concrete business interests. The European Commission’s 

regional policies (2002) particularly emphasise the 

principle of clusters. It is defined as any concentration of 

interrelated companies in a single sector or in adjacent 

sectors in a small geographic space, thus leading to the 

emergence of a network which has a potential for joint 

innovation. The German researcher Kiese (2008) has 

pointed to the broad interpretations that are found in 

various sources as to the scope and structure of a cluster. 

According to Genosko (2006), clusters can be described 

through three elements – spatial proximity, networking, 

and external accessibility. As Porter notes (1990, 1998), 

growth-based cluster policies include spatial and 

economic conditions, the specific conditions of a cluster, 

as well as the regional organisational capacity within the 

framework of the cluster. The specific requirements for 

a cluster emphasise the identification of the initial size 

and the level of development, the level of interaction 

among strategic companies, and the intensity at which 

new companies emerge (Porter 1990, 1998). Malmberg 

et al (1996) considers that the so-called cluster 

machines – major companies which turn on the cluster – 

are among the prerequisites. Within the framework of 

tourism destination that could be interpreted as the most 

popular tourist attraction, which works as a magnet 

attracting larger tourist flows. According to Schamp 

(2000), networks among businesspeople become a 

“socioeconomic system” – one which demands common 

values, behaviours, and intentions, one which emerges 

from related structures, neighbourly relations, and 

other forms of co-operation and collectivism. This is an 

important issue linking this network of co-operation to 

the collective learning process about tourism and nature 

management in a sustainable way. The emphasis here 

is on the idea that an important factor for sustainable 

regional development is a special level of quality in 

co-operation among the senior officials of different 

companies and organisations in the relevant area. Of 

particular importance are informal contacts that are based 

on mutual trust, as well as relations among individuals. 

When this kind of a contact network is established, the 

exchange of regionally necessary information occurs 

more quickly, and the innovation potential of companies 

is based on social relationships. Because of collective 

learning processes, they enhance opportunities for 

faster local innovations (Brunotte, Gebhardt, Meurer et 

al, 2002). 

44 

The concept of clusters and benefits for nature 

conservation from local social networking can serve as 

the background for the hypothesis the authors have set: 

encouraging of positive creative milieu of stakeholders is 

one of the key factors for sustainable development of the 

Rāzna National Park. 

2 Methods 

The authors used a combination of qualitative and 

quantitative methods. First, there was field research, 

followed by semi-structured interviews. Seminars 

about sustainable tourism planning and nature tourism 

product marketing were organised for stakeholders. 

Three sequential focus group interviews followed 

and one familiarisation field excursion within the 

boundaries of the Rāzna National Park was organised. 

The methodology was based on recommendations 

about qualitative research in the field of tourism 

given by the Australian researcher Jennings (2005) 

and the British researcher Thomas (2004). A total of 

56 stakeholders participated in some of the research 

parts and altogether 134 visitors were surveyed. 

Cartographic methods were used to define the cluster. 

Perceptual regionalisation was based on the work of 

Gunn and Worms (cited in Smith, 1995). The region's 

compactness index and connectivity index were 

calculated (cited in Smith, 1995). The dynamics of 

the establishment of new companies were used as an 

indicator to describe the structure of the cluster (Kiese, 

2008). The data were supplemented with qualitative 

information from the development plans and strategies 

of tourism organisations in the region. Reicheld’s 

(2003) Net Promoter Scores as a simple but remarkably 

effective method for measuring visitors’ loyalty were 

used. That was adapted to the tourism destination 

according to the Ritson’s (2006) example of Australian 

destinations. However, the use of this method for 

evaluation of destinations was criticised by authors in 

some cases because of the impact of subjective weather 

conditions on the reply of respondents. 

3 Results 

There is a very pronounced geographical proximity 

of tourism service providers in the surroundings of 

Lake Rāzna. A large concentration of tourism service 

providers is also near Lake Ežezers (Fig. 1). That displays 

the succession of tourism traditions from the soviet 

period; renewed, the same places are mostly involved 

in the present tourism industry. There is a correlation 

between new enterprises emerging and the availability 

of European Union funds since 2000 (Special Action 

Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development) and 

2004 again. 

Almost one third of all the tourism entrepreneurs 

are located very close to each other and near to Lake 

Figure 1. The dynamics of the establishment of new tourism enterprises in the Rāzna National Park 

Table 1. Eventual tourism product niches using nature resources in the Rāzna National Park 

Lakes Rivers Forests Meadows Landscape Wildlife Geology etc 

Boat ride 

Angling 

Water sports 

Sunbathing 

Beach 

Active relaxation 

Picnicking 

Traditional sauna 

Canoying 

Angling 

Traditional 

sauna 

NICHE 


Nature trails 

(in progress) 

NICHE 

Rāzna. At the same time, there is no real cooperation 

among them. The advantage of nearness of other tourism 

branch competitive forces is seen as neutral, but not as 

a reason for cooperation. Entrepreneurs disclaim that 

they have chosen their business location, because other 

tourism entrepreneurs were there before and they profited 

from tourists. In many cases the nearest neighbours 

were not informed about offers of others in detail and 

sometimes even blamed them. This totally changed after 

the destination familiarisation trip for stakeholders. 

Knowledge transfer and better communication were 

among the benefits derived from that event. 

Horse ride 

Carriage ride 

NICHE 

5 bycicle routes 

View from the 

Mākoņkalns 

hill 

NICHE 

NICHE 

NICHE 

At the same time, the usage of nature resources 

for developing creative tourism products is very low. 

Basic tourism products in the park are too uniform 

in type, and there is potential to create new products 

based on nature resources (Table 1). Water is the main 

resource involved, and from the marketing perspective, 

entrepreneurs are able to use all the strengths of the 

place, at the same time conforming more with the nature 

conservation concept. 

There is a high score of local residents among all 

the tourism entrepreneurs leaning towards social 

sustainability with locals involved. Tourism service 

45



providers are mostly situated near the water sources 

or main roads. On the other hand, to establish a new 

company, the most important factor recognised by 

the interviewed entrepreneurs is the availability of 

property. Tourism is seen by locals as one of the 

activities that could be carried out in any of the national 

park’s places. 

Comparing the factors for location choice here with 

other areas outside Natura 2000 (Klepers, Rozīte, 2008a, 

2008b, 2008c), a clear connection of using more “soft 

factors” in Natura 2000 area was proved. 

The desire to co-operate is not very high among 

tourism entrepreneurs. That is rather linked with the 

individual character of rural people and the Latvian 

mentality, often solving problems in isolation. For the 

leading generation (the average age of entrepreneurs 

is 48), another resistance comes from the forced 

collectivisation in the soviet kolkhoz (collective farm) 

46 

Rāzna National Park - comparing with areas outside Natura 2000 

Availability of property 

10 

Nearness of tourism sector research centres 

9.5 

Place image 

8 

9.45 

6 

Professional qualification resources 

Quality of residence 

7.15 

2.95 2.2 4 

2 

Nearness of school, kindergarten 

3.6 0 

7.05 Access options 

Nearness of other tourism enterprises 

Good attitude of municipality 

Figure 2. Enterprise location choice 

10 

8 

6 

4 

2 

0 

6.57 

4.5 

4.55 

4.8 

6.15 

Nearness to the customer market 

Characteristics of entrepreneurs 

9.24 

6.75 

Social environment of region 

Leisure time spending options in residence 

7.67 

ready for cooperation ready for innovations ready for risk 

Figure 3. Entrepreneurs readiness for cooperation, innovation and assuming risks 

Value 

Value 

system. They are ready for new ideas and full of initiative 

for innovations (Fig. 3). At the same time, precaution on 

risks was observed. 

Evaluating all the other factors important for tourism 

development in the Rāzna National Park, good roads and 

basic infrastructure were mentioned. 

The tourist survey confirmed that the Rāzna National 

Park is seen as a homogenous destination. Importance of 

administrative boundaries whilst travelling, however, is 

very low (4.2 points of 10). Net Promoter Score measured 

for this destination was at + 44, which is a high score for 

the beginning (to compare with the most popular national 

park in Latvia – the Gauja National Park, whose score is 

at + 65). Promoters especially highlight the biggest Lake 

Rāzna, prominent landscape, wilderness, strong cultural 

traditions, and good attitude from the hospitality people. 

Detractors advise on the bad condition of roads and poor 

quality tourism services. 

High Net Promoter Score index is evidence for strong 

destination potential, and all the mentioned values are as 

the key for sustainability offering them for a long period. 

4 Discussion 

The results proved that an organised community 

with good networking can be effective not only in 

offering destination for tourists but also for nature 

conservation purposes. From the theoretical point of 

view, entrepreneurs understand that they need to offer 

a more diverse and sustainable product. Developing 

such a product takes more time and requires specific 

knowledge. In addition, it comes in strong competition 

with all the other Natura 2000 territories, where the 

same strategies are used; therefore a larger budget for 

advertising is necessary. The national characteristics and 

mentality can strongly influence the implementation of 

the cluster concept, which could work in other countries, 

but not so properly in this case. Another question which 

has not been answered yet is as follows: “How can one 

evaluate which sustainability is the priority – social 

or natural?” There were several cases where cultural 

traditions of doing something were ancient and important 

for locals; nevertheless, they are hard to promote because 

they are not really nature sustainable. Tourism planning 

in the name of nature conservation on the local level 

often is confronted with some smaller losses in nature. 

Can it be worth doing that in the name of much bigger 

benefits for nature later on? 

5 Conclusions 

The opinion expressed by tourism entrepreneurs on the 

importance of life quality criteria and other soft factors 

when choosing the location of own enterprise proves 

the different character of Natura 2000 areas and outside 

them, proving that entrepreneurs are more evaluating 

emotional factors and other benefits not only from the 

business perspective. 

Conservation of the nature environment at the 

local level is sometimes confronted with the desire of 

entrepreneurs to operate only on the basis of economic 

development principles. Without targeted educational 

support and good communication they often identify 

some restrictions as a barrier for business. At the same 

time, usage of nature potential as the strength of a 

particular area and the best option for tourism marketing 

strategies is very low. 

The research confirmed the theoretical claim that, 

despite comparatively dense competition, a cluster 

creates opportunities which serve as a magnet for new 

business initiatives, even if the entrepreneurs did not 

recognise this fact. However, the cluster theory does 

not work properly because the locals (that could be even 

generalised for much broader region) are not enthusiastic 

to cooperate. 

The creative milieu in which businesses operate – 

interrelationships and co-operation – are an important 

prerequisite for the development of tourism in the region. 

This could be one of the key factors for sustainability 

due to the collective learning process, social 

responsibility, and involvement of locals. However, it 

is too early to evaluate the importance of that for the 

nature conservation, both because this co-operation is 

fairly recent and because there is lack of data about this 

co-operation in relation to the economic benefits – how 

good will be the results from selling newly developed 

nature products. 


The authors would like to thank all the stakeholders 

involved in the research process, especially the 

administration of the Rāzna National Park. Appreciation 

goes to other colleagues, which are working together 

on elaboration of tourism developement plan for the 

Rāzna National Park: Valters Pranks, Baiba Strazdiņa, 

Aiga Petkēvica, Daiga Brakmane from Latvian Fund 

for Nature and Anita Līduma from the University of 

Latvia. 

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AGITA LĪVIŅA, IVETA DRUVA-DRUVASKALNE 1 

Abstract 

The sustainable development profile is used in nature protected areas as a tool to evaluate the current situation and 

to set out a vision for future development. Traditionally, a sustainable development profile shows the possibility of 

territorial development in three significant environments: social, economic and ecological. We studied the case of 

the North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve (NVBR) in Latvia to investigate a sustainable development profile which also 

includes the institutional environment. 

We studied theoretical and research literature on sustainable development issues, the experience of protected 

territories, including biosphere reserves, regarding planning, introduction and monitoring of sustainable development 

in Canada, Spain, Poland and Germany. We analysed the legislation of the Republic of Latvia and its compliance 

with the planning documentation of the European Union, Council of Europe and the Baltic Sea Region by integrating 

the basic approaches set by the profile research. We made site visits to the territory in June, August, October and 

November of 2007. We carried out a survey of local residents of the NVBR to assess the understanding of sustainable 

development within the NVBR territory. The survey included 1038 respondents from 38 administrative territories in 

the area of the NVBR. 

On the basis of the research, we recommend 20 indicators for the description of the current situation and for the 

future development of the NVBR sustainable development profile. The indicators are divided into four thematic 

groups: environmental (35%), social (20%), economic (20%) and institutional (25%). 

Finally, three possible scenarios have been developed on the basis of theory, other biosphere reserve development 

profiles, plans and the current situation in the NVBR, including an evaluation of the results of the survey of residents: 

the scenario of strong sustainability, weak sustainability, and no sustainability. 

Keywords: sustainable development profile, biosphere reserve, sustainability indicators. 


Nature protected areas appear along with the worldwide 

economic and industrial development. The most rapid 

increase was in 1960. There is a special category of 

nature protected areas – biosphere reserves. Within the 

framework of the UNESCO programme “The Man and 

the Biosphere”, biosphere reserves have been created with 

an aim to combine nature protection and conservation, 

as well as the economic activities of people, by doing it 

in a sustainable way. Biosphere reserves are benchmark 

regions for sustainable development (Hadley, 2002). 

It is important to understand the meaning of the term 

sustainable development, which has been popular in 

science and society for the last 30 years. The simplified 

traditional 3-circle model of sustainable development, 

which consists of economic, nature and social environment, 

cannot provide a precise description of sustainable 

development in biosphere reserves nowadays. In our 

opinion, that is related to the specific aim of biosphere 

reserves to develop the territory, including its economic 

and entrepreneurial activities. According to our 

assumption, we state the main aim of the research – to 

elaborate a sustainable development profile of the North 

Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve (NVBR), Latvia. 

The NVBR was established in 1997 on the basis of 

the North Vidzeme Regional Nature Protection Complex 

which, in turn, was founded in 1990. The total area 

covers 474 350 ha, including 457 697 ha of mainland and 

16 750 ha of sea aquatorium, the length of the coastline 

is 62 kilometres. The specific protected territories within 

the NVBR are: a nature park "The Salaca River Valley”; 

three nature conservation areas; and 24 nature reserves. 

In total, 27 sites in the NVBR are included in the Natura 

2000 network 2 . In January 2007, the NVBR territory was 

populated by 78 610 residents, which comprises 3.4% of 

the total population of Latvia. 

1 

Vidzeme University of Applied Science, Cēsu iela 4, Valmiera, LV-4200, Latvia, e-mail: Agita.Livina@va.lv, 

Iveta.Druva-Druvaskalne@va.lv. 

2 

Natura 2000 is a network of nature conservation sites across the European Union, including Special Protected Areas (SPAs) and 

Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). 

48 

49



An indirect aim of the research is to determine the 

attitude and support of local residents towards sustainable 

development in the NVBR territory and to compare these 

findings with those of our previous tourism development 

research in the NVBR territory. 

The NVBR is one of the 531 biosphere reserves 

in 105 countries of the world which, in accordance 

with the Madrid Declaration (UNESCO, 2008) passed 

by the Third World Biospheres Congress in 2008, 

should enhance cooperation with the local residents, 

governmental institutions, the private sector, mass media, 

local governments, research and educational institutions, 

and to implement the Madrid Action Plan in the period of 

2008–2013. The directions clearly indicate a necessity to 

improve the institutional environment in the sustainable 

development context. The subject of our research was 

biosphere reserves and sustainable development. 

To achieve our aim and to conduct the research in 

order to provide answers to our research question, the 

following methods and sources were used: 1) theoretical 

literature analysis and case studies – we studied 

theoretical and research literature on sustainable 

development issues, the experience of nature protected 

territories, including biosphere reserves, regarding 

planning, introduction and monitoring of sustainable 

development; 2) analysis of rules and regulations – the 

elaboration of the sustainable development profile was 

based on the legislation of the Republic of Latvia and 

its compliance with the planning documentation of the 

European Union, Council of Europe and the Baltic Sea 

Region by integrating the basic approaches set by the 

profile research; 3) analysis of the regional and district 

planning documents – the profile was elaborated taking 

into account the priorities set by the Vidzeme and Rīga 

Planning Region development programmes, as well 

as considering the priorities and proposals set by the 

regional government planning documents; 4) data and 

information compilation, generalisation and analysis – 

for the profile elaboration, we used the data provided 

by the state statistics institutions, the state institutions 

and local governments, as well as the data provided by 

the NVBR administration and specific research results; 

5) site visits to the territory in June, August, October 

and November of 2007; 6) the research “Study of local 

residents’ viewpoints regarding their perception of 

sustainable development in the NVBR territory” was 

performed for the study and evaluation of the current 

situation – we carried out a survey including three 

administrative territories within the NVBR territory; 7) 

we organized a working seminar for stakeholders on the 

results of the survey of residents and on directions for 

further research in the administration of the NVBR. 

Our investigation result is an elaborated sustainable 

development profile of the NVBR. The profile of 

sustainable development for a territory, according to our 

research, is usually estimated with the help of indicators 

or indices. Indicators are mostly used for evaluation 

of the existing situation in achieving the set goals in 

four basic dimensions: in the natural, social, economic 

and institutional environment, and for the elaboration 

of proposals for improvement of the situation. The 

sustainable development profile of the NVBR includes 

three future development scenarios. 

