Radio România Internațional

Tag: ecotourism

  • Eco-tourism in Romania

    Eco-tourism in Romania

    Romania is known, among other things, because of its
    vast and virgin forests, because of the areas where tradition is still unspoiled
    and where we find craftsmen who still work handicraft objects using techniques
    and following patterns that have been handed down to them from one generation
    to the next. In all this landscape there are associations that have been
    striving to preserve the natural values and provide education focusing on responsible
    tourism. Today we will find out what exactly eco-tourism entails. Our guide is
    advocacy expert and Greener Association coordinator, Loredana Pana.

    Loredana Pana:


    It entails the activities we can do when we are
    on holiday, yet we do such activities with a significantly less strong impact
    on the environment we visit, Tourism, as a rule, can do a lot of damage to the
    visited places. The great inflow of tourists, the flight, everything we consume
    while on holiday, all that takes its toll on the tourist destinations. When we
    intend to do eco-tourism or slow tourism, as it is known, we visit certain
    areas, bearing in mind the impact we can have on nature. For instance, we do not
    use motorized vehicles when on holiday or we spend as much time as we can in
    the same area and eat the local produce and not those brought from afar, as the
    latter have a strong carbon imprint. Practically, we need to think as much as
    we can about the impact we have in a given community and what we live behind
    us. The eco-routes are ecotourism itineraries we can take by foot, by bicycle,
    by water, using a kayak, on horseback, so it’s about non-motorized means of
    transport.

    Luckily, in Romania, quite a few of the areas around the
    country are not very developed, so they somehow are in a natural condition
    which is closer to eco-tourism. Notwithstanding, according to Greener
    Association’s Loredana Pana, ecotourism should work according to a sound legal
    framework.


    Loredana Pana:

    Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a
    tendency or an encouraging trend at legislative and national level to support
    such eco-tourism destinations and I think we have the opportunity to do it
    since we’re still at the beginning, yet such destinations should be promoted
    more often.

    Ecotourism Destination is a concept that has
    been developed since 2012 by the Central Public Tourism Authority, in
    partnership with nationwide representative institutions and organizations. At
    that time, Romania was Europe’s first country to have launched such a
    recognition system of the ecotourism destinations. As we speak, there are seven
    officially recognized eco-tourism destinations. However, advocacy expert and Greener
    Association coordinator, Loredana Pana, invites us to explore an area which, even
    though it has not been officially recognized as such, can be the perfect
    destination for those who want to do green tourism.


    Loredana Pana :

    I will
    recommend, right now, the areas along the river Danube. We have many projects
    involving river Danube and the Danube Delta. The Danube Delta is an
    extraordinarily beautiful area it is a UNESCO world heritage site, it is unique
    around the world, thanks to the landscape the Danube forms as it flows into the
    Black Sea. We still have villages that are not touristic. I should like to
    recommend to your listeners to take a couple of days off and have boat rides,
    slowly, with as small boats as possible, and spend as much time as they can in
    those villages of the Danube Delta, being in direct contact with the local
    community. I don’t recommend that we go to a resort, which is somehow separated
    from the entire local community. The Danube Delta is a unique example from the
    viewpoint of multiculturality. There are over 12 ethnic groups living in the
    Danube Delta and Dobrogea and they are a good example of good practice as they
    have preserved their traditions and lived together for such a long time.


    The Greener Association has this week launched the
    Danube Eco-route.


    Loredana Pana :

    This is actually an idea we are going to
    continue to work on. It’s a 44-kilometre-long route on land and water
    around the city of Giurgiu. The route includes the city of Giurgiu and other
    four communes, Slobozia, Oinacu, Prundu and Gostinu. These 44 kilometres can be
    covered on bicycle, on foot or on horseback. It is important that we should not
    go there by cars or other motorized vehicles but enjoy the tranquility of
    nature and the fresh air. We have proposed this eco-route because we need green
    areas to use for entertainment and our psychological welfare, so to say. It is
    at one hour distance from Bucharest, a marvelous area the Danube creates in
    this region. In the south, for instance, there are no entertainment facilities
    on the Danube, like we have in the Delta, or where the Danube enters Romania,
    for instance.


