Importance of Interdisciplinary Spatial Planning of National Parks: Case Study of Croatia

Abstract

With the attempt to "reconcile" protection and tourism activities, spatial planning has a great importance in sustainable planning and management of Nature Protected Areas (NPAs). The spatial dimension of sustainability involves numerous processes and links among different purposes of lands, ecosystems, and biotopes at different levels through time, therefore, it is necessary to include all sciences and professions, whose common goal is the sustainability of the area, in the spatial planning process. This paper argues that there is a critical need for an interdisciplinary approach in spatial planning, which could improve the quality of planning of national parks and all other sensitive nature areas. Such approach should strive to the sustainability of protected nature destinations with the integration of knowledge. In Croatia, national park planning is still mostly done without comprehensive and integrated involvement of a wide range of science and profession, which ultimately significantly reduces the quality of the plans, as well as may have potentially negative effects on the future development.