Spatial Information Systems for Transnational Environmental Management of Protected Areas and Regions in the Central European Space

Spatial Information Systems for Transnational Environmental Management of Protected Areas and Regions in the Central European Space Selected Results and Outputs of the Interreg IIIB Project SISTEMaPARC Schriftenreihe "Fernerkundung und angewandte Geoinformatik" - Band 4 Herausgeber: Elmar Csaplovics, Ulrike Seiler, Stefan Wagenknecht 2008. 268 Seiten. Format B5 (176 x 250). Preis 35,00 Euro. ISBN 978-3-941216-01-3. Rhombos-Verlag, Berlin. Often one region of cultural and natural heritage is divided by frontiers into two or more protected landscape areas with two or more administrative authorities and two or more management structures and - if existing – with two or more different approaches to the integration of spatial geographic information systems (SIS/GIS). The increasing demand for transnational initiatives in planning and management of cross-border protected regions in particular is backed by various European and global initiatives like the Flora Fauna Habitat directive of the European Community, the World Conservation Monitoring programme of the UN-Environmental Programme and the UNESCO - World Heritage list. These initiatives foster efforts to improve or establish cooperations between administrative authorities from local to transnational level. There is urgent need for cross-border homogenised documentation of natural heritage. It is a matter of fact that a synthesis of management issues of protected areas by networks of spatial information systems has to be strengthened. The project SISTEMaPARC within the EU-INTERREG III B CADSES programme was aimed to establish, develop and maintain joint cross-border and transnational communication and management platforms of spatial information analysis, exchange and application for improving networks connecting partner regions in Central Europe. The cross-border regions of Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland (G/CZ), Lake Neusiedl-Seewinkel / Fertö-Hanság (AT/HU), Giant Mountains (CZ/PL) and Triglav / Prealpi Giulie (SI/IT) were the core regions in the project. The establishment of a transnational homogenised data base network and management including easy-to-handle software tools for data treatment and communication procedures in accordance with the framework of European and global environmental initiatives were the main project objectives. The project closure was linked to the first International Symposium on Geoinformatics in European Nature Protection Regions - Nature Protection : GIS, which assembled over 100 experts in spatial regional management of protected areas and regions and allowed for the extension and consolidation of contacts and perspectives of cooperation with partners from all over Europe (www.natureprotection-gis.de). The transnational approach of the project mission is thoroughly open-ended and allowed for the successive integration of additional regions during the project duration as well as for the preparation and implementation of follow-up activities. Autoren ATTWENGER, Maria BARBORIC, Blaz CSAPLOVICS, Elmar CZIMBER, Kornél ELZNICOVÁ Jitka FAJFR, Zdenék FANGI, Gabriele GRUNER, Lutz HOFFMANN, Sabine HOLEŠINSKÝ, Oldrich KIRÁLY, Géza KOKALJ Žiga LHOTA, Tomáš MALINVERNI, Eva S. MÁRKUS, Istvan NEUBERT Marco PODOBNIKAR, Tomaž SEILER, Ulrike ŠRÉDL, Václav STAB, Sabine TAKÁCS, Gabor TERHEŠOVÁ, Daniela TROMMLER, Marco WALZ, Ulrich WAGENKNECHT, Stefan ZIKMUNDOVÁ, Anna