    For those who want more centralized information
    concerning the access to this route, the Greener Association has a project in
    place.


    Loredana Pana:

    By the end of the year we want to
    create a virtual map with this Danube eco-route as it is important for people
    to have all the information they need, how to get access, how good the road is,
    if they can bring their children along etc. And we want to make that map
    public. I invite you to follow us at maimultverde.ro and on our social
    networks. We are going to post all the information than we can glean by the end
    of the year.


    Loredana Pană, expert advocacy and project coordinator
    with the Greener Association, has also met an increasing number of foreign
    tourists who have appreciated the lack of human intervention in these wild
    areas.


    Loredana Pana:

    Trekking routes through the mountain
    wilderness have been much appreciated. Transylvania with all that it has to
    offer is also very appreciated. Bucharest has become a travel destination for
    city breaks. And from the viewpoint of the environment and ecology, we have
    been running a new programme in Bucharest since last year. It is called
    ‘Outdoor’ and through it we are trying to promote the city’s less-known green
    areas to its citizens. There are also wild green areas, where people don’t have
    access at present, such as the lakes on the Colentina river. Back in the 60s,
    there were lots and lots of swimming pools there in what was dubbed as ‘the
    seaside of Bucharest’. Not anymore nowadays, you know. Bucharest can also
    become an eco-tourist attraction for Europe although we are quite far from this
    objective at the moment and there is no strategy to bring us to that
    direction


    However, there is an increasing tendency to come back
    to nature in the Romanian tourism and from this point of view the offer is very
    diversified. (EN & bill)



  • The Apuseni Nature Park

    The Apuseni Nature Park

    The
    Nature Park in the Apuseni Mountains stretches on a surface area of more than
    75,000 hectares. The Apuseni Nature park practically covers the Apuseni
    mountains’ most important karstic surface area, as well as Romania’s most
    important such surface. Among the activities the Apuseni Nature Park offers,
    there are trekking, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, but also programmes
    combining several options. Added to that are the culinary offers, as well as
    the no less generous offers regarding accommodation, so the outcome of all that
    is a perfect holiday in the middle of nature. Alin Mos is the director of the
    Apuseni Nature Park Administration. Mr Mos emphasized the fact that the park is
    a one-of-a-kind surface area, lying in the western part of Romania.

    The area stretches on three counties, Bihor, Cluj, Alba, practically
    covering the Apuseni mountains’ most important karstic surface area, as well as
    Romania’s most important such surface. It mostly stretches over Bihor
    Mountains, and we can also say that as we speak, it has gained its recognition
    around the world as a destination, as a nature park, particularly because of
    the karstic assets it is home to. And here, the Scarisoara Glacier cave is by
    far the most important and the most renowned asset worldwide, since here you
    can find the world’s biggest subterranean fossil block.

    In the spring of 2020,
    The Apuseni Nature Park Administration was assigned the organisation of events
    by the National Forestry Division, by means of which the European Day of the
    Parks is celebrated at national level. Because of the pandemic, several changes
    occurred in the events’ schedule, but the administration provided weekly info on
    such topics as water, air, landscape, traditions and biodiversity, while on May
    24, on the very day when the European Day of the Parks was celebrated, the
    administration launched the interactive map of the Apuseni Nature Park. Some of
    the special spots, lying along the trekking routes, have been put to good use
    by the park rangers, who set up stopover areas, where you can just sit down and
    admire the beauties of nature. Some of the logs that were found along the
    trekking routes have been carved out and turned into benches, and next to them,
    info boards have been placed, with messages tailored for each and every spot.
    The director of the Apuseni Nature Park Administration, Alin Mos, believes such
    a measure is like an invitation for everybody to reconnect with nature.


