Dr. Kubassek János szerk.: A Kárpát-medence természeti értékei (Érd, 2004)
Dr. János Kubassek: Mosaics from the natural heritage of the Carpathian Basin
the photographs taken in Transylvania, the reader can safely say that this region offers such a great economic and natural potential that it could be developed into a second Switzerland of Europe with the support of the government organisations. With its tourist assets and natural beauty this region could contribute to the economic development of the region and its peoples. Upper Hungary set several great examples of developing the infrastructure (roads, shelters) for tourism. The national parks of Hungary are also major destinations of the international tourism. The lakes located in the valley heads of the highest ranges of the High Tatras and the Southern Carpathian Mountains now enjoy a very strict protection. Thousands of visitors come to see the High Tatras, walk in the valley of the Nagy-Tar (Velká Studená) and Kis-Tar (Malá Studená) Streams in the summer days. Although the number of tourists surpasses every expectation of the old times, there is still a lot to do for tourism. Unfortunately, the water level of a great part of the lakes in the Carpathian Mountains started to shrink in the past few decades. This sad change is most striking in the High Tatras, where the highest small lakes are endangered by drying. The process can be observed even in the case of the larger Kő-patak (Skalnaté) Lake. The author visited the High Tatras in the summer 2003, and the danger was evident: the shrinking of the lake is a part of the large European trend due to the global warming. The process can also be seen in the heart of the Carpathian Basin: the reduction or in extreme cases the complete desiccation of the water level of the alkaline lakes in the Great Hungarian Plain and the tragic fall of the water level of Lake Balaton may lead to the discussion of such large scale measures that may affect the complete hydrological system of Western Transdanubia. The implementation of the idea of transferring water from the Rába River into Lake Balaton at a later stage may have an influence on the ecological system of the Carpathian Basin. Along the southern shore of Lake Balaton, on hot summer days, the appearance of shoals and bars are common events, which raise such issues that may adversely affect the tourism in the southern basin of the lake. We are lucky now that the sand plain of Deliblát (Deliblato) and the landslides on the side of Felek (Feleacu) Hill near Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) remained in the photographs as they were seen and photographed by Jenő Cholnoky in the early 1900s. O 3.9 O