2 Methods 

To evaluate the development trends of a territory, 

different indices and indicators are used. In general, all 

the sustainable development indicators may be divided 

into three types according to their structure: categories (a 

simple list of indicators, trend indices in specific sectors); 

goal/indicator matrix (indicator and goal linkage), and 

driving force-state/response matrix (relationship of 

elements with the community). 

One of the most common conceptual models for the 

evaluation of sustainable development is the so-called 

driving force-pressure-state-impact-response, or DPSIR, 

sustainable development evaluation model, which is 

used in the European Union for registering sustainable 

development indicators, monitored by Eurostat. The 

indicators are divided into ten themes and sub-themes 

characterised by several indices (Eurostat, 2008). 

The sustainable environment development evaluation 

of the European Environment Agency is based on 

an evaluation of the current condition and impact 

assessment indicators (they are classified by the following 

typology: A = descriptive indicators, B = performance, 

C = ecological impact, D = political efficiency, E = total 

welfare indicators). The European Environment Agency 

is currently stocktaking 28 indicators (EEA, 2007). 

Researchers describe that the United Nations (UN) 

use the so-called driving force-state-response (DSR) 

sustainable development criteria model. The driving 

forces are supposed to be the processes (in environment, 

social sphere, economy) that affect development. The 

Division for Sustainable Development of the UN 

Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) 

has elaborated 50 basic indicators, divided into 14 themes 

according to 4 interrelated dimensions: environmental, 

social, economic, and institutional (UN, 2007). The 

four-dimension sustainable development model is also 

proposed by the Joint Research Centre of the European 

Commission (UNESCO SCOPE, 2006). 

UNDP has set 8 Millennium Development Goals to 

be achieved by 2015, measuring the 8 goals and their subgoals 

with 48 progress indicators (UNDP, 2007). The 7th 

goal provides “ensuring environmental sustainability”, 

one indicator being the proportion of protected terrestrial 

and marine territories. 

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and 

Development (OECD) with 30 member states apply the 

pressure-state-response (PSR) sustainable development 

criteria model (OECD, 1993). The OECD has elaborated 

100 indicators, divided into 12 themes (OECD, 2008). In 

1991, a new project was launched within the framework 

of the programme “The Man and the Biosphere” – 

drafting of Biosphere Reserve Integrated Monitoring, 

BRIM; methodological regulations have been prepared 

for carrying out environmental and socio-economic 

monitoring. 

The number of sustainable indicators ranges from ten 

themes and few indicators to as much as one hundred 

and fifty indicators in the institutions studied. 

Within the framework of the United Nations 

Development Programme/Global Environmental 

Facility (UNDP/GEF) project in 2004, a Canadian 

expert G. Whitelaw in his report for the NVBR pointed 

out that social monitoring in biosphere reserves had been 

neglected and at the moment of drafting the report in 

2004, social monitoring had been completed only in 40 

(or 9%) of all biosphere reserves (Whitelaw, 2004). 

Elaborating a sustainable development profile for 

the NVBR, other specially protected nature territories, 

including promoting activities and methods for 

sustainable development of biosphere reserves, were 

evaluated. The examples were chosen according to the 

following criteria: 1) G. Whitelaw’s recommendations for 

the NVBR project development and improvements; 2) a 

protected nature territory, preferably a biosphere reserve; 

3) the available scientific research on the respective 

protected territory; and 4) the available information 

from biosphere reserve web pages regarding sustainable 

development issues (integrated monitoring, sustainable 

development plans and strategies). 

In accordance to the four criteria, we identified the 

following biosphere reserves: the Niagara Escarpment 

Biosphere Reserve, the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve 

in Vancouver Island in Canada, the Menorca Biosphere 

Reserve in the Balearic Islands in Spain, the Bialowieza 

Biosphere Reserve in Poland and Belarus, the Grosses 

Walsertal Biosphere Reserve in Austria, the Schleswig- 

Holstein Wadden Sea and Hallig Islands Biosphere 

Reserve in Germany. 

Experience and guidelines of other sustainable development 

profiles of biosphere reserves were important for 

drafting the conceptual idea and structure. A particularly 

important factor for elaborating the sustainable development 

profile of the NVBR was to identify issues pertaining 

to sustainable development for which the NVBR 

needs to find solutions and take action. Accordingly, 

we carried out a survey in October-November 2007; 

59 second-year students of the Tourism and Hospitality 

Management Faculty of the Vidzeme University College 

were involved in face-to-face questionnaires. 1038 responses 

to the questionnaires suitable for data processing 

were received. There were 1014 questionnaires from 25 

counties, 7 from towns and 5 from towns including rural 

territories (38 administrative territories) in the area of the 

NVBR. The survey was conducted evenly throughout 

the whole territory of the NVBR, including urban, rural 

and cross-border areas. The survey questionnaires were 

processed using a SPSS data processing programme. 

The questionnaire was structured in three parts: Part 

I included 38 statements representing 4 sustainable development 

dimensions: institutional (10), environmental 

(8), economic (11), social (9); Part II included questions 

to determine the respondents’ conception of the term 

sustainable development, prospective territories and 

popular tourism sites by assessment of locals, infrastructure 

evaluation (15 services on a scale from 0 (no opinion) 

to 5 (very good)), evaluation of the information and 

the type of received information on the NVBR; Part III 

included information on the respondent (age, nationality, 

status of employment, education, income level, place of 

residence and duration of residence in the territory). 

3 Results 

Our main findings from the sustainable development 

profiles and indicators in the studied biosphere reserves 

and other institutions are the following. 

• Indicators are used for evaluation of development 

in territories of different sizes: starting from small 

municipalities to regions consisting of several states, 

and for identifying global development trends. 

• As the evaluation of indicators is carried out by 

different organisations, it may happen that indicators 

are essentially different or formulated differently, 

and they are not actually comparable for determining 

trends. 

• Each protected territory, including biosphere reserves, 

selects the most relevant indicators from the common 

recommended list of indicators; the selection is by 

the number, component or theme, thus accentuating 

the priority directions in their operation and in the 

potential development of their territory. 

• Quite often indicators are grouped as primary 

indicators (also called early warning indicators) and 

secondary indicators according to how precisely and 

in what time period they can quantify any changes or 

modifications. 

• The necessary data collection and measurement 

of indicators is the duty of the administration of 

the respective organisations, research institutions: 

institutes, observatories, higher education institutions, 

and the local community – students, residents. 

• The inclusion of socio-economic and institutional 

components in the evaluation of sustainable development 

is a new emphasis among biosphere reserves 

(the examined biosphere reserves have included this 

component in their reviews within the last ten years). 

50 

51



• The general results from the survey of local residents 

show that 30% of all respondents are locals which 

have lived in the NVBR all their lives; 10% of 

respondents live in the NVBR for less than five years. 

The level of understanding of environmental issues 

is equal among all generations and all education 

levels of the respondents. A full understanding of the 

Table 1. The structure of the NVBR Sustainable Development Profile 

52 

term sustainable development was demonstrated by 

49% of the respondents to the particular question on 

sustainable development. In total 66% of respondents 

answered the question. Respondents most active and 

interested to provide answers on understanding the 

term sustainable development were 60–69 years 

old (71%), 45–59 years old (68%), with secondary 

Thematic group ENVIRONMENTAL COMPONENT INDICATORS, 35% 

Sub-group Conservation of Biological Diversity 

Indicator Stocktaking of indicator species population size, Salmon (Salmo salar) 

Indicator Stocktaking of indicator species population size, Wolf (Canis lupus) 

Indicator Stocktaking of indicator species population size, Lynx (Lynx lynx) 

Indicator Stocktaking of indicator species population size, Great Snipe (Gallinago media) 

Indicator Forest key biotopes 

Indicator Stocktaking of indicator species population size, Field Bird Index 

Sub-group Landscape Change 

Indicator Common area payment (CAP) covered territory, % compared to all the territory of the NVBR 

Thematic group SOCIAL COMPONENT INDICATORS, 20% 

Sub-group Population Demography 

Indicator Natural growth of population 

Sub-group Employment 

Indicator Demographic load 

Sub-group Social Life in the NVBR 

Indicator Public activities organised by the NVBR administration for its residents 

Sub-group Development of Biological Farming 

Indicator Rural Support Service payments to biological farming enterprises per year 

Indicator Biological agriculture farms 

Thematic group ECONOMIC COMPONENT INDICATORS, 20% 

Sub-group Economic Welfare of Population 

Indicator Average income tax per capita 

Sub-group Entrepreneurship Environment 

Indicator The number of non-liquidated enterprises per 1000 inhabitants 

Sub-group Building in the NVBR Territory 

Indicator The number of building activities in the NVBR territory confirmed by the NVBR 

Sub-group Tourism Entrepreneurship 

Indicator Tourist accommodation places and the number of beds in the NVBR territory 

Thematic group INSTITUTIONAL COMPONENT INDICATORS, 25% 

Sub-group Population Participation and Activity 

Indicator The number of people involved in public monitoring 

Sub-group Residents and Guests’ Awareness of the NVBR 

Indicator The number of visitors to the internet site www.biosfera.gov.lv Latvian version per year 

Sub-group Sustainable Development of the Territory 

Indicator Integration of the Landscape Ecological Plan (LEP) into the NVBR local government plans 

Sub-group Waste Management 

Indicator The number of contracts with the waste management organisation 

Sub-group State Financing for the NVBR Administration 

Indicator The NVBR administration budget and changes in the number of employees 

education (61%) or higher education (53%), persons 

who live in the NVBR for more than 20 years (74%) 

or all their lives (82%). 

According to the social dimension, the local 

population’s priority is to take care of their daily needs, 

but they also understand their role and participation in 

the NVBR activities. From the economic point of view, 

the people have not lost their belief in the economic 

development of the region, including tourism, based 

on the fact that their place of residence is located in a 

specially protected territory. 

Poor mutual relationships of the residents with the 

local authorities are the most discouraging factor which 

requires improvement. 

On the basis of the drafted NVBR monitoring 

programme, consultations with experts and the results 

of the local resident survey, and the experience of other 

institutions, the authors recommend 20 indicators for 

the description of the current situation and for future 

development of the NVBR sustainable development 

profile; the indicators may be divided into four 

thematic groups; environmental, social, economic, and 

institutional (see Table 1). 

A proportionally larger number of indicators are 

planned for the environmental thematic group (35%), 

since, referring to J. Hattingh’s sustainable development 

model, natural environment is the basis for everything. In 

addition to the traditional approach to the understanding 

of sustainable development based on three pillars, the 

authors have singled out another institutional group 

(25%). During the evaluation of the NVBR specific 

goal or the distinction from other specially protected 

nature area categories, the authors have concluded that 

institutional group indicators are absolutely essential in 

the direction of complex sustainable development of the 

territory. Summary of the survey of residents and analysis 

of the questionnaires has revealed that this is the weakest 

link in the sustainability component chain in the NVBR 

territory. Social and economic group indicators each 

comprise 20%. Table 2 shows a sample of an indicator 

table with the assessment of the current situation. 

4 Discussion 

Three possible scenarios have been developed on the 

basis of theory, other biosphere reserve development 

profiles, plans and the current situation in the NVBR, 

including evaluation of the results of the survey of 

residents: the scenario of strong sustainability, weak 

sustainability, and no sustainability. All three scenarios 

are drafted to take into consideration the aim of the 

scenario, institutional components such as management, 

financing, cooperation among stakeholders in the NVBR; 

economic components such as renovation of buildings, 

residents` welfare, poverty; the social component of 

residents’ social life, and the environmental component. 

The requirements of the environmental component are 

equal in all the scenarios. The NVBR territory retains 

biological diversity, the flora and fauna development 

trends in the NVBR territory are explored, and, if 

necessary, activities are undertaken for minimising 

particular species. Landscape is cultivated according 

to the NVBR ecological plan. Monitoring of the 

environmental component is carried out in accordance 

with the Integrated Monitoring Programme elaborated 

by the NVBR administration and with indicators of the 

environmental component required by this profile. 

4.1 Scenario for Dramatic Changes in the NVBR 

Management, Strong Sustainability 

The aim of the territorial development of the NVBR 

is the retaining of historically established branches 

of the national economy and crafts for residents and 

entrepreneurs of the NVBR territory combined with 

conservation of natural values. Management requires 

changes in the subordination of the NVBR on a 

national scale, expanding cooperation of the NVBR 

administration with ministries on the basis of rules 

and regulations, so that strong sustainability would be 

guaranteed, which requires consideration of principles of 

synergy. Branch ministries provide financial and human 

resources support. Financing for development of the 

NVBR territorial infrastructure and reconstruction and 

support of sustainable development activities is planned 

in branch ministries, thus increasing investments in the 

territorial development of the NVBR. In accordance with 

cooperation and partnership, residents, entrepreneurs, 

local governments and the NVBR administration 

have common development goals; they cooperate 

and complement each other. Building regulations for 

local governments provide building design principles, 

requiring retaining the traditional way of building in 

the given territory. Territorial planning is taken into 

consideration in the decision making process. Residents’ 

average income is above the subsistence level, income 

comes from work in the NVBR territory, employment in 

branches of industry typical of this territory. Priority in 

entrepreneurship is given to micro- and small enterprise 

development with local capital. Natural demographic 

growth is positive, no considerable migration of residents. 

Regular activities (incl. traditional): informative, 

educational, and recreational, with active participation 

of residents and entrepreneurs of the territory. 

4.2 Scenario of Improvement of the NVBR Operation, 

Weak Sustainability 

The aim of the NVBR territorial development is 

the retaining of historically established branches of 

the national economy and crafts for residents and 

entrepreneurs of the NVBR territory combined with 

conservation of natural values by adapting it to the 

demands of the market, changes in the national economy 

53



Table 2. An indicator table of the NVBR sustainable development assessment (sample) 

Sub-group of sustainability 

Environmental component (7) 

Conservation of Biological 

Diversity 


Diversity 


Diversity 


Diversity 

Indicator 

Stocktaking of indicator species population size: 

Salmon (Salmo salar) 


Wolf (Canis lupus) 


Lynx (Lynx lynx) 


Great Snipe (Gallinago media) 

Assessment of the 

current situation 

Landscape Change Common area payment 

 


Diversity 


Diversity 

Forest key biotopes 

 

Field Bird Index 

 

 

 

 

No available data 

Social component (4) 

Population demography Natural growth of population 

 

Employment Demographic load 

 

Social Life in the NVBR 

Development of Biological 

Farming 

Economic component (4) 

Economic Welfare of 

Population 

Entrepreneurship Environment 

Building 

Public activities organised by the NVBR administration for 

its residents during the year 

Rural Support Service payments to biological farming 

enterprises per year 

Average income tax per capita 

 

The number of non-liquidated enterprises per 1000 inhabitants 

The number of building activities in the NVBR territory 

confirmed by the NVBR 

Tourism Entrepreneurship Tourist accommodation places and the number of beds in 

the NVBR territory 

Institutional component (5) 

Population Participation The number of people involved in public monitoring, the 

and Activity 

number of monitoring activities. 

Residents and Guests’ 

Awareness of the NVBR 

Sustainable Development 

of the Territory 

Waste Management 

State Financing for the 

NVBR Administration 

The number of visitors to the internet site www.biosfera. 

gov.lv Latvian version per year 

Integration of Landscape Ecological Plan into the NVBR 

local government plans 

The number of contracts with waste management organisations 

The NVBR administration budget and changes in the number 

of employees 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No data available 

 

 

 

Trends 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and society with respect to ecosystem’s endurance 

and regeneration. Accordingly, the management of the 

NVBR cooperates with branch ministries for facilitating 

the NVBR’s territorial development. Additional financial 

and human resources should be attracted from external 

sources for implementation of development activities. 

The NVBR administration organises informative events 

for local governments, NGOs, especially for clarifying 

development opportunities in the territory. Building is 

allowed by building regulations and territorial planning 

in local government territories. Residents’ average 

income is above the subsistence level, the place and type 

of income source is not important. Natural demographic 

growth is positive. Public debate events are organized 

for residents and entrepreneurs of the NVBR territory 

regarding specially protected area management plans and 

other rules and regulations. The NVBR administration 

engages in informative activities on the development 

opportunities in the NVBR territory. 

4.3 Keeping the Status quo Scenario, No Sustainability 

The aim of the main direction of activity is specially 

protected nature territory conservation. The NVBR 

management and administration retains the existing 

framework and system. The NVBR plans and 

requires the necessary financing from the Ministry of 

Environment according to the NVBR administration 

operation strategy of 2007–2012, updating it every year. 

The NVBR administration organises informative events 

for local governments, NGOs and residents. Building is 

allowed by building regulations and territorial planning 

in local government territories. Residents’ average 

income is above the subsistence level, thus facilitating 

conservation of nature values. Natural demographic 

growth is positive. Activities for the NVBR residents and 

entrepreneurs are provided regarding specially protected 

area management plans and other rules and regulations. 

Conclusions 

The 20 indicators defined in the sustainable development 

profile,indicesofthefourthematicgroups:environmental, 

social, economic and institutional, should be registered 

and estimated according to the chosen scenario once in 

three years. 

According to the three scenarios prepared, the greatest 

changes are required in implementation of the scenario 

“Dramatic Changes in the NVBR Administration”, which 

is focused on strong sustainability in the NVBR development. 

Launching of this scenario also requires a longer 

period as it is connected with changes in legislation. 


