VIsitor MOnitoring and MAnagement in protected areas - VIMOMA

The ‘Experience design and nature conservation via VIsitor MOnitoring and MAnagement in protected areas - VIMOMA’ project aims to connect researchers and relevant stakeholders to make protected areas more efficient in nature conservation and visitor management in both Visegrad (V4) and Western Balkans (WB) countries.
The natural environment brings a range of benefits, such as relaxation, recreation, health, and socialising. Natural areas have always been popular destinations all over the world; nevertheless, visitor numbers in natural areas are undergoing steady increases — especially more so as an outcome of the pandemic, which rendered people in distinct degrees of confinement for an extended period of time — and such a trend may easily lead to overloading sensitive areas.
Thus, VIMOMA aims to address this problem by developing a framework methodology for visitor monitoring and management — an approach which is neither widespread nor much used throughout the V4 and WB regions.
Through the organisation of workshops and field trips in each of the five participating countries, the project will give an opportunity to professionals, policymakers, national park managers, and other stakeholders to share their experience and expertise, while also developing guidelines for visitor monitoring and shared, common positions related to appropriate Protected Area (PA) management.
Lead Project Coordinator: Joanna Hibner, Jagiellonian University - Faculty of Geography and Geology
Contact e-mail: joanna.hibner@uj.edu.pl