Karst National Parks (NKFI project)

Karst terrains are vulnerable areas, therefore they are protected at many locations as national parks. The aims of this project are to explore the specific features of karst national parks and to describe the evolution of the “national park” concept and realization during the last decades in the regional context of Hungary and some of its neighbours. Thus, we selected some national parks from these countries (Aggtelek National Park /Hungary/, Slovak Karst National Park /Slovakia/, Tara National Park/Serbia/, Krka National Park /Croatia/, Apuseni Nature Park /Romania/, this latter being only a nature park) to answer the following questions:
1) Which one is more important: the protection of geological/morphological values or the living environment?
2) Is climate change an important issue in karst national parks?
3) What are the conflicts among conservation – research – tourism in case of karst national parks?
4) Do local people accept, are they pleased with the national park, or do they experience limitations?
5) How did recent social transformations (change of regime, country borders, EU) influence the aims and tools of national parks?
Our issues are partly connected to natural settings of national parks, but the social aspects of national parks are also touched, thus our project needs an integrated geographical approach, which is provided by the variegated research skills of the participants and the international collaboration.