In Germany, a desk-based ranger uses digital tools to manage the park

Nature is boss in Germany’s Eifel National Park, not people.

Visitors may not leave marked paths in this paradise for the protection of species. Not even for quick selfies, or to take a short cut on a lengthy hike.

The park is home to a 240-kilometre network of trails created for hikers, 104 kilometres of which are also cycle paths.

But still, some visitors stray from the paths. Often, when caught, they say, “But the app on my mobile phone showed the way.”

Then it is time to call in Jasmin Daus. She is a digital ranger who works with the national park team to ensure that only official trails are listed online and in leisure apps.

She also makes sure that tour suggestions visitors make for highlights along the route comply with the rules of the 110-square-kilometre protected area.

Unlike the national park rangers with their distinctive hats who are out and about in the terrain, her work is desk-based.

‘People rely too much on their smartphones’

“The main problem is that people rely too much on their smartphones and assume that what’s in them is correct,” says geographer Daus. She processes the data from Google Maps and OpenStreetMap and posts her own tour suggestions on hiking apps and tour platforms.

She also contacts users who publish tours that do not match the rules. She’ll write a friendly comment along the lines of, “Hey, your tour goes through a quiet zone in the Eifel National Park away from the approved paths. Can you please correct it?”

Or she might say, “There are many sensitive species here, so please follow certain rules: stay on the designated paths, keep your dog on a leash, do not light fires and take your rubbish with you.”

German has two ways to say “you” and she uses the informal one as is customary in the community. That helps in the business of pointing out alternatives in a friendly manner.

People often respond with positive feedback and a thumbs up sign. “Some users are very grateful for the tips and think they’re great,” Daus says.

But if no one responds, Daus has her own contacts who are able to delete posts. And the national park publishes its own tour suggestions on sites such as Outdooractive and Komoot as well as on its own homepage.

More than 200 violations per year

Digital visitor management is an important issue for the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in Bonn. Natural landscapes are among the most popular local recreation and travel destinations.

The Eifel National Park, one of 16 national parks in Germany, welcomes around 1 million visitors per year. Not all of them follow the rules. Forty Eifel rangers usually detect over 200 violations per year during their patrols.

So tech is helping though digital rangers are only available nationwide in the eastern area known as Saxon Switzerland, the Bavarian Forest, the Eifel and the Berchtesgaden national park and in the Rhön Biosphere Reserve.

Google Maps now only shows the official trail network for the Eifel National Park, Daus says. But it is difficult to keep up with the large number of entries. Anyone can put a supposed highlight in the middle of nowhere and rave about a great viewpoint, she complains. “And then others try to get there too.”

Then there are repeated reports of the resulting disturbance of nature – and worse, of destruction.

But people too can wind up in danger when they stray from the beaten track. Her park has also seen rescue operations for visitors who unheedingly followed the instructions on their phones.

“I’m lost, it’s getting bushier and bushier, and it’s already getting dark. How do I get back?” Daus reports on desperate visitors who called the emergency services for help – and received support.