ABSTRACT
This book has identified some of the key factors that shape local residents’ attitudes and opinions with respect to different national park management systems. I have highlighted how nature protection policies are contingent upon wider environmental, social and political relations, and are heavily influenced by economic opportunities and tourism development patterns. Using evidence drawn from literature reviews, surveys of secondary data, as well as on-site research undertaken in Pelister National Park (Macedonia) and Šumava National Park (Czech Republic), the book has connected the attitudes of local residents towards protected areas as geographical settings for the conduct of everyday life, on the one hand, with the broader issues of public participation and environmental management in the two areas, on the other.
