Bieszczady: sustainable
horseback tourism
Bieszczady is the only Polish national mountain park that keeps the tradition of horseback tourism and the “Polish Wild East” legend alive. The Hutsul horse reintroduction, which was originally aimed at species conservation, boosted local tourist services development. In 1997 special horseback trails were included in the Bieszczady Conservation Plan, which enabled long guided expeditions lasting several days. The Polish Tourist Association ranked Bieszczady as the second best centre for mountain horseback guide’s training. However, the network of trails requires maintenance and supplementary infrastructure. The number of local inhabitants trained so far is limited because many local people cannot afford the expense.
The PAN Parks Small Grants Fund project, “Support for sustainable horseback tourism development in Bieszczady” provides for an effective visitor management and a buffer zone for sustainable tourism development in co-operation with local stakeholders. The project will cover the cost of training for ten local people as well as the improvement and renewal of trails’ signing and infrastructure. The project is directly linked to regional and local development strategies. It fosters nature conservation in the park buffer zone promoting the use of marked trails, channelling visitor traffic and limiting human pressure. It aims to connect local development with improvements to the quality of tourist experience. |
