Large-scale segregation of tourists and wild reindeer in three Norwegian national parks: Management implications

The challenge to harmonize nature-based tourism with species conservation is important both from an economic, cultural and ecological perspective. One approach for understanding this interaction is to compare the spatiotemporal overlap between tourism activities and the focal species’ space use, with the purpose to identify areas, periods, and conditions in which tourism exerts the highest negative impact. Here, we combine GPS data from 66 wild reindeer with on-site surveys of tourist (n = 13434 respondents at 66 locations) and trail use counters (n = 99 sites) in three Norwegian national parks. Our findings highlight a large-scale segregation during the summer season, as wild reindeer move to areas less prone to disturbance by humans. Based on these findings, we discuss a management model to segregate tourists from wild reindeer in space and/or time during summer with the goal of long-term sustainable coexistence.