We would like to thank Mrs Silvija Kalniņš from the 

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 

Latvian office and research is financially supported 

by the UNDP Global Environment Facility project 

“Biodiversity Protection in North Vidzeme Biosphere 

Reserve”. 

References 

Hadley M. 2002. Biosphere Reserves. Special places for people 

and nature. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. 

European Environment Agency (EEA). 2007. Indicators by 

theme, http://themes.eea.europa.eu/indicators/bythemes 

Eurostat. 2007. EU Sustainable Development Indicators, 

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_ page 

id=1998,66119021,1998_66391726&_ dad=portal&_ 

schema=PORTAL#THEME8 

OECD. 1993. OECD core set of indicators for environmental 

performance reviews. OECD Environment Monographs 

No. 83. Paris, OECD. http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/ 

dec/toolbox/Refer/gd93179.pdf 

OECD. 2008. OECD Factbook 2007 – Economic, 

Environmental and Social Statistics, http://oberon.sourceoecd.org/vl=899113/cl=31/nw=1/rpsv/factbook/ 

UN. 2007. Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines 

and Methodologies. Third edition, October 2007. 

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/ 

guidelines.pdf 

UNDP. 2007. Millenium Development Goals. http://www. 

mdgmonitor.org/ 

UNESCO. 2008. Madrid Declaration on the UNESCO Man 

and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme and the World 

Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR). http://www. 

unesco.org/mab/madrid/doc/MadridDeclaration.pdf 

UNESCO-SCOPE. 2006. Indicators of Sustainability Reliable 

Tools for Decision Making. UNESCO Scope Policy Briefs, 

May 2006, No. 1. UNESCO-SCOPE, Paris. http://www. 

unesco.org/mab/publications/pdf/PolicyBriefsNo1.pdf 

Whitelaw G. 2004. Final Report for UNDP/GEF Project No. 

LAT/03/G31/A/1G/99, December 31, 2004. 

Positive trends, noticeable progress to achieve the goal 

A few positive trends in development, but not sufficient to achieve the goal. Changes and improvements necessary 

Negative trends, no development, principles of sustainable development not taken into account 

54 

55

Cultural and Natural Heritage: the Case Study of Vestiena Landscape 

Protected Area in Latvia 

AIJA MELLUMA 1 , MĀRTIŅŠ LŪKINS 2 , RONALDS KRŪMIŅŠ 3 

Abstract 

The Vestiena protected landscape area is located in the central part of Latvia, and was established to protect the 

regional characteristics and visually important aspects of the landscape structure. However, as a consequence of land 

abandonment and natural succession, drastic landscape structure changes occurred in the area. Increasing forest cover 

during the last decades is examined from two aspects: as a factor that decreases biological and landscape diversity, 

and as potential for habitat restoration. The European Landscape Convention focuses on landscape as a living natural 

and cultural heritage. This implies the role of forest as an important landscape component that changes over time 

and reflects various policies, management and human attitudes. Following this idea, we studied forest cover spatial 

changes over the last 300 years in the Protected Landscape Area Vestiena in Latvia. Major changes of forest cover 

and its spatial properties were discovered, and long-term woodlands identified. Areas of long-term forest use and its 

specific attributes were considered to be important landscape values supporting biological and landscape diversity 

Landscape conservation issues and applied methods in the context of rapid land-use changes are also discussed. 


The Vestiena protected landscape area (hereinafter 

PLA) occupies 27 150 ha (www.dap.gov.lv, 2007) of 

the central part of the Vidzeme Upland (Figure 1). The 

PLA was established in 1977, and since then, numerous 

landscape-oriented studies and nature conservation 

efforts have taken place in the area. The main focus is 

on the drastic changes that occurred during the 1980s, 

especially regarding the intensification of agricultural 

land combined with the vast amelioration and reshaping 

of the heterogeneous land use mosaics, and a change in 

the settlement pattern from farmsteads to urban centers 

(Melluma, 1994). Applied methods and case studies 

on the visual aspects of the landscape structure and 

permissible load levels are also carried out. 

The main objectives of the Vestiena PLA are as 

follows: to conserve the regional characteristics of the 

landscape structure and visually important aspects; to 

prevent incidental and uncoordinated transformation 

of the landscape structure and elements; to create 

circumstances to ensure the presence of valuable 

nature complexes, landscape elements of ecological 

and aesthetical importance; to conserve cultural and 

historical monuments, as well as all kinds of cultural 

values and to balance the use of natural resources for 

various needs, including recreation. 

A field study has been carried out to support the 

elaboration of a management plan for the Vestiena PLA 

2 Materials and Methods 

Extensive studies of historical data, including forest 

management maps and descriptions of forest composition, 

land use structures of manor estates in the 19 th and 20 th 

centuries were supplemented with extensive field work 

and landscape structure mapping. Original data were 

processed with GIS tools. 


Objectives of Conservation of Landscape and 

Biodiversity 

Currently, the conservation of biological diversity is 

based on the selected species and habitats listed in the 

European Union Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC 

(Anon, 2007). 

Despite the effective use of this approach in smallsized 

protected areas, it can hardly be applied to spatially 

larger areas, as the concentration per land unit area of 

prior species and habitats is usually relatively small 

(Hawkins and Selman, 2002; Melluma, 2006). 

A broader view on protected areas can be derived 

from the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, defining 

1 

Daugavpils University, Vienibas Str. 13, Daugavpils, LV-5401, Latvia 

2 

University of Latvia, Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences, Raiņa Blvd 19, Rīga, LV-1548, Latvia, e-mail: mlukins@lanet.lv 

3 

Ltd. Grupa 93, Kr. Barona Street 3–4, Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia, e-mail: ronalds.krumins@apollo.lv 

57


cultural landscapes as a common heritage that forms 

over time as a result of interaction between man and 

nature. The integration of the notion of heritage into 

legislation introduces a human dimension since heritage 

links generations and the responsibility of the current 

generation to conserve values inherited from the previous 

generations (Melluma and Leinerte, 1992). 

The Latvian government has endorsed the European 

Landscape Convention in 2007, which means that 

spatially large protected areas, including the PLA, will 

be important foundations for a new-forming landscape 

conservation and management system. 

Consideration of the Vestiena PLA through a 

paradigm of heritage provides a more comprehensive 

understanding of landscape development and the 

formation of local inhabitants’ identity (Melluma et al, 

2006). 

The Vestiena PLA, like many other landscapes in 

Latvia, has experienced processes of the shifting of land 

use practices and forthcoming structural changes of the 

landscape (Tērauds et al, 2008; Rasa and Nikodemus, 

2008; Penēze, 2006). Therefore, the objectives of 

landscape conservation must be corresponding with 

the current trends in actual landscapes. Several 

major processes can be distinguished: (1) agricultural 

practices which lead to extensive use of some areas and 

abandonment of others, urbanization which modifies the 

structure of rural landscapes; (2) natural regeneration 

of forests takes place in areas formerly used for 

agricultural purposes; (3) the area of open landscape 

Figure 1. Location of the Vestiena protected landscape area in Latvia 

58 

has decreased, consequently, the appearance of the 

landscapes changes. The “privatization of beautiful 

sceneries”, i.e. diminishing of landscape availability, 

causes psychological effects; (4) abandoned farmsteads, 

livestock farms and non-managed roadsides also 

cause a psychological effect; (5) a dense structuring 

of buildings compared to the tradition in Latvia; 

(6) diminishing of available public space simultaneous 

with the promotion of tourism and leisure; (7) planning 

of urban development in the municipality, acceptance of 

new developments on lakefronts/lakeshores; (8) decline 

and degradation of historical estate centers and their 

surroundings. 

Types of Natural and Functional Landscapes 

Despite the undulating topography covering the entire 

Vestiena PLA, it is possible to distinguish six local 

landscape units which represent a spatial variation of 

natural prerequisites (Figure 2). 

Functional landscapes are formed as a result of the 

long-term presence of certain land use types, settling 

spatial structure, or as a consequence of sudden change 

of social circumstances. 

Functional landscapes have spatial dimensions 

usually called landscape space, and can be easily 

perceived and identified depending on the arrangement 

of open space and forest land or on the spatial location of 

certain human activity (Figure 2). Functional landscapes 

reflect landscape character and its variations, forming a 

general conception of the Vestiena PLA. 

Table 1. Changes of the number and area of forest patches between the 1920s and 2007 

Area of forest 

patches, ha 

Area, ha Number Mean value Standard deviation 

1920s 2007 1920s 2007 1920s 2007 1920s 2007 

0.1–20 1716.5 637.1 370 274 4.6 2.3 4.4 2.7 

21–120 2282.4 414.8 37 10 61.7 41.5 27.8 24.0 

120–250 1875.8 120.5 10 1 187.6 120.5 34.0 - 

325–580 3434.3 360.1 7 1 490.6 360.2 98.2 - 

> 14000 14 449.5 1 1 14 449.5 - 

There also are rural landscapes which have several 

subtypes: (1) Landscapes containing ameliorated agricultural 

lands – small forest patches are found here and 

there, but intensive agricultural activities take place. 

These landscape patterns are uniform and compact 

open spaces located in the vicinity of roads and urban 

centers. (2) Landscapes prior to amelioration represent 

a traditional landscape structure before large scale 

changes of rural landscapes occurred in the 1970s and 

1980s. Areas of this landscape type form small-size 

clusters of several properties or “islands” in forests, 

and are to be considered an important part of the whole 

cultural heritage as they represent comprehensive 

examples of the land use traditions of earlier times. 

(3) Post-amelioration landscapes are a new type of 

rural landscapes originated during the last decades as a 

consequence of land abandonment and prevailing natural 

succession processes which led to a loss of the former 

spatial and visual landscape structure. 

Landscapes containing ameliorated agriculture lands 

and post-amelioration landscapes form a complicated 

mosaic in the whole landscape structure and could be 

delineated on a more detailed scale. 

Special attention should be paid to the rural landscapes 

situated in the vicinity of lakes, as they possess a visual 

attractiveness and vulnerability to various impacts. 

Their further use must take into account increased risks 

in both ecological and social aspects. 

Forest landscapes (Figure 3) are the spatially largest 

forest areas that contain relatively small contours of 

national forests and vast areas of private forests on 

former agricultural land. 

The landscapes are visually closed and their 

development, management and functions are explicitly 

specific. 

The areas where forests have a long land-use history 

are witnesses to various woodland and non-woodland 

practices (Sheail, 1999; Rotheram, 2007) and political 

decisions (Muir, 2000) over time; thus, forests with a 

long history are to be considered a cultural legacy as 

well as important sources for landscape and biological 

diversity (Foster, 1992; Gustavsson et al, 2007). 


By the end of the 18 th century, the largest patches 

of forest were located in the central and eastern part 

of the Vestiena PLA. During the following decades, 

shifting of forest land towards the south-west and 

diminishing of previously the largest forest areas 

occurred (Figure 3). A growth of the total forest area 

and enlargement of previously originated forest patches 

took place between 1850 and 1920, occurring mostly 

in the eastern part, to a lesser extent, in the central 

part. Small forest patches (ca. 20 ha) made up at least 

80% of the total number of forest patches in the 1930s. 

A swift increment of the proportion of forests started 

from the late 1940s continuing up to the present day. 

Forest cover has increased by 1.8 times since the 1930s 

and makes up 67% of the total area. The number of 

small forest patches has decreased more than six times 

(see Table 1). 

The importance of geographical factors, e.g. 

topography, sediments, etc, and land-use mosaic in the 

delineation of distinct landscape spaces is diminished by 

the increasing forest cover. 

The Visually-Spatial Structure of Landscape 

The visually-spatial structure of landscape is determined 

by the following elements: (1) diversity of types of hills, 

e.g. isolated plateau-like hills, massifs of hills, etc; 

(2) lakes and lake basins and their spatial arrangement; 

(3) valleys of rivers and proglacial spillway valleys; 

(4) the rise effect linked with the relative height of hill 

or uplift above; (5) the margin effect appears alongside a 

sudden shift of terrain height; (6) spectacular/important 

sites of cultural heritage. 

Lines (linear elements) of the visual structure of 

landscape are the so-called “attractive roads” (Figure 4) 

along with roadside landscape spaces. Roads intersect 

the whole Vestiena PLA, providing an opportunity 

to contemplate the ordinary landscape and that of 

outstanding visual structure. However, the perception of 

landscape spaces is negatively influenced by extending 

brushwood on roadsides. 

Internal and attractive viewpoints are also identified 

in the Vestiena PLA (Figure 4). 

59



Figure 2. Functional 

landscapes in the Vestiena 

Protected Landscape Area 

Figure 3. Spatial dinamic 

of forests since 1790 in 

the Vestiena Protected 

Landscape Area 

60 

61



Small-scale landscape elements, e.g. alleys, solitary 

oaks, woodlots and birch groves, have a dispersal 

distribution, and adequate measures for conservation, 

management and restoring are needed. 

The hills which are outlined against the terrain are 

visible from long distances and serve as landmarks 

(Figure 2, 3, 4). However, the perception is influenced by 

two processes: natural regeneration and forest logging. 

From the visual perspective, hills become invisible as 

their relative height seems to decrease. It is proposed 

to incorporate visual aspects into the management plan 

of these areas, and, if necessary, to plan activities to 

harmonize visual and structural changes, e.g. preservation 

of tree clumps or tree planting on top of a hill. 

Functions/Objectives of Landscape Spaces in the 

Vestiena PLA 

By analyzing area properties, the functions of each 

landscape space (Figure 2) can be derived. The ecological 

(index E) objective is set to ensure ecological stability 

and prerequisites of biological diversity. It incorporates 

the maintenance of landscape spatial structure and the 

preservation of small-size landscape units. 

The visual (index V) objective is set to conserve 

attractive landscape elements and scenery as well as for 

the management of landscape spaces and identification/ 

creation of visual landmarks. 

The cultural/historical (index K) objectives are set to 

preserve existing monuments of local and national importance 

and integrate them into the surrounding landscape. 

Analyses of visual landscape structure enable us to 

distinguish two types of areas (Figure 4): 

• background/ordinary landscapes that conceptualize 

the character of the landscapes of the Vestiena PLA; 

• areas of outstanding visual structure as well as 

centers of historical estates. 

Afforestation can be used to harmonize and restore 

specific natural landscape elements and functions in 

previously drained agricultural areas. 

More detailed landscape management plans should 

be elaborated for these areas, including the assessment 

of possible risk factors, their localization, and studies of 

the landscape structure. 

Particular attention should be paid to two different 

groups of people: local inhabitants and guests (tourists, 

holidaymakers etc). Both groups may have different kinds 

of interests and requirements from the environment. 

References 

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dynamics in central New England, USA. Journal of 

Ecology 80: 753–772. 

Gustavsson, E., Lennartsson, T., Emanuelsson, M. 2007. 

Land use more than 200 years ago explains current grassland 

plant diversity in a Swedish agricultural landscape. 

Biological Conservation 138: 47–59. 

Hawkins, V., Selman, P. 2002. Landscape scale planning: 

exploring alternative land use scenarios. Landscape and 

Urban Planning 60: 211–224. 

Melluma, A., Leinerte, M. 1992. Ainava un cilvēks. Rīga: 

Avots (in Latvian). 

Melluma, A. 1994. Methamorphoses of Latvian Landscapes 

during Fifty Years of Soviet Rule. Geojournal 33, 1: 

55–62. 

Melluma, A., Stūre, I., Zariņa, A. 2006. Ainavas kā mantojums: 

to izpētes un aizsardzības problēmas Latvijā. 

Latvijas Zinātņu Akadēmijas Vēstis, A daļa. Sociālās un 

humanitārās zinātnes. 6: 4–24 (in Latvian). 

Muir, R. 2000. The New Reading the Landscape (Landscape 

Studies). Harvard University Press. 

Nikodemus, O., Bell, S., Grīne, I., Liepiņš, I. 2005. The impact 

of economic, social and political factors on the landscape 

structure of the Vidzeme Uplands in Latvia. Landscape 

and Urban Planning 10: 57–67. 

Penēze, Z., Nikodemus, O., Grīne, I., Rasa, I., Bell, S. 2004. 

Local changes in the landscape structure of Kurzeme during 

the 20 th century. Folia Geographica 12: 56–65. 

Rasa, I., Nikodemus, O. 2008. The influence of land use 

structural changes on the landscape ecological, aesthetic 

and cultural-historical values of the Gauja National 

Park, Latvia. In: Economic, social and cultural aspects 

in biodiversity conservation (eds: Opermanis, O. 

and Whitelaw, G). Academic Press of the University of 

Latvia. Pp 83–93. 

Rotheram, I. D. 2007. The implications of perceptions and 

cultural knowledge loss for the management of wooded 

landscapes. Forest Ecology and Management 249: 

100–115. 

Sheail, J. 1999. Creating landscapes from old – an English 

perspective on nature conservation. Norwegian Journal of 

Geography 53: 71–76. 

Terauds, A., Nikodemus, O., Rasa, I. 2008. Analysis of the 

landscape structure in the North Vidzeme Biosphere 

Reserve, Latvia. In: Economic, social and cultural aspects 

in biodiversity conservation (eds: Opermanis, O. and 

Whitelaw, G). Academic Press of the University of Latvia. 

