Protected natural areas are located in areas rich in natural landscapes unchanged by human intervention. That is why they are a major attraction for tourists. Visited by many tourists, in the absence of well-established rules and adequate infrastructure, there are irreversible degradations of the environment and natural scenery.
Examples of very beautiful and representative areas from the point of view of biodiversity or natural monuments that have been degraded by chaotic tourism are well known. For example, the Bucegi Mountains Plateau, located in the special conservation area of the Bucegi Natural Park, since the Babele cable car was used, experienced a continuous degradation of the soil due to the fragility of the alpine pastureland, uncontrolled tourism and the lack of an infrastructure well thought out. Unfortunately, and nowadays the situation is the same without any major improvement.
In Romania, 14 zones are declared as NATIONAL PARKS and 16 areas as NATURAL PARKS, all of which are located, with a few exceptions, in mountain areas. In order to protect the natural environment and to protect the tourist attractions as much as possible, it is necessary for the tourists to be guided by well-trained mountain guides and in the field of nature protection. In order to avoid the unpleasant situations in which they can be found while traveling on the mountain, mountain guides need to know the operating regulations of the protected areas in which they operate. It is extremely unpleasant that in the presence of tourists the guide is sanctioned by the personnel of the protected natural area.
At present, tourists are much more complex than in the past. If years ago tourists only wanted to conquer a peak, they now want to know and understand the mountain, to find out unusual things about nature, protected species, local population and their habits. For this mountain guides, they need to have much more knowledge about the area in which they travel. The route planning phase will have to be done with more consideration given the environmental and environmental issues. Restrictions imposed by the Natural Area Regulation must be presented and explained to tourists so that they can then be applied in the turn.
Mountain guides have to take care that certain actions necessary for mountaineering / climbing activities are inconsistent with the regulations of the parks and the principles of nature protection. Thus, the removal of vegetation (plants, muscles and lichens) grown on climbing routes constitutes a violation of environmental legislation because this vegetation is protected at European level (“crasmofitic vegetation”). That is why the mountain guide has to prepare the routes before guiding the tourists on them. Camping in unassigned areas is only allowed in special situations. The unmarked routes are only allowed in the case of conventions between park administrations and mountain guides / mountain guides associations as concluded by AGMR with the Association of Natural Protected Areas Administrators in Romania.
In order to bring the level of training of the mountain guides to the standards required by the new requirements on this market, the Association of Mountain Guides in Romania has begun to develop a new occupational standard for the mountain guide profession. Due to the importance of this standard, AGMR is supported by several legal entities in Romania, Bulgaria and Italy in a project with European funding ERASMUS + entitled “MODERNIZATION OF THE FORMATION OF MONTANE GHIZES FOR IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF EUROPEAN MONTANE TOURISM AND GROWTH OF LABOR MOBILITY IN THIS SECTOR “.
Under the new professional standard, hours will be provided for learners to know all of these environmental issues.
The unaltered preservation of the mountainous natural environment, both in protected natural areas and in other mountain areas, leads to the provision of favorable conditions for the development of the mountain guide in the future.
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