Abstract (English)
Protected areas provide crucial ecosystem services to the local, regional, local and global economy. Specifically regarding the regional aspects, protected areas may promote regional (economic) development, but may also be affected by development activities. Given that a effective and sustainably funded parkmanagement is institutionalized, protected areas can fulfill their crucial role in regional development. However, the “use” of protected areas as tools for regional development presupposes that there is indeed an effective, efficient and sustainably funded park administration in place, that the park management has the decisive authority over land-use within the parks boundaries, and that the regional development authorities and plans have established close communication and cooperation with the park administration, and vice versa. This includes the acknowledgement of the potentially crucial role of the protected areas ecosystem services as inputs for regional (economic) development in the current development plans. The current report finds that only in Tatra National Park (PL) the main preconditions for a connection between biodiversity conservation and regional development are fulfilled. The other two parks, Slovensky Raj National Park (SK)and Maramures Mountains Natural Park (RO) lack the basic fundamentals, such as sufficient funding and institutional stability and authority, to promote regional development substantially by the respective parks ecological management.