Water quality assessment and populations’ perceptions in the National park Djerdap (Serbia): key factors affecting the environment

National parks are areas of an exceptional importance in preserving natural and anthropogenic values and also attractive tourist destinations. The paper analyzes water quality and population’ perceptions in the NP Djerdap, as an important and massively visited tourist destination in Serbia. In the first section of the paper, the pollution level of the Danube River (NP Djerdap) was analyzed using the water pollution index (WPI). In order to calculate the WPI, 18 physical, chemical and biological parameters from three stations on the Danube, collected between 2007 and 2016, were taken into account. The results show significant water pollution, as well as the prevalence of organic pollution. In the second section of the paper, the attitudes of local inhabitants and national parks visitors related to environmental pollution were analyzed. The results revealed certain differences between populations’ perception of pollution and the actual water quality calculated based on the WPI. The respondents believed that tourism did not make significant damage to the environment and that it had no impact on the utilization of hydrographic resources and on economic activities related to nature. It was observed that younger and more educated groups of visitors had a more critical attitude about the impact of tourism on the environment than the older and less educated population.