Pp. 111–121. 

www.dap.gov.lv 

Figure 4. The visual 

and spatial structure of 

landscapes in the Vestiena 

Protected Landscape Area 

62 

63

Monitoring of the Great Snipe and the Black Grouse in Specially 

Protected Nature Territories 

EDWARD MONGIN 1 , YURI BOGUTSKI 2 , NICHOLAS CHERKAS 3 

Abstract 

The Great Snipe Gallinago media and the Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix are species the numbers of which has 

considerably decreased on the territory of Belarus as a result of transformation and destruction of their habitats. 

Long-term censuses of these species were conducted on the territory of the National Park “Belovezhskaya Puscha” 

and the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. The Great Snipe censuses have been conducted on three permanent leks 

annually since 2001. For the Black Grouse, we analyzed archive and own data of the censuses performed on the 

territory of Belovezhskaya Puscha since 1952, as well as own census data obtained on the territory of the Berezinsky 

Reserve since 1999. 

It was ascertained that within an extremely short period of time, many native habitats of the Great Snipe can 

become unsuitable because of flood-plain meadows overgrowth in the absence of cattle pasture. On the territory 

of Belovezhskaya Puscha, a decrease in the Black Grouse population by six-times from the beginning of 1960 

was observed. In the Berezinsky Reserve, the short period of observation did not allow to determine the longterm 

tendencies of the change in the Black Grouse numbers. The main reasons for a decrease in the Black Grouse 

numbers are anthropogenic factors, such as melioration and use of lands for agricultural purposes, which caused 

transformation of the natural habitats. On the transformed territories, displaying grounds for this species are typically 

overgrown with bushes and trees. Further negative impact on the Black Grouse population is also caused by hunting 

and poaching activities. 

Introduction 

The Great Snipe Gallinago media and the Black Grouse 

Tetrao tetrix are bird species with a lek-based mating 

system. Both species use successional habitats exposed to 

heavy human activity. Distribution of the Great Snipe in 

Belarus is associated with floodplain meadows and reach 

fens (Mongin, 2008). The Black Grouse’s areal mainly 

coincides with the distribution of birch. Its typical native 

habitats are marshy birch forests on the south of the forest 

zone. Such habitats are bordered by birch-aspen copses 

and meadows that provide year-round living conditions 

due to the abundance of birch catkins (Gavrin, 1969). 

In spite of the differences in the protection status of 

the Great Snipe and the Black Grouse, populations of 

both species have strongly declined on the territory of 

Europe before 1990. At present, further reductions in the 

numbers of these species are registered in many countries. 

The Great Snipe is one of the bird species currently 

classified as globally near-threatened (IUCN, 2004). 

At the European level, the Great Snipe is considered 

as severely declining and classified as SPEC1 (Birdlife 

International, 2004). The Black Grouse is a widespread 

resident and its European breeding population is very 

large. Nevertheless, its numbers have become smaller 

and its habitats more fragmented during the last 50 

years. The species has SPEC3 category and is evaluated 

as Depleted (Birdlife International, 2004). 

In Belarus, the Great Snipe was historically considered 

as widespread and a common breeding species in all 

regions where suitable habitats existed (Fedyushin & 

Dolbik, 1967). According to the new data gathered 

during 2000-2001 (Mongin, 2002), it was estimated that 

Great Snipe habitats have been reduced by at least 50% 

over the past 40 years. The decline of the breeding Great 

Snipe population in Belarus was caused predominantly 

by habitat loss. 

Small decrease of the Black Grouse population was 

noted in the Eastern regions of Belarus as early as in 

the beginning of the 20 th century (Fedyushin & Dolbik, 

1967). Afterwards, censuses conducted by Dolbik 

have shown that by the end of the 1970s Black Grouse 

population in many places decreased almost two-fold 

1 

Institute of Zoology NAS, Academicheskaya Str. 27, 220072 Minsk, Belarus, e-mail: edward.m@list.ru 

2 

Berezinski Biosphere Reserve, Domzeritsy, Vitebsk Region, Belarus 

3 

Belovezhskaya Puscha National Park, Kamenyuki, Brest Region, Belarus 

65


in comparison with the end of 1950s. Both the number 

of leks as well as the number of males displaying on 

one lek declined (Dolbik, 1974, 1975, 1984). The works 

from 1970s ad 80s do not make it possible to reliably 

estimate the total number of Black Grouse on the whole 

territory of Belarus, but they show the tendencies of 

population decline during that period. However, by 

the end of the 1980s, stabilization of the Black Grouse 

number has been observed. During that period, breeding 

population was estimated at 40,000-54,000 individual 

birds (Ivaniutenko et al. 1992). In 1997, on the basis of 

departmental censuses the Ministry of Nature Resources 

of Belarus estimated Black Grouse numbers at 53,000 

individual birds. 

The absence of long-term and comparable census 

data on the Great Snipe and Black Grouse numbers 

does not make it feasible to determine the exact trends 

in number change for these species, and to use this 

monitoring information for conservation actions. At the 

present time, the main task of monitoring should be to 

obtain consistent and comparable data from year to year 

for key habitats. 

In this study we collected long-term and comparable 

data on Great Snipe and Black Grouse numbers on the 

territories of the National Park “Belovezhskaya Puscha” 

and the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. On these 

protected territories census data can be successfully 

used for management and restoration of both the Great 

Snipe and the Black Grouse populations. 

Material and Methods 

Study Areas 

The investigations were conducted on the territories 

of the National Park “Belovezhskaya Puscha” and the 

Berezinsky State Biosphere Reserve (Figure 1). The 

Belovezhskaya Puscha extends between 52°30Ń and 

52°55Ń, and between 23°35É and 24°20É, according 

to the borders of 1992. During the last years, the area 

of the Belovezskaya Puscha greatly increased at the 

expense of the adjacent territories, and in 2005 the 

area of the national park totaled 163.5 thousand ha. The 

area of the woodlands of the Belovezhskaya Puscha is 

87.4 thousand ha. The extension of the Puscha territory 

Numbers 

210 

180 

150 

120 

90 

60 

30 

0 

males 

1952 1960 1970 1980 2003 

from the north to the south totals about 70 km, width 

in northern and southern parts amounts from 22 up to 

32 km, and in the central part – to about 10 km. The 

buffer zone of the national park represents a territory 

of 1 to 10 km width along its borders. The economic 

activities on this territory are regulated with consent 

of the national park administration. The Great Snipe 

has relatively few habitats on this territory. The Black 

Grouse populations may be found in pockets on rich fens 

situated on the borders of the Belovezhskaya Puscha. 

The Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve extends between 

54°28′N and 54°50′N, and between 28°20′ E and 28°30′E. 


n leks 

Figure 2. Population of the Black Grouse and the number of leks on the territory of the Belovezhskaya Puscha 

The area of the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve totals 

85.2 thousand ha. The extent of the reserve territory 

from the north to the south is about 60 km, the width of 

the reserve in the central part is about 22 km. The buffer 

zone of the reserve represents a territory of 1 to 2 km 

width stretching along the borders of the reserve. The 

economic activities on this territory are regulated with 

consent of the administration of the reserve. The Great 

Snipe has a number of habitats in various parts of the 

reserve. The Black Grouse may be commonly found on 

bogs, marshy birch forests and floodplain meadows of 

the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. 

Figure 1. Location of study areas: 1 – Berezinsky State Biosphere Reserve; 2 – National Park “Belovezhskaya Puscha” 

66 

Figure 3. Distribution of the Black Grouse leks within 

the territory of the Belovezhskaya Puscha between 1947 

and 1953 (Gavrin, 1953) 

Figure 4. Distribution of the Black Grouse leks within 

the territory of the Belovezhskaya Puscha in 2003 

67


Methods 

A census of the Black Grouse was carried out at leks 

using a previously described procedure (Kirikov et al, 

1952). In order to define the long-term dynamics of the 

Black Grouse on the territory of the Belovezhskaya 

Puscha, the archive database of censuses compiled by 

Gavrin and Datskevich in 1950–1980 was additionally 

used. 

The Great Snipe was counted at the leks in late 

evenings during mid-May through June. Displaying 

males were counted from a short distance (i.e., 10–20 m 

to the closest male). The flushed birds were counted to 

estimate the overall number of birds in each lek (Mongin, 

2008). 

Results 

The Black Grouse 

Regular censuses of the Black Grouse on the whole 

territory of the Belovezhskaya Puscha with the use of 

standard methods began since 1952 (Figure 2). In 1952 

the Black Grouse population was divided into 14 groups 

and inhabited 14,000 ha (~20%) of woodlands (Figure 3). 

At that period, the number of leks totaled 30, the average 

number of displaying males on one lek was 4.5, and the 

maximal number of males in a lek was 15. 

At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 

1960s, cutover patches gradually became unsuitable 

for the Black Grouse, as far as the stand age exceeded 

25 years, and the Black Grouse were not witnessed in 

the woodlands of the Belovezhskaya Puscha anymore. 

The censuses of the Black Grouse began since 1960 in 

the buffer zone of the Belovezhskaya Puscha, where the 

numbers of the Black Grouse also gradually decreased. 

Thus, in 1960, 200 displaying males at 14 leks were 

counted, in 1970 – 92 males at 15 leks, and in 1980 – 50 

males at 15 leks. During the periods from 1970 to 1976 

Numbers of males 

68 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

and from 1978 to 1980, a minor increase in the number 

of leks was observed. At the same time, there was no 

growth in the Black Grouse population, because such 

increasing took place at the cost of splitting big leks into 

smaller ones (Popenko et al, 1980). 

In the period from 1993 to 2003, the Black Grouse 

was not observed in the woodlands of the Belovezhskaya 

Puscha, except solitary males, periodically displaying in 

Squares 874 and 875, and rare visitations from the Polish 

side of the Puscha and its buffer zone. All the leks were 

situated in the buffer zone of the national park (Figure 4). 

In 2003, in the buffer zone of the Belovezhskaya Puscha 

National Park, 6 leks with 35 displaying males were 

registered. 

On the territory of the Berezinsky Reserve, regular 

censuses using standard methods began since 1999. 

Lek 1 (Square 575) was situated on the territory of the 

reserve, in the middle of a great bog, on its open part, 

which represented a raised sphagnum peat-bog with 

an insignificant touch of sedges and cotton-grass. This 

biocoenosis is very stable – its changes in the observed 

period were extremely insignificant. For a long time (more 

than 50 years) there was an absence of anthropogenic 

influence here. During the last 10 years, the number 

of males at this lek was rather stable (Figure 5). Only 

in 2006 a drop in numbers of displaying males was 

observed. 

Lek 2 was located in the buffer zone of Sq. 8 on the 

drained peatery squares alongside the hunting ground 

“Barsuki”. Huntings are held at the lek, but not annually. 

The hunting season was restricted to March 20 through 

May 10 without hunting bag restrictions. The lek was 

situated in the open area of the meadow, sowed by 

forage crops. The number of males at this lek fluctuated 

(Figure 5). A decrease in male numbers was registered 

in 2000, as well as in 2006–2007. 

lek 1 (sq. 575) lek 2 (sq. 8) 

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

Figure 5. Dynamics of the Black Grouse numbers at Leks 1 and 2 situated on the territory of the Berezinsky Reserve 

and having different protection regimes. Lek 1 was situated on a completely protected territory. Lek 2 was situated 

in the buffer zone, and was partially affected by huntings. 

Lek sq. 643 Lek sq. 629 Lek sq. 616 total numbers 

18 

16 

14 

12 

10 

8 

6 

4 

2 

0 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

Figure 6. Dynamics of the Black Grouse numbers at the small leks in the buffer zone of the Berezinsky Reserve in 

Squares 643, 629 and 616, and the total dynamics of the number of males at these leks 



16 

14 

12 

10 

8 

6 

4 

2 

0 

2001 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 

Small leks in the buffer zone of Sq. 616, 629, 643 were 

located not far from each other on the drained peatery 

squares, but as with Lek 2, there were no agricultural 

works, and squares gradually overgrew with shrubbery 

and trees. Hereupon the leks in the buffer zone constantly 

move from one place to another. As can be seen from 

Figure 6, males visiting leks were not numerous. The 

BP lek 1 

Figure 7. Dynamics of the Great Snipe numbers at the lek on the territory of the Belovezhskaya Puscha 


35 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 


BR lek 1 BR lek 2 

2001 2002 2004 2005 2007 2008 

Figure 8. Dynamics of the Great Snipe numbers at the leks on the territory of the Berezinsky Reserve 

lek in the buffer zone of Sq. 616 was the most stable, 

displaying males were registered there each year since 

the moment of the lek formation in 2002. 

The Great Snipe 

Censuses of the Great Snipe on the territory of the 

Belovezhskaya Puscha began in 2001. The Great Snipe 

69


Lek 1 (BP Lek 1) was situated on the open reach fen 

Dikoe. The number of males at the lek was stable 

(Figure 7). Annually 9 to 15 males were registered there. 

At the distance of 900 m from the main Lek 1, a small lek 

with 3 to 5 males was additionally discovered. 

Monitoring of the Great Snipe on the territory of the 

Berezinsky Reserve was conducted on two leks since 

2001 (Figure 8). These leks were situated on floodplain 

pasturable meadows of the Berezina River. Lek BR 1 

was situated in the vicinity of the Brody village, and 

the number of males in this lek strongly fluctuated. In 

2007, Lek BR 1 moved 800 m from its previous site, and 

in 2008 displaying males were not found on the former 

display grounds or in nearest vicinity (1–1.5 km). Lek 

BR 2 was situated in the vicinity of the Berezino village. 

The number of males at the lek varied from 5 up to 18 

individuals. A strong decrease in the male numbers was 

registered in 2002. 

Discussion 

The Black Grouse 

Long-term monitoring and analized archive data on 

the Black Grouse on the territory of the Belovezhskaya 

Puscha made it possible to estimate the Black Grouse 

population dynamics and to analyze the reasons for 

changes. 

The greatest number of Black Grouse in the 

Belovezhskaya Puscha was, probably, after the great fires 

in 1812 and 1834. At that time, vast territories suitable for 

this species had been formed. Thus, for example, Brinken 

(1828), who visited the Puscha in 1826, mentioned the 

Black Grouse as a very abundant species. But in the 

middle of the 19 th century, this species was registered 

only in several places (Stralborg, 1861). At the end of 

the 19 th century and at the beginning of the 20 th century 

the Black Grouse was a rather rare species (Auer, 1898; 

Kartsov, 1903). By the end of the 19th century, burnt-out 

places in the forest had been already overgrown. As a 

result, the Black Grouse, an inhabitant of small-leaved 

and coniferous low forests, could not find optimal 

habitats among the old and high forests of the Puscha. 

By that time, river channels where the Black Grouse 

could dwell had also changed substantially. The analysis 

of map materials (Afforestation Plan of 1860) shows 

that dwelling places of Black Grouse began to change 

substantially in the middle of the 19 th century. Exactly 

at that time waterlogged floodplains of rivers were used 

as hayfields, which caused the destruction of shrubs and 

wood thickets along the river banks – native habitats of 

the Black Grouse. Later on, raised bogs became the main 

habitats of the Black Grouse. 

For the first time, data on the number of Black 

Grouse in the Belovezhskaya Puscha were provided 

by S. A. Severcov in 1939–1940. During this period 

he counted 400 individuals of the Black Grouse on the 

70 

territory of the Belovezhskaya Puscha (Severcov, 1940). 

However, the author did not indicate at what time the 

census was conducted and what method was used. 

The more detailed study of the Black Grouse 

populations was commenced by Gavrin at the end of 

the 1940s. During the period from 1948 to 1952, the 

Black Grouse was numerous on the territory of the 

Puscha, but concentrated unevenly in small regions. 

The main dwelling regions of the Black Grouse were 

mainly confined to the external borders of the reserve, 

with low birch forests on mires or floodplain meadows. 

The Black Grouse was rare in the central woodlands of 

the reserve. There, the Black Grouse was found only 

on extensive clearings amongst pine forests, where 

pine saplings had a significant mixture of birch and 

aspen. The significant wood fellings during the period 

from 1916 to 1941 in great plots, and the appearance of 

mixed saplings promoted the penetration of the Black 

Grouse into the heart of the forest. Black Grouse settled 

in the places where clearings occupied large areas of 

~100–150 ha, divided by the narrow bands of high pine 

forests, and forming, as a whole, areas of 200–300 ha. 

Close to the external borders of the woods of the reserve, 

Black Grouse settled on isolated clearings with an area 

of 30–50 ha (Gavrin, 1953). The process of reducing the 

areas of biotopes suitable for the Black Grouse began in 

the 1940s (Gavrin, 1956). At the end of the 1950s and 

the beginning of the 1960s, clearings gradually became 

unfit for the Black Grouse as the age of trees exceeded 

25 years. 

Since 1960, there were no Black Grouse witnessed 

in the Puscha woodlands. The whole Black Grouse 

population concentrated on the edges of the Puscha 

(Figure 3). In the following decade, optimum lands of the 

main type of Black Grouse dwelling were rarely drained 

and ploughed. As a result, their area was reduced by 90%. 

Naturally, the number of Black Grouse also strongly 

decreased. Thus, in 1969 only five leks with several tens 

of displaying males were counted (Datskevich, 1971). 

Although during the last years extensive open 

territories have appeared as a result of clear-cuttings, 

penetrating of Black Grouse inside woodlands, as it 

happened in the 1950s, was not observed. Exceptions 

were the leks which appeared in 2000 on the mires 

Glubokoe and Orlovo due to their overgrowth. The area 

of these mires decreased by 231 ha from 1982 to 1992. 

