How recreational impacts are experienced in high mountains: Visitors perceptions in Nahuel Huapi National Park, Patagonian Andes, Argentina

SEBASTIAN ROSSI; AGUSTINA BARROS; ANA HERNANDO JIMÉNEZ

Chamonix

Conferencia; 4TH Sustainable Summits Conference; 2018

American Alpine Club

The Nahuel Huapi National Park (NHNP) is located in Northern Patagonian Andes (Fig. 1) and it is internationally known for its native forests, endemicfauna, glaciers, high Andean mountains and emeralds lakes. Historically founded as a border strategy with the neighboring country Chile, NHNP is the first Park in Latin America (1922). In the early 20th century, influenced by mountaineers from the Alps, new relationships with the mountains began resulting in a growing touristic-recreational activity that remains nowadays. At present, the Park has a complex management framework that involves multiple actors with diverse environmental visions. This brings several problems including obstacles toimplement an adaptive management framework or effective visitors? monitoring programs, which in turn, results in the degradation of popular areas.