Current issues concerning nature conservation and tourism in the Romanian Carpathians

The pressure of tourist activities on nature in the Romanian Carpathians increased after the 1950s, with the highest level reached during the period after 1990 and especially after 2000, due to the privatization of real estate in the mountains and the deregulation of tourism exploitation in natural parks. There are areas of tourist tradition such as the Bucegi Massif where the natural components of the landscape have been strongly artificialized by the clearing of dwarf pines (Pinus mugo) and the intensification of tourist traffic on paths that are not well developed and controlled. The rapid development of asphalt roads up to more than 2000 m (in the Bucegi region, for example) and plans to develop high-altitude hiking itineraries have high impacts on landscape even in protected areas. This creates conditions to rethink the role and regime of protection of natural sites that have remained after the forest clearing works and the tourism development.