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Wounded Landscape: Environmental and Social Consequences of (Illegal) Motor Tourism in Forests on the Example of Worek Okrzeszyna (The Central Sudetes on The Polish-Czech Borderland)

Dagmara Chylińska

Dagmara Chylińska

Department of Regional Geography and Tourism, Institute of Geography and Regional Development, University of WrocławWrocław, Poland
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Chylińska, Dagmara
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Krzysztof Kołodziejczyk

Krzysztof Kołodziejczyk

Department of Regional Geography and Tourism, Institute of Geography and Regional Development, University of WrocławWrocław, Poland
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Kołodziejczyk, Krzysztof
  
Dec 20, 2023
Wounded Landscape: Environmental and Social Consequences of (Illegal) Motor Tourism in Forests on the Example of Worek Okrzeszyna (The Central Sudetes on The Polish-Czech Borderland)'s Cover Image
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Published Online: Dec 20, 2023
Page range: 121 - 142
Received: Nov 02, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/quageo-2023-0039
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© 2023 Dagmara Chylińska et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1.

Land relief of the Jański Wierch (Czech Jánský vrch) and Węglarz ranges surrounding Worek Okrzeszyna to the south and divided by the valley of the Szkło brook. Source: authors’ own research based on the numerical terrain model (NTM) of 1 m × 1 m resolution, retrieved from: https://mapy.geoportal.gov.pl/imap/Imgp_2.html.
Land relief of the Jański Wierch (Czech Jánský vrch) and Węglarz ranges surrounding Worek Okrzeszyna to the south and divided by the valley of the Szkło brook. Source: authors’ own research based on the numerical terrain model (NTM) of 1 m × 1 m resolution, retrieved from: https://mapy.geoportal.gov.pl/imap/Imgp_2.html.

Fig. 2.

Illegal motor tourism in forest districts in Poland. Source: authors’ own study.
Illegal motor tourism in forest districts in Poland. Source: authors’ own study.

Fig. 3.

Illegal motor tourism in national parks in Poland. Source: authors’ own study.
Illegal motor tourism in national parks in Poland. Source: authors’ own study.

Fig. 4.

Off-road routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Jański Wierch range plotted on a relief. Source: authors’ own research.
Off-road routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Jański Wierch range plotted on a relief. Source: authors’ own research.

Fig. 5.

Off-road routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Węglarz range plotted on a relief. Source: authors’ own research.
Off-road routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Węglarz range plotted on a relief. Source: authors’ own research.

Fig. 6.

Routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Jański Wierch range: A - destroyed stretch of a hiking trail in the eastern part of the ridge (the trail almost doubled, the surface is covered with rock rubble as a result of erosion); B - hiking trail in the western part of the ridge with motorcycle traces (visible material moved by the wheels); C - downward exit from the ridge route to the steep south slope; D - fresh traces of cross motorcycles. Photo: the authors, 2021.
Routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Jański Wierch range: A - destroyed stretch of a hiking trail in the eastern part of the ridge (the trail almost doubled, the surface is covered with rock rubble as a result of erosion); B - hiking trail in the western part of the ridge with motorcycle traces (visible material moved by the wheels); C - downward exit from the ridge route to the steep south slope; D - fresh traces of cross motorcycles. Photo: the authors, 2021.

Fig. 7.

Routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Węglarz range: A – parallel routes on the slopes of the Szkło valley with extracted rock rubble (mark D in Fig. 5); B – narrow path in a milder part of the slope with clearly visible motorcycle traces; C, D – demanding stretch of the route crossing a rock ridge near village Chvaleč (mark E in Fig. 5). Photo: authors, 2021.
Routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Węglarz range: A – parallel routes on the slopes of the Szkło valley with extracted rock rubble (mark D in Fig. 5); B – narrow path in a milder part of the slope with clearly visible motorcycle traces; C, D – demanding stretch of the route crossing a rock ridge near village Chvaleč (mark E in Fig. 5). Photo: authors, 2021.

Fig. 8.

Off-road routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Jański Wierch range with the inclination of slopes. Source: authors’ own research.
Off-road routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Jański Wierch range with the inclination of slopes. Source: authors’ own research.

Fig. 9.

Off-road routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Węglarz range with the inclination of slopes. Source: authors’ own research.
Off-road routes used by motorcycle tourists in the Węglarz range with the inclination of slopes. Source: authors’ own research.

Fig. 10.

Erosion cut at the eastern edge of the rock cliff in the Jański Wierch range: A – sketch of the erosion cut; B – middle and upper parts together with the rock edge with attractive views; C – lower part together with an inlet and dump cone (left). Source: authors’ own research, photos taken by the authors, 2021.
Erosion cut at the eastern edge of the rock cliff in the Jański Wierch range: A – sketch of the erosion cut; B – middle and upper parts together with the rock edge with attractive views; C – lower part together with an inlet and dump cone (left). Source: authors’ own research, photos taken by the authors, 2021.

Fig. 11.

Comparison of the condition of part of the erosion cut at the eastern edge of the rock cliff in the Jański Wierch range in 2018 and 2021. The bedrock is uncovered to a much greater degree (green arrows). A fallen tree (orange arrows) might have contributed to the acceleration of the processes but, in turn, it was the result of widening of the cut and uncovering shallow roots. Cross motorcycles passing here contributed to creating and enlarging the cut. Photos: the authors, 2018, 2021.
Comparison of the condition of part of the erosion cut at the eastern edge of the rock cliff in the Jański Wierch range in 2018 and 2021. The bedrock is uncovered to a much greater degree (green arrows). A fallen tree (orange arrows) might have contributed to the acceleration of the processes but, in turn, it was the result of widening of the cut and uncovering shallow roots. Cross motorcycles passing here contributed to creating and enlarging the cut. Photos: the authors, 2018, 2021.
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Geosciences, Geography
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