IDENTIFICATION OF NEGATIVE FACTORS AFFECTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SUTJESKA NATIONAL PARK

Abstract

The topic of research are the problems of sustainable development of Sutjeska National Park. Within this, general geographic features are given in detail, while forms and degree of tourism pressure, as well as the intensity of environmental endangerment within the protected natural area, are analyzed. The forms and intensity of anthropogenic influences in the exploration area changed considerably during the historic-geographic development, from the use of area for summer pasture, through the exploitation of natural resources (forests and mineral raw materials), to tourism-motivated valuation in recent times. Such social influences have left visible traces in the natural environment and the landscape, which are reflected in the distorted ecological balance (spatially differentiated reduction of natural vegetation, on account of the expansion of pasture landscapes) and various forms of endangerment of the environment. Existing geoecological problems call for the future assessment of the resource base of the National Park to be strictly directed towards the principles of sustainable development. This implies, first of all, the development of sustainable tourism within the framework of tourism carrying capacity and constant care for the preservation of heritage (natural and cultural) as the strategic goal of development policy.