Lynx, barkbeetle and forest dynamics: Five years of visitor perceptions on Harz National Park conservation objectives

Harz National Park lies in Northern Germany and is adjacent to the Pathways Europe 2018 site. Since its designation in 1990, conservation objectives and visitor management in the park have been often subject to a heated... [ view full abstract ]

Harz National Park lies in Northern Germany and is adjacent to the Pathways Europe 2018 site. Since its designation in 1990, conservation objectives and visitor management in the park have been often subject to a heated controversy. Bark beetles have taken over forest management from the foresters in the park's core zone and are introducing changing forest dynamics which are contradicting the traditional view of a German forest by national park visitors. The lynx has been successfully reintroduced to an area where predators other than hunters have been absent for well over a century.

Between 2011 and 2015, various research undertakings in an international context funded through the EU's Erasmus Lifelong Learning Programme have focused on the interactions between Harz National Park management (and managers) and the general public, mainly the visitors to the park. In this organized session, selected results from various studies will be presented by several participants of these efforts. The session will be in a 90-minute format and include these four presentations:

1. Introduction to natural resource management at Harz National Park and its conflict potentials - Eick von Ruschkowski, Arne Arnberger, Robert Burns & Thomas E. Fish

2. Visual impacts of bark-beetle infested forests on recreation - Arne Arnberger, Ingrid Schneider, Stuart Cottrell, Eick von Ruschkowski, Robert Venette, Stephanie Snyder & Paul Gobster

3. Differences in the support of Eurasian Lynx reintroduction in Lower Saxony between non-hunters and the hunting community - Eick von Ruschkowski

4. Visitor perceptions on Harz National Park management objectives - Thomas Fish, Robert Burns, Arne Arnberger & Eick von Ruschkowski

The remainder of the session time will be used to engage in a discussion with Harz National Park managers on the necessities for human dimensions-related research to improve park management. There may be another presentation submitted by Harz National Park, we would then extend the session from 90 to 120 minutes.