Substantial overgrowth on the edges of the fen Dikoe 

created suitable conditions for Black Grouse dwelling. At 

present, the most stable leks are located on the territory 

of this fen. 

Thereby, we and others closely tie the number of 

the Black Grouse on the territory of the Belovezhskaya 

Puscha to the presence of marshes and new woodless 

territories. In the past, the maximum number of the Black 

Grouse was noted after strong, vast wildfires. Currently, 

Numbers of Black Grouse 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

Black Grouse dwell on mire areas and on the peripheries 

of the Puscha in insignificant numbers. It is necessary 

to note that in the last decade displaying birds occupy 

larger territories and display not so tightly as in 1950s. 

Moreover, unsteady leks with solitary or few birds have 

also appeared. In the opinion of Potapov (1990), single 

display is observed on the bounds of areals or in places 

with low population densities. The negative factors 

that influence the number of the Black Grouse in the 

Belovezhskaya Puscha are not only the transformation 

of natural habitats but also increased predator pressures 

and hunting within the buffer territories. It has been 

established that the disappearance of two leks of the 

Black Grouse was caused by mass shootings of males. 

In the Berezinsky Reserve, traditional places of the 

Black Grouse displays, in contrast to the Belovezhskaya 

Puscha, were situated on raised peat-bogs, the area of 

which totals 6,600 ha. The most stable conditions for 

the Black Grouse exist in these habitats. The numbers of 

birds there do not undergo significant fluctuations, such 

as at Lek BR 1 (Figure 5). The sharp decline of displaying 

birds in 2006 was likely due to the concomitant growing 

numbers of red fox on the territory of the reserve during 

the same year (Figure 9). At the same time, the dynamics 

at Lek 2, located on the drained peatery squares was 

likely connected with hunting (shootings in 2000). The 

condition of the habitat was stable during the past 10 

years, since continual mowing prevents shrub and tree 

overgrowth, and thus determines the stability of the 

conditions required for spring Black Grouse displays. 

The dynamics at Lek BR 2 can also be connected with 

movement of the birds within several leks located in the 

hunting ground "Barsuki", where spring hunting is held 

annually. 

The lek in the protection zone of Sq. 616, 629, 643 is 

also located on drained peatery squares, but unlike the 


n Fox BR lek 1 (575) 

Figure 9. Dynamics of the Black Grouse at Lek BR1 and the numbers of the Red Fox on the territory of the Berezinsky 

Reserve 

360 

300 

240 

180 

120 

Lek BR 1, there is no agricultural work conducted there, 

and the squares are gradually overgrown by shrubbery 

and trees. Hereupon, the lek constantly moves from one 

place to another, and the number of males visiting this 

lek is small. 

The Great Snipe 

In the Belovezhskaya Puscha, nesting biotopes of the 

Great Snipe are typically situated in reach fens. In spite 

of the drainage of vast tracts of mires, the remaining 

part of the main reach fen maintains a stable enough 

population of the species. The number of males at the lek 

did not significantly change from year to year (Figure 7). 

This was connected with a relatively stable water level 

and constant presence of favorable forage biotopes. The 

possible threat for the stable existence of this lek may be 

shrub and tree overgrowth of the open areas of the fen 

because of lack of mowing. Furthermore, some danger 

comes from changing the hydrological regime as a result 

of the reclamation system operating on the edge of the 

mire tract. 

In contrast to the Belovezhskaya Puscha, in the 

Berezinsky Reserve leks were situated on floodplain 

pasturable meadows of the Berezina River. The living 

conditions in such biotopes change more often than in 

the fens. First of all, the high water frequently floods 

places of feeding and leks and birds, as a result, move 

to other places. The optimal structure of vegetation and 

favorable forage biotopes on floodplain meadows are 

also connected with pasture duty. 

The decrease in male numbers at Lek BR 2 in 2002 

was connected with extremely dry conditions in the 

spring and the beginning of summer and low level of 

floods of the Berezina River (Figure 8). Obviously 

in this year birds have been redistributed around the 

favorable biotopes, and only 5 males were registered 

60 

0 

Numbers of Fox 

71


on this lek. At the same time, a long-drown flood in 

2007 caused the movement of Lek 1 to the non-flooded 

parts of the meadow that were situated at the distance 

of 800 m from the former lekking area. In 2008, high 

floods and the termination of cattle grazing at the 

place of Lek BR 1 led to the total disappearance of this 

lek. The birds probably moved to unidentified smaller 

leks due to the absence of optimal habitat. Similar 

occurrences took place in the Sporovsky Preserve, 

where a significant reduction of cattle pasture and 

mowing resulted in the total disappearance of 

substantial Great Snipe leks in 2008, when displaying 

of solitary birds was observed only. 

Conclusions 

The analysis of the conditions of the Black Grouse leks 

on the territories of the Belovezhskaya Puscha and the 

Berezinsky Reserve shows that the main reasons for the 

reduction of Black Grouse numbers are anthropogenic 

factors. Land reclamation and active agricultural use 

of the studied territories have negatively transformed 

natural habitats, which led to a sharp increase in the 

vulnerability of nests and hatches of the Black Grouse, 

frequently associated with an increase in the pressure 

by predators in the years of rodent depression. Hunting 

and poaching also causes a negative influence upon 

the number of the species. On the other hand, human 

activities may have positive influence. Stability of the 

display places is frequently maintained by mowing at the 

leks, which provides displaying birds a better view and, 

consequently, the best protection from predators. 

Parallel studies of the Great Snipe conducted on the 

territories of the Berezinsky Reserve and the National 

Park “Belovezhskaya Puscha” suggest that there is a 

rapid change in habitats of this species, and that in an 

extremely short period of time numerous biotopes 

may become unsuitable for this species. There is a 

strong necessity for rational biotope management on 

the protected territories. In particular, considerable 

decrease of the Great Snipe habitats is occurring due to 

termination of agricultural mowing and cattle grazing. 

Some alternative strategies for habitat management 

should be developed and implemented. 

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Russian) 


ILZE NEIMANE 1 , JURIS ZARIŅŠ 2 

Abstract 

Use of biomass for heat and power production is considered to be one of the main driving forces in sustainable 

development. In opposition to fossil energy sources, which require centralized power production systems, use of 

biofuel is decentralized and closely linked with regional development planning. 

To consider bioenergy as a regional development factor and a spatial planning task, one of the preconditions is 

understanding and use of spatial planning instruments such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS). 

One of the tasks of GIS is to represent and visualize figures, thus making them easily identifiable. Information on 

biomass is also related to a territory, from the evaluation of resources to the utilization of biomass. The access to 

biomass information, calculation methods and utilization experience should be provided to interested persons in a 

way that embraces the field to the maximum and is simple at the same time. The end-user, who is the main consumer, 

most often is not a professional able to study the source of information. 

We can imagine GIS as a hand with five fingers – computer engineering, software, aim of application, geographical 

data, and trained personnel – without anyone of these, a wholesome GIS system cannot be imagined. 


The continuing global trends of limited fossil resources 

and climate change as leading environmental problems 

have raised the importance of using alternative energy 

sources, inter alia biomass, which is the most significant 

alternative energy source in the Baltic Sea region. 

Nonetheless, the use of bioenergy produced from biomass 

is decentralized in comparison with fossil sources and 

is strongly related to local decision-making processes. 

Moreover, in local decision-making processes, the use of 

bioenergy is considered more as a regional development 

factor instead of a solution for global environmental 

problems. 

Trade of bioenergy resources in the Baltic Sea region 

has grown on an international scale, thus advancing the 

issue of use of biomass resources for bioenergy production 

from the local to international aspect. Due to lack of local 

consumption of biomass by large-scale heating plants in 

Latvia, during the second part of the 1990s and the last 

decade, biofuel was mainly exported to Scandinavian 

countries. The highest export volume was reached in 

2006–2007. Local utilization of biofuel resources on a 

larger scale has begun only in the current decade, which 

has raised such issues as resource availability, economic 

efficiency, and sustainability. 

2 Methods 

GIS Instruments for Biomass Planning 

Since information on bioenergy production relates to a 

specific territory, beginning with the study, extraction 

and utilization of bioenergy, it is necessary to consider 

the aspects of the local use of such information – 

perception of information, the aim of application, choice 

of the data to use. 

One of the tasks of GIS is to visualize the calculated 

information, thus making it easily perceivable – numbers 

and figures alone are not the message that the end-user 

can perceive. In most cases, the end-user will not be a professional 

able to study sources of information, and even 

if there is some place to gather information on biomass, 

in each separate case it cannot be compared one to one 

with, for example, information gathered in the neighboring 

region. It is important to secure access to calculation 

models, end-use experience and other information important 

to the regional production and utilization of biomass 

to any interested person in a way that embraces the field 

to the maximum and is simple at the same time. 

We can analyze the aspects of implementation and use 

of GIS for bioenergy applications at the local level using 

the overall GIS definition – the hand with five fingers in 

case of the lack of any of which a wholesome system of 

GIS cannot be conceived. The two most simple parts of 

1 

State SIA “Vides Projekti”, Pils iela 17, Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia, e-mail: ilze.neimane@videsprojekti.lv 

2 

State Forest Service, 13. janvāra iela 15, Rīga, LV-1932, Latvia, e-mail: juris@vmd.gov.lv 

72 

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Figure 1. Model builder 

levels of statistics – by civil parishes, districts, possibly 

NUTS (Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics) 

territories. Identical identifiers are necessary for both 

textual and graphical data, which allows to perform 

thematic visualization of graphical sites – either for a 

separate forest compartment or for territories of civil 

parishes of the whole country. 

Data from the State Forest Register with detailed 

information at the sectional level on wood-growing stock 

was used to develop the forest biomass calculation model 

with the ArcGIS software. The register also contains 

the identifiers to represent the selected information in a 

forest digital map or to represent it as summarized by the 

territories of civil parishes (GIS, 2006). 

The aim of the development of the GIS tools at the 

tactical level was to automatically select the forest 

compartments available for biomass production, but at 

the regional planning level – to represent the calculated 

volume of biomass in the map of specific civil parishes. 

The implementation at the tactical level was carried 

out with ArcGIS software with the help of a model 

builder that allows (on the basis of the repeatability 

of the data mentioned above) to repeat the data to be 

obtained in any other civil parish, district or territory of 

Latvia (see Figure 1). 

At the planning level, GIS tools could be used for 

very simple thematic maps that are implemented with 

the ArcGIS software by developing the so-called map 

templates that ensure a consolidation of digital maps of 

civil parishes with calculated information of the State 

Forest Service by using the identifiers of civil parishes at 

the national level (see Figure 2). 

Another example of the use of GIS tools is the determination 

of territories that are suitable (available) for the 

establishment of plantations of fast-growing tree species. 


Data required for such calculations is road information 

from logistics calculations of topographic maps at the 

national level performed by using the ArcGIS Network 

Analyst software, information on biomass utilization 

places in order to determine the logistics service zones 

depending on the distance of the delivery, as well as 

various limiting information, for example, territories 

of Natura 2000 or territories of biologically valuable 

grasslands which cannot be utilized due to legal 

restrictions. 

The graphical information on land use is needed in 

order to select the available territories of minimum size 

for the establishment of plantations in a set distance both 

from the roads and delivery points. 

The task at the planning level is identical to the 

previous example – to represent the obtained information 

at the level of civil parishes. 

In this example a filtered data sheet prepared by 

the creators of ArcGIS models, a selection of logistics 

is included from the previously prepared state register 

data. The models have been prepared so that when the 

indications of profitability, like the distance from the 

road, points of delivery or size of the territory, change, 

it is possible to enter the data before repeating the 

calculation of the model (see Figure 3, 4). 

The development of the new web-based GIS 

applications on the basis of such models provides the 

ability to get answers about available resources of 

biomass online. There is no need for special expensive 

software or locally installed GIS data. All one needs is 

a web application developed by the local authorities of 

a territory or a by spatial planner with a background 

of map information, classified data base structure 

where to place the information, and tools to calculate 

requests. 

Figure 2. The thematic map portraying biomass potential in the Tukums district 

GIS are computer engineering and software, which at the 

beginning seems to be the most expensive investment. 

However, according to worldwide experience, the 

bottleneck of GIS applications is the other three parts: 

the aim of application, geographical data, and trained 

personnel. 


When choosing the data to utilize with GIS tools, the 

emphasis is put on repeatable data which are updated 

on a regular basis in various regions. Such a choice 

ensures the possibility to use data with established 

content and known classification that in turn ensures 

sustainability of the results and the ability to transfer 

these data to other regions because they do not require 

gathering of particular information. Obtaining the 

data should be divided into the general – tactical – and 

regional level. Therefore, data with a country-level 

identification order are used. This allows summarizing 

and categorizing the data according to recognizable 

Figure 3. Field blocks including set-aside land ≥ 5 ha 

Figure 4. Non-cultivated field blocks with area ≥ 5 ha 

74 

75


4 Conclusions 

Bioenergy as a Spatial Planning Task 

Linkages between the use of bioenergy and spatial 

planning are a relatively new issue; however, considering 

the recent trends of development of the European Union 

policy on bioenergy issues, the significance of bioenergy 

as a spatial planning task will increase in the future. 

The relevance of spatial planning solutions seems to 

be even higher in regions where bioenergy and industrial 

biomass production capacities compete for a limited 

amount of resources or in regions where wood biomass 

is barred by profitable export markets, leaving limited 

resources for local bioenergy applications (BBN, 2007). 

Local and regional planning issues in Latvia are 

still at the development stage. Influenced by continuous 

territorial reforms, planning documents often include 

minimal requirements, leaving behind such aspects as 

renewable energy resources, inter alia bioenergy as a 

factor for local development. A well-defined planning 

system could promote efficient elaboration of planning 

documents which could examine the larger consequences 

of the spatial planning perspectives. 

Sustainable bioenergy development will depend 

on its integration in the regional spatial planning 

processes, considering such issues as regional potential, 

logistics, biomass production infrastructures, limiting 

factors, balanced use of resources, including natural 

and landscape resources, soil, water, and air, as well as 

coherence with other aspects of territorial planning. The 

use of spatial planning to promote sustainable bioenergy 

development involves endeavoring to view the concepts 

of development and environmental protection as 

complementary rather than contradictory (BBN, 2007). 

The development of regional strategic plans is closely 

linked to a comprehensive spatial planning development 

in regions, as well as local/regional development priorities 

in relation to bioenergy issues (BBN, 2007). 

References 

BBN. 2007. Planning Regional Bioenergy Resource Use – 

Interreg. III B Project Handbook, Baltic Biomass Network 

(2005–2007). 106 p. 

GIS. 2006. GIS-based methods for biomass modelling 

at regional level in the Baltic countries, Conference 

Proceedings, May 18–19, 2006, Lithuanian University of 

Agriculture, 89 p. 

Moret Artur, ed. 2006. Sustainability Criteria and Indicators 

for Bioenergy. GT Energia Do FBOMS. 

www.esri.com 

www.lad.gov.lv 

www.vmd.gov.lv 

Community-Based Monitoring in Support of Sustainable Planning 

and Biodiversity Conservation: a Case Study of the Monitoring the 

Moraine Project, Oak Ridges Moraine, Southern Ontario, Canada 

GRAHAM WHITELAW 1 , DANIEL MCCARTHY, DEBBE CRANDALL, JOYCE CHAU, KATRINA 

BROUGHTON 

Abstract 

The Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) is a glacial moraine feature and a potential biosphere reserve located in southern 

Ontario, Canada. This feature is located north of the City of Toronto and extends from the Niagara Escarpment in 

the west approximately 160 km to the Trent River in the east. Local environmentalists fought for better land use 

planning during the period from 1989 through 2002. The ORM is now governed by the ORM Conservation Act and 

ORM Conservation Plan. The provincial government committed to developing a monitoring program to determine 

if the plan was achieving its environmental objectives. Due to the lack of action on the part of the government, 

the Monitoring the Moraine Project was launched by three environmental groups in 2005 to engage and sustain 

community volunteers in science, stewardship, planning and monitoring on the ORM. This paper reflects on three 

years of monitoring design and implementation, including the development of a conceptual framework to guide 

monitoring, community mapping, status reporting on plan implementation, land use decision monitoring, and river 

and forest biodiversity monitoring. The paper concludes with some thoughts on contributions of the MTM Project to 

sustainable planning and biodiversity conservation. 


Community-based monitoring is an emerging component 

in environmental planning and management in Canada. 

Government retreat from monitoring is the reason for 

this interest and participation in community-based 

monitoring by citizens and environmental organizations 

(Whitelaw et al, 2003). Our paper reflects on an 

initiative to develop and implement a community-based 

monitoring program for the Oak Ridges Moraine located 

in southern Ontario, Canada, known as the Monitoring 

the Moraine (MTM) Project. The project was launched 

in 2005 by three environmental organizations: Save 

the Oak Ridges Moraine, Citizens Environment Watch, 

and Centre for Community Mapping. The initiative 

built on the conceptual development of communitybased 

monitoring by Environment Canada’s Ecological 

Monitoring and Assessment Network (Whitelaw 

et al, 2003; Pollock and Whitelaw, 2005), a federal 

government agency dedicated to promoting monitoring 

in Canada and supporting citizen science (Ecological 

Monitoring and Assessment Network Coordinating 

Office, 2009). The research carried out was action 

research. All of the authors actively participated in one 

or more aspects of the MTM Project. We entered into 

the MTM Project as both participants and researchers 

(discussed further below). 

