Barriers on the road to Vršič, limited access to the Vrata valley, similar measures are planned also for the source of the Soča and the Lepena valley. Some points in Triglav National Park are indeed overloaded due to the ever-increasing number of visitors. Problems are also occurring in the high mountains. For example, as many as 700,000 people climb Slovenia’s patriarch Triglav each year, and on beautiful days at the peak of the season the crowd is unbearable. “Visiting Triglav at peak times is more or less a stressful experience,” says Tit Potočnik, director of the public institution TNP, where they are also considering introducing a reservation system.
The area of Triglav National Park (TNP) is recording more and more visits year after year. Some points are overloaded and, based on calculations of the carrying capacity of the area, the public institution TNP has already adopted certain measures in recent years. They are also considering these for ascents to Triglav, which could be limited with a reservation system.
As stated by Majda Odar, head of the information and education service at the public institution TNP, their visitor counters in the valleys recorded similar, and in some places even higher, numbers this season than last year. Among the most visited are the Tamar valley, Martuljek waterfalls, Peričnik waterfall, Pokljuka, and individual points in Bohinj and the Soča valley.
When tickets for the most visited natural attractions, such as Vintgar, Savica waterfall and Mostnica gorges, are added to the data from visitor counters, they arrive at 1.5 million visitors annually. At individual micro-locations in TNP, as Odar pointed out, the carrying capacity is certainly exceeded. This means that further access limitation measures are necessary, as it is not only about excessive pressure on nature but also about the social capacity of the space and ensuring dignified living conditions, which is the task of all stakeholders in managing this space, she is convinced.
She is satisfied with how the new traffic regime with limited access by personal vehicles to the Vrata valley performed this summer, which contributed to calming traffic and a better visiting experience of the valley. “However, the system will need to be monitored and upgraded in the future as well,” she assessed.
A special regime is also expected on the Vršič road, where a barrier system is currently being tested. This already showed deficiencies on recent sunny days, when golden larches were inviting to Vršič, as a traffic collapse occurred on the pass despite the barriers, which are supposed to distinguish between transit passengers and those wishing to park at the top of the pass.
Measures to reduce personal motor traffic are planned for some other points as well, for example at the source of the Soča and in the Lepena valley.
Problems due to excessive visits are also occurring in the high mountains, for which they do not have data on visitor numbers. Limiting access to individual starting points and the reservation system for mountain huts can partially influence the redistribution of high-mountain visits.
Crowds on Triglav: “It’s hard to say this is still a nice experience”
Particularly high pressure is on Slovenia’s highest mountain. According to estimates, up to 70,000 people climb Triglav annually, bearing in mind that visits are strongly concentrated on individual beautiful days, as evidenced by the images coming from Triglav. “It’s hard to say this is still a nice experience. We are entering a phase where, although some measures may not be desirable, as a society we will reach the awareness that something needs to be done,” Odar is convinced.
She believes that, given what happens in high season, certain measures are needed, not only from a nature conservation perspective but also from the perspective of visitor safety. However, any limitation of visits to the summit of Triglav would require broader societal consensus. “It is a shared responsibility for visiting this space, which belongs to it not only as the central part of the national park but also as a national symbol,” Odar highlighted.
“Triglav is national pride, a mountain one should climb if one even wants to be Slovenian. Foreigners also want it because it is a mountain of myth, legend, known far and wide,” listed the reasons for the very high number of visits by Tit Potočnik, director of the public institution TNP. Therefore, just as for other heavily visited parts of the national park, a calculation of carrying capacity in terms of nature conservation, visitor experience and safety will be needed for Triglav as well, he emphasised.
Already in 2018, a study showed that three-quarters of respondents cited mass visits as the worst experience when climbing Triglav. This is also Potočnik’s experience. “The conditions are chaotic, people walking up and down, they cannot pass each other, they shout about who should wait. The situation is unorganised, unclear, unregulated, harmful to nature and dangerous for people,” Potočnik listed.
“Visiting Triglav at peak times is more or less a stressful experience and I think it is the manager’s task to ensure that this experience for the visitor is not stressful and that safety and environmental protection are ensured,” he highlighted, convinced that with regulation the ascent experience on Triglav would be significantly better and safer.
The work programme of the public institution TNP includes calculating carrying capacity for all parts of the park where environmental overloads are detected, which also applies to Triglav. Once the capacity is calculated, according to Potočnik, in agreement and cooperation with the ministry for natural resources and space and with the support of the ministry for economy, tourism and sport, it is necessary to appropriately present to visitors why certain limitations are needed and what positive effects they bring to everyone.
Among possible measures is determining the maximum daily number of ascents. In this case, a system should be introduced that would allow reservations for ascents and also control over the number of planned ascents.
Source:
https://www.24ur.com/novice/slovenija/na-triglav-le-z-rezervacijo.html