Sustainable Tourism Development in the Ždiar Highland Municipality in the Transition Zone of the Tatra Biosphere Reserve (Slovakia)

Authors

  • Veronika Piscová

    Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences – Nitra Branch, Nitra 94901, Slovakia
  • Zuzana Pucherová

    Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Nitra 94901, Slovakia
  • Regína Mišovičová

    Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Nitra 94901, Slovakia
  • Gabriel Bugár

    Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Nitra 94901, Slovakia
  • Juraj Hreško

    Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Nitra 94901, Slovakia
  • Katarína Vitálišová

    Department of Public Economics and Regional Development, Matej Bel University, Banská Bystrica 97590, Slovakia
  • Andrej Sedlák

    Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Nitra 94901, Slovakia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v7i5.9000
Received: 7 March 2025 | Revised: 27 March 2025 | Accepted: 28 March 2025 | Published Online: 9 May 2025

Abstract

The Goral municipality of Ždiar (a Conservation Reserve of Folk Architecture since 1977) is one of the most attractive areas in Slovakia under the growing influence of the developing tourism. Since 1949 it has been part of the protection zone of the Tatra National Park and since 1993 it has been part of the transition zone of the Tatra Biosphere Reserve. In recent years, tourism has taken a major role in the transition zone of this biosphere reserve. In the presented contribution, we therefore evaluate the impact of developing tourism in the cadastral area of ​​the municipality of Ždiar between 1950 and 2022.. We rely primarily on available statistical data from various sources and on the analysis of the historical and contemporary landscape structure. During this period, almost 50% of the area has changed land cover. The activities that have significantly changed the landscape include afforestation, deforestation, agrointensification, deurbanisation (naturalisation), urbanisation (anthropisation): tourism development and construction of a water reservoir. Tourism has become the main driver of the economy here and opens up opportunities especially for local inhabitants. However, the lack of completed tourism infrastructure is a drawback. We recommend the establishment of the Coordinating Council of the Tatra Biosphere Reserve and permanent employees at the National Park Administration.

Keywords:

Development; Tourism; Ždiar; Land Cover Changes; Tatra Biosphere Reserve; Slovakia

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How to Cite

Piscová, V., Pucherová, Z., Mišovičová, R., Bugár, G., Hreško, J., Vitálišová, K., & Sedlák, A. (2025). Sustainable Tourism Development in the Ždiar Highland Municipality in the Transition Zone of the Tatra Biosphere Reserve (Slovakia). Journal of Environmental & Earth Sciences, 7(5), 381–400. https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v7i5.9000

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Vol. 7 , Iss. 5 (May 2025)

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Copyright © 2025 Veronika Piscová, Zuzana Pucherová, Regína Mišovičová, Gabriel Bugár, Juraj Hreško, Katarína Vitálišová, Andrej Sedlák

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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