    All these pieces of information have been included on those boards,
    placed in the stopovers inviting people to reconnect with nature, while for
    each topic displayed on the board, apart from the name of the location, the
    tourist, the traveler, is sure to find a message. And as they read the message,
    they will practically integrate in what that spot wishes for them. Let me give
    you a few examples! On the banks of a river, in an absolutely breathtaking
    spot, the message runs something like :’Allow your thoughts to slide along the
    waterwaves, downstream, and make sure you are there all by yourself, you and
    nature alone!’ Another message, to be found in a location where a stopover was
    placed and which can seat no more than one, maybe two persons that can rest in
    such a place set up between the roots of a centuries-old beech tree, the
    message runs something like: ‘Sit between the arms of the old tree, so that it
    may tell you the tale of the forest!’.


    For
    the time being, 39 such stopover spots have been set up, but there will be more
    than a hundred of them, in the future. In the Apuseni Nature Park a wide range
    of holiday programmes can be mounted, including ecotourism activities. Gabriel
    Bonaciu is the organizer of such ecotourism activities, for five, maybe seven
    days. Gabriel invites us to view everything from the perspective of the tourist
    who…ventures so far as to delve into the Apuseni Nature Park.


    During the laid-back outings, along the Padis Belvedere spots, you can
    cross alpine plain fields, and, as they climb up towards the peak of the
    mountain, once they got up high, tourists can have the opportunity to admire
    the natural landscape unfolding at their feet, We also organize adventure
    trekking in the Galbena Gorges and the Pont Fortresses. There are routes along
    the circuit that can only be taken by those who are extremely fit. Part of the hiking
    routes have chains, while hikers need to be very careful in some areas.
    Tourists are impressed with the wild nature, with the great stone bridges,
    dozens of meters long, by the boisterous waterfalls and the glaciers that for
    thousands of years have been concealed by the densely forested mountains.


    Such a
    glacier can be admired in the Undying Fire Cave, lying at an altitude of almost
    1,200 meters. The quite uncanny association between a glacier and the fire can
    be explained by the fact that the sunrays are reflected in the stalagmite
    conglomerates in the cave, thus creating the illusion of the firelight. Using
    securing cables as they take the difficult hiking routes or as they cycle up there,
    tourists can discover the beauties of nature, the local cuisine and cultural
    attractions.

    As they take the via ferrata routes along the Black Stones itinerary,
    nearby the Vartop holiday village, from
    the steep rocks, tourists are being presented with fairy-tale landscapes. Via
    ferrata is an attraction for those who are into climbing, along routes that
    have been especially set up for them, mainly for those who want to be safe as
    they admire nature from up high, from the panoramic viewpoints. During cyclo-tourism
    tours, tourists cycle towards waterfalls and mountain peaks with a very special
    scenery, taking mountain paths through forests and glades, which are a delight to the eye
    and the senses. Each cyclo-tourism route has a taste of the local cuisine
    included in the schedule, offered by the locals at the guest houses in the
    region or at the preset stopover areas.    On the
    barrier lakes in Apuseni Mountains, from Dragan Valley or Fantanele, kayak
    rides can also be organised. Visits to centuries-old orthodox wooden churches
    are scheduled, while tourists may take that opportunity to find out more about
    the history of the place from the priests, they can find out more about
    Romanian traditional culture, about the building techniques used in the
    construction of religious edifices. For instance, in the Fânațe village in
    Bihor county, the Câmpani commune, visitors can see a wooden church whose outer
    walls are plastered in earth, using a traditional technique, while on the
    inside, which is totally made of wood, priceless religious paintings have been
    designed by the local painters.


    Renowned
    scientist and explorer Emil Racovita was the first one to put forward the
    proposal to establish the park in 1928, but it was not util 2000 that the
    Apuseni Nature Park was officially established. In 2009, the Apuseni Nature
    Park was declared a destination of excellence by the European Commission, which
    included the park in the EDEN project. The project is aimed at enhancing the
    visibility of the non-traditional destination, highlighting the diversity of
    the quality of tourist offers at European level, as well as supporting sustainable tourism.

    ( Translation by Eugen Nasta)