Assessment of forest wilderness in Kalkalpen National Park
Simone Mayrhofer, Kalkalpen National Park, Molln (AT)
In order to illustrate the state and development of forest wilderness in the Kalkalpen National Park and thus also the effectiveness of national parks, we analysed various inventory data to assess the four different aspects of wilderness: naturalness, undisturbedness, undevelopedness, and scale. Naturalness and undisturbedness is proven by an analysis of hemeroby and the change within the last 10 years. An evaluation of forest road density measures the quality of undevelopedness. The park's 16.800 ha of forest coverage constitute an area large and sufficient enough for ensuring the functioning of natural processes.