GET, in the context of the BIO2CARE project “Strengthening Protected Areas Management Capacity through an Innovative Sustainability Methodology” implemented under the Interreg Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020 Program from the Department of Production and Management Engineering of the Democritus University of Thrace, undertook the implementation of a software aimed at the calculation of carrying capacity, ecological footprint and carbon footprint of a protected area.
The software supports the main action of BIO2CARE project which is the development of an innovative integrated decision support system, which will be a valuable tool for capturing and understanding anthropogenic activities that exert pressure in protected areas, as well as for quantifying their impact on protected areas. This tool, in conjunction with the other tools developed for the project, will help to curb environmental pressures in protected areas, improve our knowledge and ultimately improve their environmental status
The software is an online application that provides an interface to the BIO2CARE methodology for the estimation of the environmental status of the protected areas. The tool supports registered multiple users and multiple scenarios aiming to support decision-making of the Managing Authorities .
The home screen of the software
The application is easy to use since it offers a step-by-step interface for the calculation of the environmental status of the protected areas. That way it allows users to easily provide the necessary input data. Whenever it is feasible the application gives predefined values based on the relevant bibliography. In addition the users can initialize a scenario using the inputs of another existing scenario.
The user interface for the calculation of the environmental indexes
The carrying capacity methodological framework