International Award Expedition 7 – 9 June 2013 Harz Mountains

1. Amville Dong Felicia GuiPraj Robert International Award Expedition7 – 9 June 2013Harz Mountains

2. A Brief Description Why: To Determine the effect of tourism in the environment of Harz When: 7 – 9 June 2013 Where: Harz, Germany What: To work in groups and do the following: Prepare Food, Hike, Set up Campsites, Investigate the purpose and to ensure the cleanliness of areas we visit by trying not to disturb the natural environment.

3. A Brief Description “All in all, the trip was a challenge an expedition where we enjoyed ourselves. We had to work as a team to ensure the success of the expedition. We got lost more than we would hoped to be, but always managed to reach our final destination safely and on time as planned. ”

4. Effects of Tourism

5. General Findings Lots of signboards and maps were found in the spaghetti hiking route of Harz, to let the hikers know where they are, and where to go.

6. General Findings Campsites (often filled with caravans, and several from outside Germany), guesthouses and restaurants were found and was guided to one of the campsites by an English speaking employee.

7. General Findings Tourist attraction such as skiing was found. All hikers we met were very friendly and were willing to help us in every way to aid us through the Harz. Description, explanation and history of the dam was also found, for the tourists’ interest.

8. General Findings Rest points had benches, huts, tables and bins for the hikers to use. There were parking areas as well

9. General Findings However, there is a downside which is the pollution caused by tourism. It is very common of most people not to ‘leave places better than they found them’ and instead pollute them by carelessly dispensing their garbage. This causes harm to the natural environment as it dirties the natural atmosphere. We have got some pictures as they speak best about the pollution. Even though these pictures are of single items on the bigger scale they have a much bigger collective impact. There were also many shreds of broken glass which could lead to injuries to humans and animals. The trains in the Harz, though providing transport for the tourists, it also provided air pollution and noise pollution for the Harz.

11. How we can improve tourism in the Harz mountains?

12. Improvements For more foreign tourists, the Harz could be supplied with more English supporting signs and directions. There were very limited English signs found.

13. Improvements A major improvement that can be made is, the cleanliness and even though this is something that can not be heavily controlled, more thorough prosecution could help. This not only will increase tourism but also positively aid the Harz ecology.

14. Improvements Fix broken signs and re-position them accurately as there were broken signs and some of them mislead us to a different path. Produce a new map of the Harz as the landscape of an area did not correspond to the map we used during the expedition.

15. Improvements There were limited number of bins, consequently found bundles of trash in some areas. The Harz should be supplied with more bins. Also, public bathroom should be built by the huts as well, as it is difficult for female members to excrete in the forest.