Human Engagement
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the mountains were used for sheep grazing and mining. Many trees were cut down to make way for humans. Although these activities were stopped, the impact is still visible. Moreover, pollution from the industrialized regions of Kraków, Ostrava and Orava, as well as casual tourism cause substantial damage. Polish volunteers began in 2012 an annual event to remove litter.
The Slovak Tatra National Park (Tatranský národný park; TANAP) was founded in 1949 (738 km²), and the contiguous Polish Tatra National Park (Tatrzański Park Narodowy) was founded in 1954 on an area of 215.56 km². Both areas were added to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve list in 1993.
The 1999 film Ravenous was filmed in the Tatras Mountains.
In 2006, the Bollywood film Fanaa, portraying places in Kashmir, was filmed at Zakopane, mainly because of the risks associated with insurgency in Kashmir, as well due to some similarities in a mountain landscape.
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“The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world. Precisely the ultimate and most sublime values have retreated from public life either into the transcendental realm of mystic life or into the brotherliness of direct and personal human relations. It is not accidental that our greatest art is intimate and not monumental.”
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