Prielbrusye National Park Environmental Changes Due To Increasing Tourism Activity
Prielbrusye National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Russia. In recent years internal tourism development, stimulated by restrictive measures (due to the COVID pandemic and geopolitical situation), resulted in significant growth of tourist flow to the national park’s territor...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Lomonosov Moscow State University
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Geography, Environment, Sustainability |
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| Online Access: | https://ges.rgo.ru/jour/article/view/2727 |
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| author | Anna A. Cherkasova Anton A. Iurmanov Pravin Kokane Alexey A. Maslakov Matija Petkovich Marina N. Petrushina Aida Tabelinova Azamat Tolipov Georgy Yakubov Yulia Yushina |
| author_facet | Anna A. Cherkasova Anton A. Iurmanov Pravin Kokane Alexey A. Maslakov Matija Petkovich Marina N. Petrushina Aida Tabelinova Azamat Tolipov Georgy Yakubov Yulia Yushina |
| author_sort | Anna A. Cherkasova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Prielbrusye National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Russia. In recent years internal tourism development, stimulated by restrictive measures (due to the COVID pandemic and geopolitical situation), resulted in significant growth of tourist flow to the national park’s territory. A surge in anthropogenic load on the park’s geosystems might degrade them and lead to environmental pollution. This research involved chemical studies of natural waters and snow from the south slope of the Elbrus and audit of the most popular tourist trails. The results have shown that in the snow alongside mountain hiking pistes to the Elbrus all the way up to 4,720 m above sea level (a.s.l.) oil stains concentration is up to 38 times higher than maximum acceptable concentration (MAC). Content analysis of heavy metals in snow cover on the Elbrus slopes and in the river Baksan has shown a significant rise in lead load over the period of 2015–2021 from the trace levels to 1.5 MAC, which is the result of increased anthropogenic load on the south slope of the Elbrus mountain. Ground observation of tourist trails has brought to light numerous patches of vegetation trampling, width extension and branching of the main trail, as well as campfire sites. The research results can be used as a rationale to take measures to reduce recreational load, to improve local geosystems’ condition and to develop a plan of action on nature conservation within the park’s territory. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bb72072a896f45899c911ec8d612bbdc |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2071-9388 2542-1565 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Lomonosov Moscow State University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geography, Environment, Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj-art-bb72072a896f45899c911ec8d612bbdc2025-08-20T02:17:34ZengLomonosov Moscow State UniversityGeography, Environment, Sustainability2071-93882542-15652023-01-0115411512310.24057/2071-9388-2022-108641Prielbrusye National Park Environmental Changes Due To Increasing Tourism ActivityAnna A. Cherkasova0Anton A. Iurmanov1Pravin Kokane2Alexey A. Maslakov3Matija Petkovich4Marina N. Petrushina5Aida Tabelinova6Azamat Tolipov7Georgy Yakubov8Yulia Yushina9All-Russian non-governmental organization Russian Geographical SocietyAll-Russian non-governmental organization Russian Geographical Society; Main Botanical Garden named after N. V. Tsitsin RASUniversity of MumbaiLomonosov Moscow State UniversityUniversity of BelgradeLomonosov Moscow State UniversityLomonosov Moscow State University, Kazakhstan BranchUnaffiliated with an organizationUnaffiliated with an organizationInstitute of Geography and Water SecurityPrielbrusye National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Russia. In recent years internal tourism development, stimulated by restrictive measures (due to the COVID pandemic and geopolitical situation), resulted in significant growth of tourist flow to the national park’s territory. A surge in anthropogenic load on the park’s geosystems might degrade them and lead to environmental pollution. This research involved chemical studies of natural waters and snow from the south slope of the Elbrus and audit of the most popular tourist trails. The results have shown that in the snow alongside mountain hiking pistes to the Elbrus all the way up to 4,720 m above sea level (a.s.l.) oil stains concentration is up to 38 times higher than maximum acceptable concentration (MAC). Content analysis of heavy metals in snow cover on the Elbrus slopes and in the river Baksan has shown a significant rise in lead load over the period of 2015–2021 from the trace levels to 1.5 MAC, which is the result of increased anthropogenic load on the south slope of the Elbrus mountain. Ground observation of tourist trails has brought to light numerous patches of vegetation trampling, width extension and branching of the main trail, as well as campfire sites. The research results can be used as a rationale to take measures to reduce recreational load, to improve local geosystems’ condition and to develop a plan of action on nature conservation within the park’s territory.https://ges.rgo.ru/jour/article/view/2727prielbrusye national parkcaucasustourismenvironmental protectionelbrus |
| spellingShingle | Anna A. Cherkasova Anton A. Iurmanov Pravin Kokane Alexey A. Maslakov Matija Petkovich Marina N. Petrushina Aida Tabelinova Azamat Tolipov Georgy Yakubov Yulia Yushina Prielbrusye National Park Environmental Changes Due To Increasing Tourism Activity Geography, Environment, Sustainability prielbrusye national park caucasus tourism environmental protection elbrus |
| title | Prielbrusye National Park Environmental Changes Due To Increasing Tourism Activity |
| title_full | Prielbrusye National Park Environmental Changes Due To Increasing Tourism Activity |
| title_fullStr | Prielbrusye National Park Environmental Changes Due To Increasing Tourism Activity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prielbrusye National Park Environmental Changes Due To Increasing Tourism Activity |
| title_short | Prielbrusye National Park Environmental Changes Due To Increasing Tourism Activity |
| title_sort | prielbrusye national park environmental changes due to increasing tourism activity |
| topic | prielbrusye national park caucasus tourism environmental protection elbrus |
| url | https://ges.rgo.ru/jour/article/view/2727 |
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