Introduction

The primary goal of this report is to depict the devastating effects of tourism on the Danube-Ipoly National Park and its close surroundings. Not only does this concise report summarise the recent findings of Hungarian conservationists from 2015 to 2020, but owing to a 1000-participant-survey carried out lately, it also clearly outlines the opinions of Hungarian residents who live close to the nature reserve.

The National Park

In the light of accessible data, tourism has had a tremendously negative impact on the Danube-Ipoly National Park as the increased numbers of tourists caused growing noise pollution. Aboriginal nest-building species were disturbed with their mating process by noise pollution, which had severe effects on their breeding, so their populations have dropped conspicuously. Were the number of simultaneous visitors controlled and limited, noise pollution could be tackled sufficiently in the imminent future as well.

The River Danube

Sewage water already induced numerous obstacles for the flora and fauna of the river as well as for human health. Under no account should untreated wastewater be released into the river; however,   more state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plants should be allocated in order to clean and maintain the sufficient hydrological conditions of the river water.

Surrounding environment

Widespread littering is considered to be a major concern in the area as holiday-seekers are inclined to litter virtually everywhere in the neighbourhood. Undoubtedly, non-dissoluble plastic waste means a main threat to nature as this artificial material is not biodegradable, and disposing it may result in the deaths of several animals, fungi and plants. Due to increasing tourism, in the surroundings of numerous nature rails a considerable amount of garbage appeared causing irreversible harm to the environment. Obviously, more litter bins ought to be planted so as to make them easily available to wandering tourists, whose consciousness should be raised to the significance of environmental pollution. 

Conclusion

This report intended to illustrate that on the whole, tourists are reluctant to draw attention to their environment, which urges the fact that this issue should be handled efficiently. The recommendations suggested above could be implemented to improve the ongoing negative trend and offer some possible solutions.