The paper is structured as follows: brief background 

on ORM planning and management; community based 

monitoring and the MTM Project; methods; results 

organized around a number of the activities associated 

with the project; and discussion of the innovations of the 

MTM Project and contributions to sustainable planning 

and biodiversity conservation. 

2 Background 

Brief History of Planning and Management on the Oak 

Ridges Moraine 

The ORM was created by multiple advances and retreats 

of glaciers during the Pleistocene period. The moraine is 

approximately 190,000 hectares in size and is between 3 

and 24 km wide. The moraine was extensively deforested 

by early settlement during the mid 1800s, and this led 

to extensive soil erosion and water quality and quantity 

impairment of the many rivers that originate on the 

moraine. Efforts by the Ontario government in the 1930s 

and 40s resulted in significant reforestation. Today the 

ORM is a mix of agricultural and natural areas. Natural 

areas support an abundance of native plants and animal 

1 

School of Environmental Studies and School of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 

K7L 3N6, e-mail: graham.whitelaw@queensu.ca 

76 

77


Community-Based Monitoring in Support of Sustainable Planning and Biodiversity Conservation... 

species. The moraine serves as a groundwater recharge 

and discharge area for some 65 watercourses. Dozens of 

small inland kettle lakes contribute to its aesthetically 

unique and distinctive character. The moraine also is an 

important source of aggregate building material for the 

nearby urban areas to the south (Oak Ridges Moraine 

Technical Working Committee, 1994; Chapman and 

Putman, 1994; Regional Municipalities of York, Durham 

and Peel, 1999; Government of Ontario, 2002). 

The Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM) Coalition 

formed in response to urbanization pressure associated 

with growth around the City of Toronto, including subdivision 

development and aggregate resources extraction 

during the 1980s. The key role played by the STORM 

Coalition in the early days of the protection effort was 

agenda setting, specifically, creating a vision for the 

moraine, establishing the ORM as a valued landscape and 

sharing the need for its protection. In 1991, responding to 

environmental movement agenda setting, the provincial 

government issued an expression of provincial interest in 

the ORM (Government of Ontario, 1991) and announced a 

comprehensive planning study to explore ORM planning 

issues. In 1992, the ORM Technical Working Committee 

was established. The ORM Technical Working Committee 

was collaborative and had representation from numerous 

stakeholders from civil society, government and the 

private sector. The Technical Working Committee guided 

a three-year planning study designed to recommend longterm 

protection for the moraine. The “Oak Ridges Moraine 

Strategy for the Greater Toronto Area” was released in 

December 1994. After many years of conflict, advocacy 

and periods of collaboration, the government moved on 

Oak Ridges Moraine protection (Whitelaw et al, 2008). 

The government introduced and passed the Oak Ridges 

Moraine Conservation Act in 2001 and approved the Oak 

Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan in 2002 (Government 

of Ontario, 2001, 2002). 

The vision of the ORM Conservation Plan is 

“a continuous band of green rolling hills that provides 

form and structure to south central Ontario, while 

protecting the ecological and hydrological features and 

functions that support the health and well-being of the 

Region’s residents and ecosystems” (Government of 

Ontario, 2002). The plan has four land use designations: 

natural core, natural linkage, countryside, and 

settlement. Residential development is mainly limited 

to the settlement designation and includes a range of 

residential, commercial, industrial and institutional uses 

(Government of Ontario, 2002). Some key policies of 

the plan include no new aggregate resource extraction in 

natural core, and stringent review and approval standards 

for new mineral resource extraction in natural linkage 

(Government of Ontario, 2002). 

The ORM Conservation Plan includes provisions for 

the development of a monitoring program. By 2003, the 

government had not moved on developing a monitoring 

program. In response, the STORM Coalition placed 

monitoring on the agenda of a symposium exploring the 

future actions required by the environmental movement 

to ensure continued protection of the moraine after the 

successful campaign to force the government to bring in 

legislation and a plan to properly protect the ORM. This 

attention to the lack of government action on monitoring 

resulted in the initiation of the MTM Project. Funding 

in excess of one million dollars was secured and the 

development of an ORM community-based monitoring 

program began in 2005. 

Community-Based Monitoring 

Community-based monitoring is defined as a process in 

which concerned citizens, government agencies, industry, 

academia, community groups and local institutions 

collaborate to monitor, track and respond to issues of 

common community concern. Monitoring is designed 

to promote sustainability, leadership of monitoring by 

the community, and use of monitoring data to influence 

decision-making. At least four reasons explain the growth 

of community-based monitoring: government retreat 

from monitoring ecosystems as a result of government 

cutbacks to environmental programs and activities in 

Canada (Au et al, 2000; Sharpe et al, 2000; Scott and 

Herman, 1995); inability of government monitoring to 

address the complex and emerging environmental and 

sustainability issues currently impacting the Canadian 

society (Vaughan et al, 2001); emerging recognition 

to involve stakeholders and citizens in planning and 

management processes in support of sustainability 

(Cuthill, 2000); and growing citizen concern for the 

environment, and desire to learn more and to participate 

in environmental planning and protection activities 

(Bliss et al, 2001). 

Four approaches to community-based monitoring 

have emerged. These approaches are not mutually 

exclusive, thus initiatives may exhibit characteristics of 

each. (1) Government-lead community-based monitoring 

that complements scientific experts (Stadel and Nelson, 

1995) and acts as early detection of ecosystem changes 

that may require expert investigation. (2) The interpretive 

approach places emphasis on educational aspects of 

monitoring, communication, personal learning, and 

long-term commitment of volunteers (Cuthill, 2000: 

136). (3) Advocacy monitoring focuses on local issues 

where citizens concerned about an issue use monitoring 

data they collect to force government action on a 

particular planning and management issue (Au et al, 

2000; Lukasik, 2000; Sharpe et al, 2000). (4) Multiparty 

monitoring involves diverse stakeholders to initiate 

monitoring that fills in gaps in existing environmental 

and social monitoring arrangements and influences 

decision-making through cooperation as opposed to 

advocacy (Bliss et al, 2001) (Whitelaw et al, 2003). 

The EMAN Coordinating Office carried out 

extensive development of multi-party community-based 

monitoring through a large project carried out in 2002. 

Pollock and Whitelaw (2005) reported on this work. 

The EMAN multi-party community-based monitoring 

framework consisted of four main components: 

(1) community mapping involving understanding the 

community involved in the monitoring, their values, 

concerns, and current monitoring and stewardship 

activities; (2) participation assessment to determine 

the skills of those involved and potential partnership 

opportunities; (3) capacity building to ensure that the 

necessary skills are in place to develop, implement 

and manage monitoring, and (4) information gathering 

through on-the-ground monitoring and assessment of the 

information to influence decision-making. 

Communities and NGOs benefit from communitybased 

monitoring through the development of social 

capital and increased ability to influence local decisionmaking 

in support of sustainability (McCarthy et al, 

2006; Whitelaw and McCarthy, 2008). Bliss et al (2001) 

indicate that CBM builds social capital through activities 

that engage volunteers, create networks, develop 

leadership capacity and increase community influence 

over land use planning and management. 

Problems with community-based monitoring have 

been identified, including loss of interest by volunteers 

(Stadel and Nelson, 1995), participant objectivity 

(Stokes et al, 1990), inconsistent funding that causes 

data fragmentation (Bliss et al, 2001) and accuracy of 

data collection (McLauglin and Hilts, 1999; Stadel and 

Nelson, 1995; Stokes et al, 1990). Best practices are 

emerging to address these problems, including securing 

adequate funding and commitment prior to initiation 

of monitoring activities (Long Point World Biosphere 

Reserve Foundation, 2002); providing feedback to 

volunteers on how their work contributes to planning 

and management (Stadel and Nelson, 1995); assessing 

and building skill levels for monitoring (Bliss et al, 

2001; Cuthill, 2000); collaborating with organizations 

involved in monitoring through partnerships (Long Point 

World Biosphere Reserve Foundation, 2002); use of 

simple and tested monitoring protocols (Au et al, 2000); 

incorporation of training on monitoring protocols, field 

supervision and verification (Au et al, 2000; Stadel and 

Nelson, 1995; Stokes et al, 1990); and use of volunteer 

recognition programs (Stadel and Nelson, 1995). 

The Monitoring the Moraine Project 

The MTM Project is primarily a multi-party communitybased 

monitoring program with elements of advocacy and 

interpretive community monitoring. The MTM Project 

was governed through a simple organizational structure. 

The three founding organizations were equal partners in 

the project. Citizens Environment Watch administered the 

project. A Steering Committee with representatives from 

each organization had the decision-making authority. An 

MTM Advisory Committee consisting of experts from 

civil society, the private sector and government provided 

advice to the project. The Advisory Committee operated 

based on a collaborative model. The three founding 

organizations led individual project initiatives based on 

their areas of expertise: Citizens Environment Watch 

led environmental monitoring; the STORM Coalition 

led policy monitoring; and COMAP led information 

management. In some cases two or all three organizations 

were involved with each other’s initiatives. 

The objectives of the MTM Project were established 

early in the process: (1) to develop, implement and 

evaluate collaborative approaches to community-based 

monitoring across the Oak Ridges Moraine landscape; 

(2) to improve the efficiency and utility of both 

environmental and policy monitoring; (3) to develop 

an effective and dynamic monitoring framework that 

is widely applicable to all communities and morainemonitoring 

organizations; (4) to generate a visual and 

interactive “big picture” in the form of an online map 

that can be viewed and updated by anyone with Internet 

access; (5) to inform decision-making by disseminating 

relevant and credible environmental and policy 

monitoring data to key decision makers; (6) to facilitate 

a strong and informed community voice in the upcoming 

2014 review of the ORMCP; and (7) to provide a model 

for other large scale monitoring projects, provincially, 

nationally and internationally (Monitoring the Moraine, 

2009). 

3 Methods 

We participated in action research throughout the MTM 

project. A defining characteristic of action research 

is that the goal of research is expanded to include 

practical problem solving, in this case the development 

and implementation of a monitoring program for the 

ORM. The researcher(s) is actively involved in this 

process and thus, also becomes a research subject. We 

participated on the MTM Steering Committee and, 

during the first meetings, reached agreement with the 

committee members that the entire process should be 

viewed as a research exercise. We also participated 

in the individual initiatives reported in the results 

section. Project participants were involved in setting the 

research objectives (Baskerville, 1999). By involving 

stakeholders in setting the research agenda, it is argued 

that the results of the research will be more relevant to 

them and will more effectively address their personal 

or organizational objectives. Additionally, the action 

research method allowed us to be responsive during 

the research process to the extensive knowledge the 

MTM Project partners imparted about the ORMCP, 

its monitoring components, and the governance of 

municipalities on the moraine. 

78 

79



Action research requires the researcher to reflect on 

his or her perspective brought to the exercise and how 

this might affect the process. In the case of our research 

team, our broad perspective focused on two main ideas: 

working toward more sustainable practice and increasing 

the role of civil society in environmental planning and 

management. These two broad ideas corresponded well 

with the perspectives of the project participants we 

worked with. Action research of the type carried out by 

our team is part of the emergence of advocacy science 

or mission-oriented science. Advocacy science can be 

place-based, solution-oriented, focused on multiple 

stresses, integrative, innovative and bottom-up. These 

initiatives are designed to support progress toward 

sustainability by expanding the science research agenda, 

strengthening scientific capacity and linking science to 

decision-making (Strigl, 2003). 

Our research objectives included: extending understanding 

of community-based monitoring through the 

development and testing of a conceptual framework; 

exploring the role of civil society in leading multi-party 

monitoring in the context of land use planning; testing a 

number of tools for application in multi-party monitoring; 

and determining the usefulness of multi-party monitoring 

in influencing moves toward sustainability. 

4 Results 

Results are presented on the five initiatives of the 

MTM Project: development of the MTM Framework; 

community mapping; status reporting; monitoring land 

use decision-making; and environmental monitoring. 

Results are followed by a discussion of the innovations 

developed through the MTM Project in the areas 

of conceptual development of community-based 

monitoring, the role of civil society through multi-party 

monitoring in land use planning; and the contribution 

of the MTM Project to sustainability and biodiversity 

conservation. 

MTM Conceptual Framework 

The first task of the MTM Steering Committee involved 

developing a community-based monitoring framework 

Figure 2. Conceptual framework developed to guide the MTM Project (Monitoring the Moraine Project, 2009) 

Figure 1. Location map of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and Niagara Escarpment Plan 

80 

to guide the entire project. The Steering Committee 

turned to the Advisory Committee for guidance. 

Various monitoring models including the EMAM CBM 

framework were considered. The Advisory Committee 

recommended adoption of the EMAN framework along 

with suggestions for additional components (Figure 

2). The EMAN CBM Framework is the diamondshaped 

component in the bottom right of the diagram 

(discussed in the community-based monitoring 

background section). The star component in the bottom 

left of the figure represents the selection of the themes 

for monitoring based on the content of the ORMCP. 

The themes include terrestrial, water, quality of life and 

policy components. Water and terrestrial themes were 

obvious components. Policy was a less obvious theme 

and was selected based on policy monitoring carried out 

for the Niagara Escarpment Plan by the Coalition on the 

Niagara Escarpment, an environmental group dedicated 

to ensuring the protection of the Niagara Escarpment 

(Figure 1), located to the west of the ORM (Coalition 

on the Niagara Escarpment, 2009). Policy monitoring 

involves ensuring that the planned policies are actually 

being implemented as intended. 

Community well-being was the most controversial 

component selected. There was a debate among the 

Steering Committee over this theme. Those against 

inclusion argued that the ORM Conservation Plan is 

mostly an environmental plan. Those for inclusion 

argued the importance of collecting information 

to help understand the connections between 

environmental protection and human well-being. 

The final element of the framework is the triangle 

component in the top left of the figure. The intent 

of this element was to identify the different scales of 

monitoring and the organizations with the capacity 

to carry out monitoring at that scale. The purpose 

was to encourage government to engage in ORM 

Conservation Plan monitoring by highlighting 

their potential role. Community-based monitoring 

was identified as being carried out at the site and 

community level with government carrying out 

broader scale monitoring using aerial photography 

and earth observation using GIS and modeling. 

The components are linked through communitylevel 

visioning and strategic plan monitoring (discussed 

below). 

81



Community Mapping and Strategic Monitoring Plans 

Four community mapping exercises with communities 

across the ORM were carried out in September 2005. 

The purpose of the community mapping exercise was 

to determine what the citizens living on the ORM were 

concerned about from an environmental perspective, and 

what they were interested in monitoring. The community 

mapping exercise involved a carefully facilitated process 

led by staff trained in community mapping procedures. 

Our partner, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources 

provided the MTM Project with air photographs of 

the particular community and environ at a scale of 

1 : 50,000. Eight duplicate maps were provided for each 

of the four communities. These were placed on large 

tables. Community members, after a brief introduction 

to the project, were invited to map the following: areas 

of importance to them from environmental, social, 

cultural and economic perspectives; areas under threat 

with identified reasons, and the location of any existing 

programs or activities with respect to stewardship and 

monitoring. The response was overwhelming. The data on 

the maps was analyzed and used to inform the development 

of tailored community-based monitoring plans for each of 

the four communities (Chau, 2005). Issues of concern and 

areas of interest varied across the four communities. In the 

west and central areas of the plan, community members 

were mostly concerned about the impact of infrastructure, 

residential and aggregate resource development on the 

natural environment, including water resources. In the 

east concerns included water contamination issues, 

impacts from old waste sites, and the impact of all terrain 

vehicles on the natural environment (Chau, 2005). 

Development of Status Reports on Policy Monitoring 

One of the unique aspects of this monitoring initiative 

is the role of policy monitoring. One component 

involved publication of annual status reports or report 

cards that highlight the successes and challenges of 

ORM Conservation Plan implementation. The first 

status report was prepared in 2006 and examined plan 

implementation since the ORM Conservation Plan 

was passed in 2002. The results were published in the 

largest daily newspaper circulated in Toronto. The 

findings were generally positive. For example, municipal 

implementation through bringing their official plans 

into conformity with the ORM Conservation Plan were 

given between B and B+ ratings based on the timing of 

their conformity exercises. The status report indicated 

some concerns, for example, well head protection 

implementation was given a C rating, site alteration and 

fill by-law development was given a C, and the province 

received a C for the development of technical papers 

to support ORM Conservation Plan implementation 

(Monitoring the Moraine, 2006; Broughton, 2008). 

The second status report, prepared in 2007, followed 

up on the first and found that all shortcomings had been 

addressed. Staff from the government participating 

in the MTM Advisory Committees indicated that the 

status report had motivated government to ensure that 

implementation issues identified as needing attention 

were addressed. The second report also dealt with 

environmental assessment projects across the ORM. 

This is an area that is not tracked by the government 

from an ORM perspective. The 2007 status report, for 

the first time, mapped all EA projects completed and 

underway since ORM Conservation Plan inception. In 

total, 53 environmental assessments were identified. 

Of these, the majority of projects (45 in total) had a 

municipal proponent. All but two of these projects 

were subject to the Ontario Environmental Assessment 

Act. The remaining two were subject to the Canadian 

Environmental Assessment Act because they received 

federal funding (Monitoring the Moraine, 2007; 

Broughton, 2008). 

Of the remaining 8 non-municipal projects, 6 were 

proposed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. 

