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Volume XV |

Faunistic Study of the Tsibar Danube Island

Abstract: Tsibar Island is situated on the Bulgarian part of the Danube River, at 680 m of the Bulgarian and about 100 of the Romanian coast from 716 to 719 km along the river, with an area of 1.3 km2. The territory is covered mainly by riparian woodland. Because of its European importance to the protection of rare and threatened habitats, plants and animals, including birds, the island falls within the borders of proposed Natura 2000 sites under both the Birds and the Habitats Directives. Part of the island is placed under strict protection as a menaged reserve “Ibisha”. In 1997 the territory was designated as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. In 2002 the reserve has been declared as a Ramsar site according to the international convention for the conservation of wetlands. Tsibar Island is of international importance defined by one of the largest mixed colony of herons and cormorants in Bulgaria. It is a site of global importance for the nesting Pygmy Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pygmeus) and White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and one of the most important sites in Bulgaria for the nesting of the Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides) and Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). There have been identified more than 100 animal species: 42 terrestrial and 16 aquatic invertebrates, 5 fish species, 1 amphibian and 1 reptile species, 30 birds (including 22 breeding), 16 mammalian species (including 8 species of bats). Ascertained are the Medicinal leech (Hirudo verbana), which is a rare species at the European level, endangered Thick-shelled river mussel (Unio crassus), protected fish Asp (Leuciscus aspius) and Great raft spider (Dolomedes plantarius), included in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria in the category “extinct”. A management plan for Ibisha Menaged Reserve was developed in 2015.

Volume XV |

Classification, Typology and Distribution of Solification Rocks in Romania

Abstract: The present paper seeks to contribute to the better knowledge of the parental rocks of different soil types that are found in Romania, as well as their share in the country’s territory.During its geological-geographical evolution, on Romania’s territory various geological (petrographic) formations have been formed, from crystalline rocks to loams, sands, fluvial and organic deposits. Because the types of rocks are numerous and their territorial distribution changes in narrower areas, the paper aims to group them according to their associating mode, genesis, as well as to their contribution to soil formation. The paper introduces a new map of solification rocks in Romania, scale 1:1.000.000, which aims not only to their theoretical classification, but also to determine the surfaces occupied by each category, and their distribution on the country’s major relief units. In addition to the new map, achieved after the processing and updating of different cartographical materials using GIS techniques, information regarding the soil types formed on each category of parental rocks is provided.

Volume XV |

The Standardization of the Services in Farm-stay Tourism – The EuroGites Method as a Possible Solution

Abstract: This study assessed conceptual terms of farm-stay tourism through connection with the criteria of quality of services. Based on best practices and experiences from the European countries, the European Federation of Rural Tourism (EuroGites) has established common quality assessment standards for accommodation units in rural areas. Criteria of established standards are grouped into five clusters: equipment, surroundings, services at the accommodation and its surroundings, non-material aspects and security. This paper aims at a comparative analysis between the minimal conditions for international and domestic markets, through the assessment of the farm-stay tourism quality segments. In this respect, the research has been conducted in the selected villages in Vojvodina Province (Northern Serbia) by using EuroGites methodological instrument. The main hypothesis of the paper was based on the estimation that quality of farm-stay tourism in Vojvodina Province is measurable by the extent to which they comply with the EuroGites criteria in the domestic and international level. The results showed that the three sub-hypotheses are confirmed, and two of them are disproved. The research findings represent a useful tool for obtaining information about many aspects of quality in farm-stay tourism and, with slight modifications, it can be used in various areas of quality research.

Volume XV |

Cultural Routes – Cross-border Tourist Destinations within Southeastern Europe

Abstract: Cultural routes may become interesting tourist destinations because of their thematic and traveling experience, making connections to renown places, events and personalities. The process of forming cultural routes as tourist products is considered a new principle of protection, revitalization, use and presentation of cultural heritage. Europe in particular is rich in cultural heritage originating from different historical epochs. This is why within the renown and most visited cultural routes were formed in Europe. There are 32 pan-European cultural routes, of which several routes cross Southeastern Europe. This article aims to examine the interrelation of the cultural routes within Southern Europe with those from the entire Europe. The main goal is to determine to what extent their connection to the existing routes contribute to the tourism promotion of SEE states, making them the cross-border tourist destinations.

Volume XV |

Foreign Direct Investments in Serbia as a Form of Cross-border Cooperation

Abstract: The forms of foreign direct investments that represent the instrument of cross-border cooperation are Greenfield and Brownfield investments. On the territory of the Republic of Serbia, during the 2000-2016 period, there were established 151 Greenfield and 15 Brownfield companies. The sum of investments of these 166 companies was near € 7,000,000,000. the capital is from 18 European countries, then from United States, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Canada and India. The largest number of the investments is from Italy (30), Germany (29), Austria (17) and Slovenia (16). Most Greenfield and Brownfield companies belong to the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy, while 22 companies belong to quaternary sector (real estate, tourism, finance, insurance and pension, telecommunication, film industry, software and ICT). The analysis, synthesis, comparative and mapping methods were used in this paper. The data were collected from domestic and foreign scientific papers, as well as from the official electronic database. Given data are connected to the traffic network of Serbia, and the goal was to realize its influence on choosing locations for foreign direct investments.Favourable geo- traffic position of the towns, where the company seats are located, has great significance in the work of these companies due to the reduction of transport costs. This paper analyzed the companies’ selection of location and their position in relation to the main roads in the country – Corridor X. The zonation of companies and towns where they are located, depending on their distance from the corridor 10, were processed in GeoMedia program. Results showed that most of the companies (102) were located at a distance of 10 kilometres from the highway.