Our associated partner UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Southeast-Rügen has been involved in an interesting project under the Interreg Central Europe Programme about Eco-Tourism.
The DUNC team had the opportunity to participate at the online final conference that was held on May 14th – the conference was a good occasion to learn about eco-tourism solutions around Europe.
Katrin Hüsken, Project Manager CEETO shared with us what have been developed at the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Southeast-Rügen:
The project Central Europe Eco-Tourism: tools for nature protection aimed to implement an innovative governance system for tourism management, based on a participatory planning approach and on the principles of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas. The CEETO Project was an opportunity to test different Sustainable Tourism practices in eight central Euopean protected areas and Nature 2000 sites, one of which was the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Southeast-Rügen. During the project stakeholder meetings took place in the Biosphere Reserve to jointly assess the existing and develop a new sustainable tourism action plan and correlating measures. One of these actions focused on raising awareness among visitors in the Zicker Berge hiking area of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Southeast-Rügen and enriching the experience. Together with local stakeholders the following measures, amongst other, were implemented:
- To inform visitors about the environmental and cultural richness of the area, an audio-guide was created. It provides information about the correct code of conduct as well as stories from the local stakeholders in German and English, e.g. about local traditional land use or myth surrounding the area. The audio-guide, including pictures and short descriptions can be accessed online and offline (download option) via the Smartphone application “izi.TRAVEL” or directly via the website. The app has an auto-play function – if the GPS tracking system is activated, the audio guide will automatically play the linked GPS sequence.
- Trashcans were designed by the primary school children of the area Zicker Berge (Mönchgut) are and placed in the villages of Groß Zicker and Gager to reduce littering in the protected area of the Zicker Berge.
This is but one example of the tourism measures implemented in the CEETO Project. Further information about the project and sustainable tourism development in protected areas can be found in the CEETO Brochure, Handbook, Guidelines or Manual, all of which can be found on the CEETO Website or the CEETO Networking Platform.
Brasor: Perish Widower House, Groß Zicker