Danube water quality and assessment on ecotourism in the biosphere reserve ‘Bac ̌ ko Podunavlje’ in Serbia Sanja Obradovic ´, Milana Pantelic ´, Vladimir Stojanovic ´, Aleksandra Tešin and Dragan Dolinaj ABSTRACT ‘Bac ̌ ko Podunavlje’ represents one of the largest and the best-preserved wetland areas of the upper Danube. Water quality is crucial for nature in protected areas and ecotourism. The paper is based on data for the period 1992–2016. Using multivariate statistical analysis, water quality was defined. One- factor analysis of variations is the starting point for the analysis of time variables (annual and monthly analysis). The principal component analysis (PCA) of the ten quality parameters is in the three factors that determine the greatest impact on the change in water quality. Results revealed the satisfactory ecological status of the Danube River in these sections (Bezdan and Bogojevo) and there is no threat that the biodiversity of this area is endangered by poor water quality, which fully justifies the possibilities for intensive development of ecotourism in the biosphere reserve. Suspended solids are the only parameter that exceeds the allowed limit values in a larger number of measurements, especially in the summer period of the year. Other analyzed water quality parameters range within the allowed limit values for the second class of surface water quality based on the Law on Waters (Republic of Serbia) and in accordance with the Water Quality Classification Criteria of ICPDR. Sanja Obradovic ´ Milana Pantelic ´ (corresponding author) Vladimir Stojanovic ´ Aleksandra Tešin Dragan Dolinaj Faculty of Science, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Trg Dositeja Obradovic ´a, 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia E-mail: milanap@dgt.uns.ac.rs Key words | ‘Bac ̌ ko Podunavlje’, biosphere reserve, ecotourism, multivariate analysis, Serbia, water quality INTRODUCTION The concept of sustainable tourism can be seen as an umbrella that unites various forms of tourism in nature-pro- tected areas, such as ecotourism, bird watching, community- based tourism, and adventure tourism. Tourism and nature protection are connected in many ways and affect one another. Ecotourism plays an important role in biosphere reserves around the world. It depends on the protection of nature and its preservation for future generations (Prato & Fagre ). The basis of sustainable development is ecologi- cal, social and economic sustainability. In order to achieve these goals, many scientists refer to tourism that represents the ‘majority’ that connects conservation and development (Newsome et al. ). One of the key strategies of the Swedish biosphere reserves is the sustainable development of tourism (Hedin ). Even in biosphere reserves which have not yet been formally established, tourism has been portrayed as an important part of the strategy and a hope for achieving a positive impact on both nature and employ- ment of the local population. Tourism also appears as an argument for the establishment of new biosphere reserves in the world (Nilsson et al. ). Tourism that is carefully regulated, in small groups interested in scientific and environmental education, will not only be of significance for the protection of nature but may also be of importance for its popularization (Holden ). Ecotourism is also called an educational tool for sustainable development, it 1215 © IWA Publishing 2020 Water Supply | 20.4 | 2020 doi: 10.2166/ws.2020.036 Downloaded from http://iwaponline.com/ws/article-pdf/20/4/1215/704907/ws020041215.pdf by guest on 12 June 2022