Nature conservation and local development

Tourism has come to play a big role in terms of development in sparsely populated areas in the Swedish countryside. Corporations and municipalities often want to use special and exclusive environments as resources in their marketing. At the same time these environments have to be conserved and protected in a long-term perspective to remain attractive for both humans and ecological species. The study is based on the controversy between preservation and the use of nature conserves. To get an inside perspective of nature conservation, eight persons within the subject area from the regions of Härjedalen and Torsby have been interviewed. Further more authorities positions in matters of preserved areas use in tourism is presented. The study also presents the chosen municipalities and tourism entrepreneurs view on preserved environments and addresses areas that are often related to conflicts between different interests. To show if the stakeholders in the study have a long-term perspective towards local development, questions regarding possible climate change were included