Studies of Immovable Cultural Heritage Changes in Regional Parks of Lithuania

Abstract

Results of both the legislative analysis and research into the heritage status indicate that the existing heritage protection measures can no longer stop negative changes springing up in this sphere. Real cultural heritage of historical memory and cultural assets, as well as tourism resources and component changes of true identity of cultural landscape, appliance and conservation have never been complexly studied either theoretically or practically not only in Lithuania, but in neighboring states too. Protected areas (Smart 1990, Fairclough 1999, Thomas 2003) have a special status in most countries, if they want to solve this problem. Although theoretical and practical basis establishing protected territories and their network was formed from environmental provisions in Lithuania, however, juridical documents of protected territories evidence that the function of complex protected territories i.e. their conservation, restoration and the use of culturally valuable landscapes and cultural objects is not being performed. After the Restoration of Independence, Lithuania has started to focus more on real cultural heritage in protected territories, especially in regional parks, but the threat of losing the heritage has not disappeared. Neglect of heritage regulation and transformations of juridical basis of protected territories system have a strong impact on the changes in conditions of real cultural heritage in Lithuanian complex protected territories - regional parks. Study results of real cultural heritage in Lithuanian regional parks, their quantitative and qualitative changes educed from test results obtained in the heritage evaluation of proposed sites with reference to a paradigm of real cultural heritage suggested by the author are being discussed in the article.