Abstract
Land managers of wetlands face various challenges emerging from climate change. Exploration of these problems is a prerequisite to developing adaptive management of vulnerable areas. Central and Eastern European countries are highly vulnerable to climate change. The Balaton Uplands National Park, an attractive tourist destination with natural values of high national and community importance, has suffered the greatest extremities in precipitation in Hungary during 2010 and 2011. After identification of stakeholder groups, private landowners and land managers as being most likely affected by climate change were interviewed in the national park. A compilation of the most important land use problems that already have influence on the management of protected wetlands was listed. Land managers connect several problems to weather extremities and long-term changes, but take practically no actions in favor of mitigation or adaptation, or strengthening resilience. As there is strong evidence that wet habitats are becoming more sensitive and vulnerable, land managers have to adapt their objectives, strategies and measures to changing climate and be involved in the process of adapting the management measures of protected areas, especially wetlands, to probable effects of climate change.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the key informants for this study, especially the managers of the Balaton Uplands National Park and the land owners and farmers who shared their knowledge and devoted their time to this work. Our study was supported by the HABIT-CHANGE project, implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE program co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
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This study was funded by the HABIT-CHANGE project, implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE program co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
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Malatinszky, Á., Ádám, S., Falusi, E. et al. Climate change related land use problems in protected wetlands: a study in a seriously affected Hungarian area. Climatic Change 118, 671–682 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0689-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0689-9