Environmental Assessment of Recreation Areas: a Case Study in Wilderness of Kamchatka (Russian Far East)

The paper describes assessment and monitoring program, which has been designed and initiated for monitoring recreational impacts in some wilderness of Kamchatka. The framework of recreational assessment was tested through an application to a case study, conducted in summer 2008 in Kronotskiy State Biosphere Preserve (Kamchatka peninsula, Russia). The overall objective of case study was to assess the existing campsite and trail recreational impacts and to establish a network of key sites for subsequent long-term impact monitoring. The detailed assessment of different components of natural complexes of Kronotskiy State Natural Preserve and obtained maps of ecological conditions showed that some sites were highly disturbed (over 20% of the total area of some key sites was identified as highly disturbed). Findings of our initial work corroborate the importance of basing a wilderness management programs on knowledge about trail and campsite impacts and emphasize the necessity of adopting of recreational assessment and monitoring framework to the practice of decision-making.