EAR Project
Support to Local Economy through Sustainable Tourism
The aim of the action was support of the local economy through activities connected with the development of sustainable tourism in Special Nature Reserve Zasavica. The action was to support achieving the objective of the UNEP sponsored project “Development of a methodology and a tourism management plan for the special nature reserve Zasavica”.
With the maximum annual budget of 100,000 euro, in the period between 1997 and 2007, the Nature Conservation Movement from Sremska Mitrovica (Pokret gorana Sremska Mitrovica), as the Manager of the Special Nature Reserve Zasavica has, apart from carrying out their primary function of nature protection, increased the number of visitors from 600 to 4000 per year, and the income from tourism from 1,100 euros a year to 11,450 euros which was the amount earned in 2006.
The managing organization received the great “Beli anđeo” (White Angel) award for Serbian tourism and became a member of the IBA and the Europark Federation, and a candidate for RAMSAR. All the mentioned achievements were accomplished within and parallel to the regular basic field of activity of the managing organization, with the modest human and financial resources.
What yielded the results were the original concept of sustainable tourism in protected nature properties and the unique offer of this reserve, and the results were achieved through great efforts and talent of the staff and by the assistance from associates, mostly thanks to the inventiveness, creativity, skilled managing and enthusiasm of the Reserve Manager.
In this way, the Special Nature Reserve Zasavica created a good starting point for development of tourism, but at the same time it also reached a development threshold that cannot be stepped over without additional investments and new management organization of the tourist area and the potential of the reserve.
In order to achieve quality and have 10,000 visitors in Zasavica in the first stage of development, it was necessary to preserve the brand, form a new eco-tourist centre, and carry out significant changes in the organization and operation of Zasavica tourism.
A strong base for all three developments has been prepared through the Feasibility Study sponsored by EAR project. This relates to things like “Zasavica eco-circle” business program, economical and financial calculations of new eco-tourist centre development, direct recruitment of 11 employees and raising awareness of local SMEs and population. The Special Nature Reserve Zasavica adopted new development planning procedures which have been piloted under this project.
PDF version of The Project Final Report can be downloaded here.
