Description
Wildlife populations are in decline because of excessive hunting in the past years. This project aims to create a wilderness area in the south-eastern part of Fagaras Mountains. The CARPATHIA founded a hunting association, which concessioned the hunting area “21 Izvoarele Dâmboviței”. Since then, the 15.000 ha area is protected. The aim of the project is the sustainable development of the area based on ecotourism programs which promote biodiversity conservation. The expected achievements are to generate alternative economic benefits for the local communities from ecotourism and to prove that living wildlife is more important for people and biodiversity than killed wildlife. The project will create an offer of ecotourism programs for local guesthouses and tour-operators, the infrastructure needed for wildlife watching, and it will prepare 10 local wildlife guides. The local population, guesthouse owners and employees, tour operators and hunting associations will benefit from this project.
Summary of project results
Generally, the lease and management of a hunting area is very expensive, costing over 40,000 Euros / year. Recovering these costs usually means that administrators must shoot as many animals as possible and that can be achieved only by overestimating the number of wild animals (and therefore achieving a higher hunting quota). The Piatra Craiului-Fagaras Conservation Hunting Association was created in order to lease as many hunting areas as possible in the CARPATHIA project area but with full protection for wild animals. Since 2011, the association manages the Hunting area no. 21 Izvoarele Dambovitei (13,500 ha). Through the project, the development of the wildlife watching programme started, offering people the chance to enjoy nature and at the same time supporting financially the organisation. As a first step, a study about the potential of the wildlife watching programme was conducted, in which the project team discussed the opportunity with local guesthouses and tour operators known to activate in this field. This study was the basis for developing the strategy of the programme, which was later implemented. To provide the necessary infrastructure for the programme, a 7 seater 4x4 vehicle, 4 camera traps, 4 binoculars and 2 telescopes were purchased, and also 4 watching hides were built and installed. 15 people were trained in ecotourism guiding - they are now able to provide professional services for tourists. 10 of the guides are from the local community. The project was promoted through a photo exhibition. Pictures were made by collaborators, with the occasion of 2 photo camps and field trips organised during the project. The beneficiaries of the project include local guesthouse owners, who can now be part of the new wildlife watching programme. The programme also creates new jobs, like guiding and services in the hospitality industry. In terms of tourism, the area doesn’t have a tradition, the guesthouses offering only accommodation. Now, tourists have options for new environmental-friendly, organised, recreational activities. Thanks to the project, the development process of ecotourism has been started in the area, which will result, in a long term perspective, in an increased number of tourists and, at the same time, a well-protected biodiversity.
Summary of bilateral results