While most of these were subject to the Ontario 

Environmental Assessment Act, two were subject to 

the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act because 

they received funding from the federal government. 

One project was proposed by CN Rail, Government of 

Ontario Transit and the Canadian Transport Agency and 

was subject to the Canadian Environmental Assessment 

Act. One power transmission project was proposed by 

Hydro One, and was subject to the Ontario Environmental 

Assessment Act (Monitoring the Moraine, 2007; 

Broughton, 2008). 

The environmental assessment map shows where 

infrastructure projects are concentrated. There is a clear 

concentration of projects in the western and central parts 

of the moraine within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). 

This corresponds to the rapid population increase 

experienced in these regions. In comparison, the 

eastern part of the moraine has had significantly fewer 

infrastructure environmental assessments, suggesting 

that they are under significantly less growth pressure 

(Monitoring the Moraine, 2007; Broughton, 2008). 

The Status Plan for 2009 intends on following up 

on the environmental assessment theme and analyzes a 

number of environmental assessments of quality based 

on whether they meet the policies outlined in the ORM 

Conservation Plan. 

Moraine Watch 

Moraine Watch was designed to track the land use 

decisions of municipal councils across the moraine to 

determine if decisions are following the policies of the 

ORM Conservation Plan. A Moraine Watch Manual was 

prepared as a how-to guide for community members to 

monitor land use planning activity. The manual provides 

citizens with a tool to determine the performance of their 

municipal government on moraine-related planning. The 

manual includes a Moraine Watch Checklist – a stepby-step 

worksheet for evaluating planning applications. 

Those volunteers involved with Moraine Watch receive 

extensive training on land use planning. The step-bystep 

worksheet involves the following steps that must 

be carried out by volunteers (Save the Oak Ridges 

Moraine, 2007): (1) determine if the ORM Conservation 

Plan applies; (2) determine land use designation of 

the application; (3) determine the type of proposal, 

subdivision, single lot severance, aggregate resource 

extraction etc; (4) determine if proposal is permitted; 

(5) identify special features of the site and adjacent lands; 

(6) identify any special Plan policies that apply; (7) analyze 

your results to determine what they mean; (8) determine 

if municipal council made the correct decision; and (9) 

report information to the MTM Project. 

Environmental Monitoring: Water and Forest 

Two environmental monitoring initiatives were 

developed as part of the MTM Project: “Check Your 

Watershed Day” and Forest Biodiversity Monitoring. 

“Check Your Watershed Day” focused on small streams 

less than 3 meters in width. Small streams were chosen 

based on consultations with the Ontario Ministry of 

Natural Resources that indicated a gap with respect 

to information on small streams. Furthermore, these 

streams are sensitive to changes in water levels and are 

safe and easy to monitor. All of the sites monitored on 

“Check Your Watershed Day”, compiled once every year 

in early August, are at road side stream crossings on 

public lands. Visiting these sites helps to identify barriers 

to fish movement, and potential sites for restoration 

work. The protocol applied is from the Ontario Stream 

Assessment Protocol (Stanfield, 2005). The protocol is 

a series of stream assessment techniques for evaluating 

habitat, benthic invertebrate and fish communities in 

Ontario's wadeable streams. The methods in the Ontario 

Stream Assessment Protocol Manual are provincially 

recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources 

and federally recognized by the Department of Fisheries 

and Oceans. Three “Check Your Watershed Days” have 

taken place, and the results are currently under analysis 

(Monitoring the Moraine, 2009). 

Forest biodiversity monitoring utilizes an adapted 

Smithsonian Institution/MAB Protocol using 20 x 20 m 

permanent plots (Ecological Monitoring and Assessment 

Network, 2002). All trees in each plot are surveyed for 

species, diameter at breast height, tree height, and tree 

health. Tree health is monitored using a modifiedCanadian 

Forest Service Protocol developed for volunteers (Niagara 

Escarpment Commission, 2009). Both protocols were 

co-developed by the EMAN Coordinating Office and 

are used in many Canadian biospheres for monitoring 

purposes. Extensive training materials are also available 

for use (Niagara Escarpment, 2009). The objective is 

to establish a network of plots across the ORM so that 

biodiversity and forest health can be measured and 

monitored over time using trend analysis. Plots have been 

located in two conservation areas to date, and efforts 

are underway to identify and implement a network of 

plots able to deliver valid and reliable information on 

biodiversity and health of trees. Additional plots will be 

located on both public and private lands with landowner 

agreement. 

5 Discussion and Conclusions 

Community-led policy monitoring on the ORM 

is important for a number of reasons. The ORM 

Conservation Plan, despite being a provincial land use 

plan, is implemented by municipalities through official 

plans and zoning by-laws amended to conform to the 

ORM Conservation Plan. With no legislated provincial 

oversight to monitor municipal performance, the 

MTM Project is attempting to ensure the plan is being 

implemented as designed. The efforts of the MTM 

Project are significant for four reasons. 

The first is that the MTM Project extended the 

understanding of community-based monitoring through 

the development and testing of a conceptual framework. 

The framework successfully guided the development 

and implementation of the project, clearly identifying the 

focus of monitoring through the four themes of water, 

terrestrial, policy and human well-being. Progress was 

made on the monitoring of three of the themes: water, 

terrestrial and policy. Human-well being remains to be 

addressed. The protocols developed fall into the scale 

identified by the conceptual framework, the plot/site level. 

Each protocol followed the EMAN Community Based 

Monitoring Framework built into the MTM Conceptual 

Framework addressing the four elements of community 

mapping, participant assessment, capacity building, and 

information gathering and delivery (Figure 2). Water and 

forest biodiversity data has yet to be shared with decision 

makers. Policy monitoring data shared with decision 

makers in the form of the status reports was successful 

as the government addressed deficiencies identified (as 

discussed in the results section). 

The second reason the efforts of the MTM Project 

are significant is the evident success civil society had 

in leading multi-party community-based monitoring in 

the context of land use planning. Minimal activity was 

happening on ORM monitoring prior to the MTM Project. 

Once the project was initiated, the government actively 

participated on the MTM Advisory Committee and 

worked to integrate their monitoring activities with the 

project through their broader efforts to monitor Ontario’s 

Greenbelt (Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs, 2009). 

The ORM is part of this greenbelt area. Furthermore, the 

government agreed that much of their monitoring will 

involve the broader scale through air photography and 

earth observation using GIS and modeling. The policy 

82 

83



monitoring component of the MTM Project further 

demonstrated that civil society, in the context of southern 

Ontario land use planning, played a significant role in 

agenda setting, implementation and actual activities 

such as monitoring and stewardship (Whitelaw et al, 

2008). Many volunteers are demonstrating sophisticated 

understanding of land use planning and some involved in 

the MTM Project are now considered planning experts. 

The third reason the efforts of the MTM Project 

are significant is the successful application of existing 

tools in multi-party community-based monitoring. 

Community mapping exceeded all expectations to deliver 

information, inform on monitoring design and motivate 

volunteers to participate in the broader MTM Project. 

Social learning occurred throughout the monitoring 

initiative along with the generation of social capital. 

Community mapping contributed to this in a significant 

manner. Collaborative planning also contributed to the 

design of the MTM Project (Healey, 2003). The MTM 

Advisory Committee participated over the course of the 

three-year project and actively volunteered for additional 

involvement through workshops to help with protocol 

selection and design. Many MTM Advisory Committee 

members also indicated interest in participating in 

the second phase of the MTM project recently funded 

(Monitoring the Moraine, 2008). 

Two existing protocols were selected as the initial 

protocols for use in community-based monitoring for 

environmental themes. “Check Your Watershed Day” 

used a portion of the Ontario Stream Assessment Protocol 

to fill an identified monitoring gap. The SI/MAB Forest 

Biodiversity Protocol and Forest Health Protocol are 

building on an extensive plot network already established 

in southern Ontario (e.g. NEC 2009). These protocols will 

contribute to our understanding of expected impacts on 

forest biodiversity of invasive species spreading rapidly 

across southern Ontario, including the emerald ash borer. 

Finally, efforts of the MTM Project are significant 

because the project established human well-being as 

a theme for monitoring. This moves the MTM Project 

into the realm of monitoring for sustainability, linking 

environmental integrity and human well-being. The 

project has yet to address this aspect of monitoring but 

plans to do so as part of the second phase of the project. 

The project is also contributing to efforts to have the 

ORM designated a biosphere reserve (Francis, 2005). 

The ORM has legislation and a plan designed to properly 

plan for future development. The main contribution of 

the project is in the area of building the logistics function 

of biosphere reserve management; implementing tools to 

help move toward institutional arrangements that achieve 

sustainable development. 

The MTM Project illustrates the role civil society 

can play in land use planning in southern Ontario and 

the rest of Canada. The project successfully established 

a framework for monitoring the ORM Conservation 

Plan. The project continues with adequate funding and 

increasing numbers of volunteers. Data on three of the 

four monitoring themes continues to be collected. The 

project is contributing to the drive to have the ORM 

designated a biosphere reserve. Together, we conclude 

the project made and continues to make contributions to 

sustainable planning and biodiversity conservation. The 

future holds two significant challenges. The first involves 

motivating the government to continue their efforts to 

contribute to ORM monitoring. The second challenge 

deals with the upcoming 2015 ORM Conservation 

Plan Review. The development sector, in particular 

residential and aggregate resource extraction interests 

are sure to advocate for increased access to ORM lands 

for development. The MTM Project will need to engage 

additional partners to generate research and monitoring 

information and data to clearly indicate the need to 

maintain the protection aspects of the ORM while 

ensuring policies that promote sustainable development. 

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84 

85


ADAM WILSON, BRIAN CRAIG 1 

Background 

The Long Point causeway is a vital community and 

recreational link that connects the mainland to the 

cottage community on Long Point in the Long Point 

World Biosphere Reserve. Constructed in 1927, the 

causeway disrupted the natural hydrological processes 

and impeded animal migration routes between the Big 

Creek National Wildlife Area and Long Point Inner Bay. 

The Big Creek National Wildlife Area, which received a 

RAMSAR designation in 1992, acts as a wetland refuge 

for animals in a landscape that has been fragmented 

by agriculture and development. The wetlands provide 

habitat for Species at Risk, identified by the Committee on 

the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, including 

one of only a few large populations of the endangered 

Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata), and the threatened 

Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii). The Long 

Point causeway is rated one of the most devastating 

highways in North America with respect to amphibian 

and reptile road kill. 

Long Point World Biosphere Reserve 

(LPWBR) 

Long Point is a 32 km sand spit located on the north 

shore of Lake Erie, Ontario, Canada (Figure 1). The 

LPWBR was designated in 1986, as an example of the 

Great Lakes coastal ecosystem. The 3250 hectare Long 

Point National Wildlife Area is the core protected area 

of the biosphere reserve. It provides a unique blend 

of habitats – long uninterrupted beaches, undisturbed 

sand dunes, grassy ridges, wet meadows, woodlands, 

marshes and ponds, and it is the largest protected area 

in southern Ontario. The buffer zone includes the Big 

Creek National Wildlife Area. The zone of cooperation 

consists of the watershed of Long Point Bay and 

includes the finest example of Canada’s remaining 

Carolinian forest. The Biosphere Reserve is a staging 

area for migrating waterfowl, renowned for superb 

bass fishing and birding, and is home to the greatest 

number of endangered and threatened species and 

species of concern in Canada. Long Point is subject 

to many environmental stresses including commercial 

and residential development, forest fragmentation, 

exotic species invasions, shoreline alterations, nutrient 

loading and numerous recreational activities (Craig and 

Francis, 1993) The LPWBR is situated predominantly 

in Norfolk County, formerly the Regional Municipality 

of Haldimand-Norfolk. 

Introduction 

Causeways have been identified as hotspots for reptile 

and amphibian road mortality (Langen et al, 2009) 

(Figure 2a and 2b). Of 106 United States National Park 

system (NPS) units surveyed, nearly half believed that 

road mortality was significantly impacting wildlife 

populations (Ament et al, 2008). Glista et al (2008) 

showed that vertebrate road mortality primarily affects 

amphibians and may be a leading contributor to the 

global decline of amphibian populations. The Long 

Point causeway is a 3.6 km roadway that bisects a major 

wetland complex on the north shore of Lake Erie, Ontario 

(Figure 2). This road has historically exhibited very high 

incidences of wildlife mortality, with particularly high 

rates of amphibian and reptile mortality (Ashley and 

Robinson, 1996). This is problematic as the associated 

marshes provide habitat for many species of amphibians 

and reptiles, four of which have been listed as Species 

at Risk. Aresco (2005a) reported that the causeway is 

the fourth deadliest road in the world for turtles. Ashley 

et al (2007) reported that some of these mortalities, 

especially reptile mortalities, are intentional. 

Recently, there has been considerable and growing 

interest in reducing the amount of road mortality on 

the causeway. This led to the formation of the Long 

Point Causeway Improvement Project (LPCIP) steering 

committee, an ad hoc committee of the Long Point World 

Biosphere Reserve Foundation (LPWBRF) comprised 

of nineteen government agencies and non-government 

organizations. The steering committee undertook several 

temporary measures in 2008, including installation of 

experimental barrier fencing, creation of artificial turtle 

nest mounds and putting in place a road side sign to 

alert motorists of wildlife crossings (Figure 3a, 3b, 3c). 

The steering committee also identified knowledge gaps 

1 

Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation, P.O. Box 338, Port Rowan, Ontario, Canada, N0E 1MO, e-mail: 

adam@longpointcauseway.com, brian.craig@pc.gc.ca 

87



amphibians and reptiles. The fence was not likely to 

mitigate mortality of birds and mammals because birds 

can simply fly over it and mammals can easily travel 

around it. To prevent inhibiting animals from reaching 

over-wintering sites in the bay, four meter gaps were 

created in the fence at 100 m intervals in late October. 

Gap location was determined by identifying apparently 

important crossover areas (i.e. where road kill was 

most prevalent), typically where there was open water 

adjacent to the road, or where thick stands of cattails or 

phragmites were not adjacent to the road. 

Figure 3. Arial photo of the Long Point causeway 

looking south towards Lake Erie. Big Creek National 

Wildlife Area is to the west (right) and Long Point Inner 

Bay to the east (left) 

Figure 1. Map of Long Point World Biosphere Reserve 

associated with the causeway, one of which was the 

lack of recent road mortality data. The purpose of this 

study was to replicate the surveys conducted by Ashley 

and Robinson (1996) so that historical and present-day 

rates of wildlife mortality could be compared, and to 

evaluate the effectiveness of experimental temporary 

barrier fencing in reducing wildlife road mortality. 

Figure 2a. Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys pcita 

marginata) 

Methods 

The study area consisted of the 3.6 km causeway joining 

the mainland to the Long Point peninsula (Figure 2). The 

causeway was walked every Monday, Wednesday and 

Friday starting July 1 and ending November 14, 2008, 

to search for road kill. The area searched included the 

asphalt surface, gravel shoulders and the cut grass area 

Figure 2b. Eastern Fox Snake (Elaphe gloydi) 

adjacent to the road. A similar width was observed where 

cottages exist (i.e. a width similar to the cut grass width 

was observed onto the cottage lawn). The causeway 

was divided into 5 zones that correspond to zones of 

roadside habitat and development (Figure 4 and Table 1). 

Coordinates of the zone boundaries were taken using a 

civilian GPS unit. 

Upon encountering a road kill, we recorded the zone 

(and in areas where there is fencing, whether it was 

within the fence or not and whether it was at the end of 

the fence), species, age and sex, if known. If species, age 

and sex could not be determined at the time of collection, 

specimens were placed in individual clear plastic bags 

and stored in freezers at the Long Point Waterfowl’s Avian 

Energetics Lab in Port Rowan for later identification. 

When species at risk were observed dead on the road, 

the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) was notified in 

keeping with MNR species at risk (SAR) authorization. 

In keeping with the methodology of Ashley and Robinson 

(1996), all live reptiles encountered on the road were 

moved to a safe location off the road within the study 

zone. This project was conducted under the authority 

of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Wildlife 

Scientific Collector’s Authorization Permit. 

Temporary barrier fencing (Figure 3) was installed 

along 2.5 kilometers of the road (Figure 4) to prevent 

animals from accessing the roadway from the west. The 

west side of zones A to C was fenced because Ashley and 

Robinson (1996) found that in the latter years of their 

study comparatively more mortality occurred in these 

zones, and because personal observations of community 

members identified more wildlife moving west to east 

(marsh to bay). The fence was buried 20 cm below 

ground to discourage animals from digging under with 

the remaining 80 cm left as an above ground barrier for 

Figure 4a. Temporary barrier fencing 

Figure 4b. Electronic sign to alert motorists to wildlife 

crossing on the causeway 

Figure 4c. Artificial turtle nest mound 

88 

89


Unpaired t-tests were used to compare road 

kill/km/day between fenced and unfenced sections of 

the causeway. Specimens observed or collected after 

October 29 were not included in the fenced to unfenced 

comparison as the gaps allowed free movement across 

the fence. 


Table 2. Total wildlife road kill by species found on the Long Point Causeway, from July 1 to November 14, 2008, 

with selected species and class totals from all other study years 

Common name Scientific name Total road 

kill 2008 1979 1980 1992 1993 

Table 1. Description of study zones used in road kill study. Alphabetical labels correspond to the labels on Figure 4 

above. 

