The jointly developed transnational monitoring strategy provides a common framework for understanding and monitoring how tourism affects protected natural areas. It was prepared by HUMANITA partners as a practical planning document for protected area managers, based on good-practice examples, pilot-site needs and a shared biodiversity monitoring workflow.

The strategy helps managers define why is monitoring is needed, what should be monitored, where and when, who should be involved and which resources are required

It focuses on five key monitoring areas:

• Visitor movement and behaviour
• Vegetation pressure
• Trail erosion
• Wildlife disturbance
• Pollution

The strategy also supports the selection of meaningful and comparable indicators, combining traditional field methods with innovative tools such as visitor counters, digital movement data, camera-based monitoring, acoustic sensors, remote sensing, surveys and citizen participation.

In practice, it can be used to design or improve monitoring programmes, identify tourism pressure hotspots, involve visitors and local communities in data collection, support local action plans, provide evidence for better visitor management and nature protection measures andInform future policy recommendations