Description (EN): A series of common territorial challenges affecting Bihor-Hajdú-Bihar Euroregion ask for joint solutions on natural heritage conservation and sustainable touristic use of joint natural values. Such challenges include the poor condition of joint natural values, insufficiently developed tourism infrastructures and poor road accessibility, as well as lack of complex tourism packages and of strong touristic brands, all these constraints and shortages being underlined in the strategies of the two counties, as well as in studies and analysis relevant for the cross-border region of Bihor-Hajdú-Bihar counties.
Form the perspective of the Interreg V-A ROHU Programme Document, and in accordance with common territorial challenges identified by the partners, the project addresses challenge no. 12, which refers to the fact that insufficient public transport links to the sights, lack of tourism infrastructure, services and programme packages reduce the attractiveness of the eligible area and make the joint development of complementary attractions difficult.
Despite previous initiatives carried out including in the frames of the HURO CBC Programme, the target area of the project needs further developments aiming at the conservation, protection, promotion and development of natural heritage. This need is available for both Salacea and Hortobágy, two settelments from the Bihor-Hajdú-Bihar cross-border region, both disposing of rich natural heritage, yet without properly benefiting form the touristic use of their unique natural values. On the Romanian side of the border the project’s focus is on Salacea Pasture (part of Natura 2000 sites ROSPA0016 and ROSCI0021) and its surroundings, while on the Hungarian side the project addresses a specific section of Hortobágy River, as well as a series of natural protection areas, including Hortobágy National Park and Natura 2000 sites HUHN 10002 and HUHN
20002.
The project was generated by the concurrent wish of Salacea Commune and Hortobágy Village to improve the conservation status of natural protection areas and habitats located on their territories and to develop and promote them in the frames of a new integrated cross-border tourism destination, featured by a green thematic route connecting two representative bridges.
The project appears as a joint answer to the identified common territorial challeges, as:
- through the creation of an ecological corridor connecting the two parts of Salacea Pasture, as well as through the development of light pollution free public illumination in Hortobágy Village, the project will improve the condition of important natural heritage elements on both sides of the border,
- through the creation of new visitor infrastructures, with improved accessibility, focusing on natural values of Ierului Field and Nirului Field – Ierului Valley on the Romanian side, and on Hortobágy river and its surroundings on the Hungarian side, the project will develop natural heritage based infrastructure on both sides of the border,
- and through the development and promotion of a new integrated tourism destination represented by a new cross-border thematic route connecting the supported sites and the created facilities, the project addresses the challenge represented by lack of complex tourism packages and of strong touristic brands in the cross-border target area.
In this context the main overall objective of the project is to enhance efficient and sustainable touristic use of joint natural values of the cross-border area of Salacea and Hortobágy, by supporting and promoting natural heritage of the addressed target area, in view of increasing the number of visitors and of tourist overnight stays.
Main outputs of the project include:
- Salacea Pasture (part of ROSPA0016 and ROSCI0021) with improved conservation status (WPI1),
- natural areas of Hortobágy with improved conservation status, due to decreasing light pollution (WPI3),
- a new visitor infrastructure in Salacea promoting the natural values of Ierului Field and Nirului Field – Ierului Valley (WPI2),
- a new visitor infrastructure focusing on the natural values of Hortobágy River (WPI4),
- a new cross-border thematic route connecting two bridges (WPT1).
With these outputs the project brings a clear contribution to programme output indicators CO23 and CO09, by supporting habitats of a total surface of 968 Hectares in order to attain a better conservation status, as well as by attracting a total number of 5000 visitors to supported natural sites.
The project appears as a joint solution to common challenges identified by the partners, and is based on an integrated approach, emphasizing the importance of cross-border cooperation in conserving, protecting, developing and promoting the natural heritage of the cross-border area, in order to increase its tourism attraction capacity.
The project involves a strong product innovation process, the planned cross-border thematic route being a new tourism product, representing a new integrated tourism destination covering the cross-border area between Salacea and Hortobágy. Besides being a new product as a whole, the cross-border thematic route will incorporate innovative elements newly developed in the frames of the project, such as the new ecological corridor supporting the habitats of Salacea Pasture, the new didactic route on Hortobágy River, which offers both adventure and insight into nature, as well as the new theme park in Otomani, which represents innovation in the field of creative use of natural resources on the Romanian side of the border. Innovation is to be found in the theme of the route – nature and adventure between two representative bridges –, as well as in the main tourist types addressed, respectively families with children and young couples in search of adventure in nature.
Innovative methods to be used include the improvement of natural protection areas’ conservation status of by reducing light pollution through the modernization of the public illumination system of Hortobágy Village, supporting and guiding tourists through a mobile friendly webpage connected to a QR-code system along the didactic route on Hortobágy River, as well as the creation of an ecological corridor for amphibians and insects inhabitating Salacea Pasture by rehabilitating a swamp located between the two sides of the pasture.
Due to all these elements of novelty the project is likely to become a best practice model, presented in a Good pratices publication addressed to relevant actors interested in carrying out similar initiatives based on best practices developed and tested in the frames of the project.
Read more Expected Outputs (EN): The project’s main result is represented by the increased tourist attraction capacity of the cross-border area of Hortobágy and Salacea, seen as integrated tourism destination, due to the increased number of natural sites worth visiting, attracting an increased number of visitors (5000, in line with the assumed total value of indicator CO09).
In order to increase the tourist attraction capacity of the cross-border region of Salacea and Hortobágy, the project proposes a series of interconnected intervetions, including:
- investment in natural heritage on both sides of the border, with impact on habitats having a total surface of 968 Hectares (in line with the assumed value of indicator CO23),
- investment in new visitor infrastructures having the main role of sustainably utilizing the natural heritage potential of the addressed area,
- and a complex intervention aiming at the developement and promotion of a new cross-border green thematic route focusing on nature and adventure between two bridges.
These interventions will jointly contribute to the increase of tourist attraction capacity of the new integrated tourist destination (respectively of the cross-border region of Hortobágy and Salacea).
The increased tourist attraction capacity of the target region will lead to increased number of overnight stays in the eligible programme area, thus the project main result being relevant and directly linking to the programme level result indicator set for 6/c initiatives (R 6/c Tourist overnight stays in the eligible programme area).
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