Zone From To Length Current Habitat Current habitat Change since 

(South end) (North end) (m) West side East side 1996 study 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

90 

Long Point sign Sandboy Marina 816 Dominated by Three marinas occur Phragmities 

(where 

the Causeway mailbox. bluejoint grass, along this section. invaded. 

meets 

the point) N 42 35.156' sedges, bulrush, 

cattails 

N 42 34.721' W 080 26.508' and phragmities. Open 

W 080 26.440' water adjacent to road. 

Sandboy 

Marina 

C.W.S. Mailbox. 627 Dominated by cattail, Cattail, bulrush and 

phragmities 

mailbox. N 42 35.435' bluejoint grass with 

some 

adjacent to road with 

open 

N 42 35.156' W 080 26.75' phragmities. water beyond. 

W 080 26.508' 

C.W.S. Hydro pole in 662 Wetland with open Cattail, bulrush and 

Mailbox. front 

water 

phragmities 

N 42 35.435' 

W 080 26.75' 

Hydro pole in 

front 

of second 

cottage 

north of 

B.C.N.W.A 

of second 

cottage 

north of 

B.C.N.W.A 

N 42 35.742' 

W 080 26.995' 

Middle of Big 

Creek 

ditch paralleling the 

Big 

Creek Marsh 

Impoundment 

725 Similar to C but 

impoundment 

Bridge does not extend to 

north end. 

adjacent to road with 

open 

water beyond. 

Approximately half this 

section 

is cottage/house 

development. 

N 42 36.092' Remaining is cattail and 

N 42 35.742' W 080 27.242' phragmities dominated 

community. 

W 080 26.995' 

Middle of Big 

Creek 

North end of 728 Cattails adjacent to 

road with 

Bridge. the causeway a shallow pond 

beyond. 

N 42 36.092' 

W 080 27.242' 

(where the 

causeway 

meets the 

mainland) 

N 42 36.4351' to road. 

W 080 27.514' 

Phragmities stands at 

both 

north and south ends 

adjacent 

Open channel runs 

parallel to road. 

Open ponds at north 

and south ends 

of this section. 

Phragmities 

invaded. 

Phragmities 

invaded. 

Phragmities 

invaded. 

Phragmities 

invaded. 

Amphibians 

Northern Leopard Frog Rana pipiens 375 9172 10753 445 7476 

Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana 72 

Green Frog Rana clamitans 18 

Gray Treefrog Hyla versicolor 1 

American Toad Bufo americanus americanus 151 

Unidentifiable Anuran 198 

Total Amphibians 815 

Reptiles 

Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta marginata 36 95 74 93 79 

Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina 96 75 74 45 78 

Blanding's Turtle Emydoidea blandingii 3 19 7 17 18 

Map Turtle Graptemys geographica 11 12 5 2 6 

Garter Snake Thamnophis sirtalis 92 

Fox Snake Elaphe vulpina gloydi 8 5 13 3 3 

Northern Ribbon Snake Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis 12 

Unidentifiable Reptile 2 

Total Reptiles 260 237 219 180 228 

Birds 

Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 11 

Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota 1 

Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia 3 

Swamp Sparrow Melospiza georgiana 10 

Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris 10 

American Robin Turdus migratorius 4 

Gray Catbird Dumetalla carolinensis 1 

European Starling Stumus vulgaris 1 

Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula 4 

Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus 7 

Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas 13 

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus 2 

Morning Dove Zanaida macroura 3 

Rock Dove Columbia livia 1 

Sora Rail Porzana carolina 1 

Yellow Warbler Dendrocia petechia 2 

American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis 1 

Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea 2 

Unidentifiable Bird 23 

Total Birds 100 

Results 

Total road kill counted in 2008 was 1241 animals. A 

total of 43 species were identified (Table 2). In 2008, 

amphibians composed 65.7% of road mortality, reptiles 

20.95%, birds 8.06%, and mammals 5.32% (Table 3). 

Road kill per day in 2008 was by 88.3% lower than in 

1979, by 85.3% lower than in 1980, by 24.7% higher than 

in 1992 and by 78.8% lower than in 1993 (Figure 5). 

The fenced section of the causeway (2.4 x 10 -3 

kills/km) had significantly less amphibian mortality 

91


Table 2 Concluded 

Mammals 

Opossum Didelphis marsupialis 3 

Star-nosed Mole Condylura cristata 2 

Little Brown Bat Myotis lucifugus 5 

Red Bat Lasiurus borealis 2 

Long-tailed Weasel Mustela frenata 1 

Short-tailed Weasel Mustela erminea 1 

Mink Mustela vison 3 

Raccoon Procyon lotor 11 

Deer Mouse Peromyscus maniculatus 10 

House Mouse Mus musculus 4 

Meadow Vole Microtus pennsylvanicus 1 

Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus 8 

Mouse spp. 10 

Unidentifiable Mammal 5 

Total Mammals 66 

Total Roadkill 1241 

Note: Species grouped by class: amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Dark highlights represent species of special concern 

(Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada – a federal designation). Light highlights represent Species at Risk 

(Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources – a provincial designation). 

than the unfenced section (5.7 x 10 -3 kills/km, p = 

0.0273). Most of the amphibian mortality occurred in 

zone E (Figure 6). The fence had no significant effect 

on reptiles with 1.0 x 10 -3 kill/km in the fenced section 

compared to 1.8 x 10 -3 kills/day in the unfenced section 

(p = 0.1198). The fence had no significant effect on birds 

with 5.2 x 10 -4 kill/km in the fenced section compared to 

5.5 x 10 -4 kill/km in the unfenced section (p = 0.8055). 

The fence also had no significant effect on mammals 

with 3.5 x 10 -4 kill/km in the fenced section compared 

with 3.1 x 10 -4 in the unfenced section (p = 0.7244) 

(Figure 6). 

Three dead Blanding’s Turtles were found during the 

study period, while two were found crossing the road and 

were moved to a safe location. Eight dead Fox Snakes were 

found during the study period (light highlights in Table 1). 

Ninety-six Snapping Turtles were found deceased during 

the study period (dark highlights in Table 1). 

Average daily traffic (ADT) in the summer months 

(May, June, July and August) on the causeway is listed 

in Table 4. 

Discussion 

It is difficult to compare the 2008 data to previous 

years’ data because the study did not cover the same 

time period, as the funding to complete the study was 

delayed for several months. Specifically, during 2008, 

data were not collected in the spring when many animals 

are moving. Thus, road kill totals for 2008 were likely 

reduced. Averaging the road kill per day does not lead 

92 

to an accurate comparison either because if spring road 

kill data could be included, the average road kill per day 

would almost certainly be higher. 

Figure 5. The map of Long Point causeway showing 

study zones. Zone boundaries are shown with 

alphabetical labels. Labels correspond to the zone 

column in Table 1. Straight line denotes approximate 

locations of temporary barrier fencing, crooked line 

denotes approximate location of marinas, dotted 

line denote approximate location of cottage/house 

development. 

Amphibian road kill recorded in 2008 in the fenced 

zones was significantly less than in the unfenced 

zones. However, without data collected in the spring, 

it is difficult to assess whether the barrier significantly 

reduced wildlife mortality over the same area of the 

causeway. There were more amphibians killed in the 

unfenced zones in 2008, which suggests that the fence 

had the desired effect, but because the effect was 

due solely to the high mortality in Zone E, it remains 

possible that it was due to fence location and not to the 

fence itself. Further research is needed to determine if 

the barrier is effective at reducing road mortality. 

Leopard Frog mortality in 2008 was the lowest 

of any year recorded (Table 2). Ashley and Robinson 

(1996) showed peak Leopard Frog mortality occurring 

in August. Presumably, Leopard Frog data in 2008 

are comparable to other years because most, if not 

all, road kills were recorded. Using road mortality 

as a population index suggests that the Leopard Frog 

population in Big Creek marsh was low in 2008. 

Leopard Frog populations are cyclical, so it is possible 

that 2008 was a year in which the population was low as 

part of this cycle. It is also possible that road mortality 

in previous years caused the apparently lower Leopard 

Frog population in 2008. However, the numbers of 

Kill/Day 

90.0 

80.0 

70.0 

60.0 

50.0 

40.0 

30.0 

20.0 

10.0 

1979, 77.7 

1980, 61.4 

Table 3. Total mortality and percent mortality by class 

over all years 

Year Total kill % Amp. % Rep. % Birds % Mam. 

1979 10872 92.3 2.2 4.6 0.9 

1980 12038 95.2 1.8 2.4 0.5 

1992 1269 56.0 14.2 22.8 7.0 

1993 8323 93.9 2.7 2.7 0.6 

2008 1241 65.7 21.0 8.1 5.3 

Table 4. Summer traffic volume on the Long Point 

causeway 1978–2008 

Year 

Summer average daily 

number of vehicles 

1978 2800 

1992 3050 +9% 

2005 3126 +2% 

2006 2839 -9% 

2007 2640 -7% 

2008 2780 +5% 

1993, 42.7 

1992, 6.8 


Change from 

previous year 

2008, 9.1 

0.0 

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 

Year 

Figure 6. Road kill/day for the years 1979, 1980, 1992 and 1993. Road kill/day is shown separated from year by a 

comma. The 1979 study period was 140 days (n = 10872), 1980 study period was 196 days (n = 12038), 1992 study 

period was 186 days (n = 1269), 1993 study period was 195 days (n = 8323), and the 2008 study period was 137 days 

(n = 1241). 

93


Kill/km/day 

0.00 

A B C(W/in) C(Out) D E 

Zone 

Fenced 

Unfenced 

Figure 7. Comparison of wildlife road mortality/km/day along fenced and unfenced sections of the Long Point 

causeway. Note: half of zone C was fenced. 

frogs killed in the other years for which there are 

data show no clear downward trend (Leopard Frog 

mortality closely tracks the data presented in Figure 

5 since these numbers are largely made up of Leopard 

Frogs). A steady decline in road kill from year to year 

would be expected if road mortality was causing an 

overall population decline. Thus, data are required 

from subsequent years to determine if the population 

has declined or was just at a cyclical low. 

Even with a shortened study, the period of total 

reptile kill in 2008 remained fairly consistent with 

other years (Table 2). The reptile mortality was mostly 

composed of Snapping Turtles, which have been listed 

as a species of special concern by the Committee on the 

Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) 

(COSEWIC, 2008). Traffic volume on the causeway 

has not increased since 1978 (Table 4). As there has 

been no increase in traffic and no decline in reptile 

mortality, the causeway apparently has not reduced the 

reptile population of the marsh. However, there is a high 

probability that the causeway is killing more female 

turtles than males and therefore could be skewing the 

sex ratio (Steen et al, 2006; Aresco, 2005b). Over time, 

this could cause a turtle population decline in Big Creek 

Marsh, which supports the need for a permanent solution 

(see Ecoplans, 2008). 

94 

4.00 

3.50 

3.00 

2.50 

2.00 

1.50 

1.00 

0.50 

Reptiles Amphibians Birds Mammals 

Conclusions 

More often than not the lack of consistent time series of 

data constrains the drawing of conclusions with respect 

to the anthropogenic stresses on animal populations. 

This study is a perfect example. If the conservation 

community is to succinctly demonstrate to society that 

past practices – such as the construction of the Long 

Point Causeway – have a serious detrimental effect 

on animal populations including endangered species, 

ecosystem monitoring must become a priority and 

consistently receive appropriate and timely funding. 

If funding is secured, the Long Point Causeway road 

mortality monitoring will continue in 2009, which will 

help address the data gaps. But such monitoring is not the 

only data required. The population sizes of endangered 

and other species need to be determined in order to 

identify the population-level threats imposed by the road 

mortality. Proper ecosystem monitoring is a resourceintensive 

undertaking requiring sound science. 

Road kill is not the only issue. The Long Point 

Causeway has also disrupted the natural hydrological 

processes between the marsh and Long Point Inner 

Bay and the impacts of this disruption have not been 

studied. There are also human safety concerns due 

to the causeways’ narrow road and lack of adequate 

shoulders. Common sense suggests these issues should 

be addressed. 

The Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation 

leads a steering committee of over 18 federal, provincial, 

and municipal government agencies and non-governmental 

organizations charged with determining the most 

effective means to reduce wildlife road mortality, restore 

hydrological connections, and provide for safe wildlife 

movement between Big Creek Marsh and Inner Bay. 

In implementing causeway improvements to address 

these main objectives, there are also opportunities to 

provide improved safety on the Long Point Causeway for 

motorists, residents, pedestrians and cyclists. 

Ecoplans Limited, a Canadian environmental 

consulting company with expertise in road ecology 

issues, was contracted to identify and develop practical 

short- and long-term solutions to improve the causeway 

and address the above-noted objectives. Measures 

enacted in 2008 include the installation of temporary 

silt fencing to restrict the movement of animals onto 

the road and an associated monitoring program, habitat 

enhancement, and a public awareness and education 

campaign including mobile/active road signage. Longtem 

measures include: 1) creating an ecopassage system 

including a series of passages (culverts/bridges) and 

funnel wall to safely direct animals under the causeway 

between the marsh and Inner Bay; 2) re-establishing 

the hydrological connection between the marsh and 

the Inner Bay that allows for seasonal exchange of flow 

and nutrients; 3) enhancing wildlife habitat elements 

(turtle nesting habitat); 4) providing improved safety 

and recreational opportunities for both local residents 

and others who wish to enjoy the Long Point World 

Biosphere Reserve; 5) providing signage to raise 

public awareness; 6) calming traffic; and 7) consistent 

ecosystem monitoring (Gartshore et al, 2009). 

The complete Long Point Causeway Improvement 

Plan and recent activities can be accessed at www. 

longpointcauseway.com. 


We would like to thank Dr. Scott Petrie and Dr. Ted 

Barney (Long Point Waterfowl), Paul Ashley (Parks 

Canada), Pud Hunter (Ontario Ministry of Natural 

Resources) and Dr. Dave Ankney (Professor Emeritus, 

University of Western Ontario), for their many 

suggestions and editing. We would like to thank the 

Long Point Causeway Improvement Project Steering 

Committee for their financial support and input, 

especially the Monitoring Advisory sub-committee 

of Rick Levick (project manager), Scott Gillingwater 


(Upper Thames Conservation Authority), Jeff Robinson 

(Canadian Wildlife Service), Jon McCracken (Bird 

Studies Canada), Pud Hunter, and Dr. Dave Ankney. 

We would also like to thank Environment Canada for 

funding this project via its Science Horizons Internship 

program. 

References 

Ament, R., Clevenger, A. P., Yu, O., and Hardy, A. 2008. An 

assessment of road impacts on wildlife populations in U.S. 

national parks. Environmental Management 42: 480–496. 

Aresco, M. J. 2005a. Mitigation measures to reduce highway 

mortality of turtles and other herpetofauna at a north 

Florida lake. Journal of Wildlife Management 69(2): 

549–560. 

Aresco, M. J. 2005b. The effect of sex-specific terrestrial 

movements and roads on the sex ratio of freshwater turtles. 

Biological Conservation 123(1): 37–44. 

Ashley, P. E., and Robinson, J. T. 1996. Road mortality of 

amphibians, reptiles and other wildlife on the Long Point 

causeway, Lake Erie, Ontario. Canadian Field Naturalist 

110(3): 403–412. 

Ashley, P. E, Kosloski, A., and Petrie, S. A. 2007 Incidence of 

intentional vehicle reptile collisions. Human Dimensions 

of Wildlife 12(3): 137–143. 

COSEWIC. 2008. COSEWIC wildlife species assessments 

(detailed version), November 2008. http://www.cosewic. 

gc.ca/rpts/Detailed_Species_Assessments_e.htm 

Craig, B., Francis G. 1993. Long Point Ecosystem Stresses, 

Department of Environment and Resource Studies, 

University of Waterloo, unpublished. 

Ecoplans 2008. Long Point causeway improvement plan. 

59 p. 

Gartshore, G., Thompson, G., Cox C., Harrington, A., Scott, 

M., Craig, B., Jongerden P., and Levick, R. 2008. Long 

Point World Biosphere Reserve Causeway Improvement 

Plan. Poster Presentation at the 2 nd Scientific Conference of 

the North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve, Valmiera, Latvia. 

Glista, D. J., Devault, T. L., and Dewoody, J. A. 2008. 

Vertebrate road mortality predominantly impacts amphibians. 

Herpetological Conservation and Biology 3(1): 

77–87. 

Langen, T. A., Ogden, K. M., and Schwarting, L. L. 2009. 

Predicting hot spots of herpetofauna road mortality along 

highway networks. Journal of Wildlife Management 73(1): 

104–114. 

Steen, D. A., Aresco, M. J., Beilke, S. G., Compton, B. 

W., Condon, E. P., Dodd Jr., Kenneth C., Forrester, 

H., Gibbons, J. W., Greene, J. L., Johnson, G., Lange, 

T. A., Oldham, M. J., Oxier, D. N., Saumure, R. A., 

Schueler, F. W., Sleeman, J. M., Smith, L. L., Tucker, J. K. 

& Gibbs, J. P. 2006. Relative vulnerability of female turtles 

to road mortality. Animal Conservation 9: 269–273. 

95

Sustainable Planning Instruments 

and Biodiversity Conservation, 2009 

Publisher: University of Latvia Press 

Baznīcas iela 5, Latvija, LV-1010 

Printed by Ltd. “Latgales Druka”

Proceedings

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