ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF ŠUMAVA NATIONAL PARK

Abstract

The main task of nature protection is to preserve or improve the current state of nature. Thus, it might seem that the economic benefits of the national park are not important for the management of the protected area, but calculating the economic benefits of protected areas for the region improves its acceptance among locals and visitors, as well as political and economic actors. From 2017 to 2019, Šumava National Park (Bohemian Forest National Park) in the Czech Republic and Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald (Bavarian Forest National Park) were subjected to extensive socio-economic monitoring, which included, among other things, research focusing on the economic benefits that visitors brought to both national parks. This article presents the results of research of the regional economic benefits that visitors brought to Šumava National Park compared with those in Bavarian Forest National Park, although the methods and findings were not absolutely identical and therefore difficult to compare.