A GIS assessment and modelling of environmental sensitivity of recreational trails: The case of Gorce National Park, Poland

Protected natural areas are often subjected to severe human impacts including recreational-related impacts. Walking, hiking, horse riding, bicycling and backpacking are the most popular outdoor recreational activities in many protected areas. Trampling of vegetation and soil erosion are two main indicators of trail impact. Understanding and modelling factors related to trail and forest road degradation are crucial to park managers, who are responsible for the preservation of natural conditions and the maintenance of recreational opportunities. It is usually impossible to make direct measurements of all the factors that determine the trail impact. Hence, the use of GIS modelling to assess environmental sensitivity is encouraged. In this study, two variables have been used (1 – vulnerability of plant communities to trampling; 2 – vulnerability of soil to erosion processes) to assess the spatial distribution of areas with diversified degrees of environmental sensitivity to trail impact. These variables can be relatively easily collected and spatially modelled using GIS. The model presented in the study is simple and can be easily calculated with limited data.Although 50% of the area of the Gorce National Park has potentially medium or low environmental sensitivity to trail impact, over 36% of its recreational trails and forest roads are constructed in sensitive areas. These roads are highly susceptible to gully erosion. One result of the model used in this study is the qualitative assessment of environmental sensitivity. Although it does not provide quantitative results (e.g. a maximum allowed number of tourists per day), it allows to study the spatial distribution of environmental vulnerability and to compare selected areas. For example, results provided by the proposed methodology can be used to determine which areas are resilient and therefore are predisposed to recreational use, and which are vulnerable and should be protected from severe human impact.

Research highlights
► Spatial distribution of the environmental sensitivity can be modelled within GIS.
► Proposed model is simple and easy for implementation by national parks.
► Model can be used to choose of appropriate indicators of changing conditions.
► In GPN environmental resilience is mostly controlled by topographic factors