Posted on 30 July 2013
Representatives of governments, tourism
agencies and NGOs of the seven Carpathian
countries will be involved in the development
of the Sustainable Tourism Strategy, the
first common strategy for tourism across
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary,
Ukraine, Romania and Serbia.
The strategy will be
delivered for adoption at the next Conference
of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention
in October 2014.
In 2010, a Protocol
on sustainable tourism was adopted by the
Conference of the seven Parties to the Carpathian
Convention, which provided a legally binding
framework for the development of sustainable
tourism in the Carpathians. To assure the
implementation of the protocol, the project
“Development of a Sustainable Tourism Strategy
for the Carpathians” (CarpatSusTourStrat)
seeks to elaborate the strategy for the
Carpathians in co-ordination with all relevant
stakeholders.
The project is managed
by Ecological Tourism in Europe (E.T.E.)
with the support of WWF International Danube-Carpathian
Programme, CEEweb for Biodiversity, the
Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention
and the Carpathian Network of Protected
Areas.
Over the course of the
project, various meetings with stakeholders
are being organized – at a national, regional
and local level , including state, non-governmental
and private stakeholders - to reflect their
opinions and needs in the strategy.
The first meeting with
NGOs from the Carpathians took place on
12-15 June 2013 in Slovakia, where the first
draft of the strategy was up for discussion.
Additionally, 14 tourism
development initiatives will be compiled
and the process of the elaboration of the
strategy will be documented. This will potentially
serve as a model for other regions where
there are attempts to develop such a tourism
strategy.
The project duration
is March 2013 - November 2014. The project
is financially supported by the German Federal
Ministry for the Environment, Nature Protection
and Nuclear Safety.
About the Carpathian Convention
The Carpathian Convention
with the Interim Secretariat based at UNEP
Vienna aims to protect and sustainably develop
the Carpathians by improving the quality
of life, strengthening local economies and
communities, and the conservation of natural
values and cultural heritage.
The Framework Convention
on the Protection and Sustainable Development
of the Carpathians (Carpathian Convention)
was adopted and signed by the seven Parties
(Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania,
Serbia, Slovak Republic, Ukraine) in May
2003 in Kyiv, Ukraine, and entered into
force in January 2006. It is the only multi-level
governance mechanism covering the whole
of the Carpathian area and, besides the
Alpine Convention, the second sub-regional
treaty-based regime for the protection and
sustainable development of a mountain region
worldwide.
WWF Danube-Carpathian
Programme has been an important player in
the development of the Carpathian Convention
from the very beginning and seeks to support
the implementation of the Convention through
various projects related to nature conservation
and regional development.
+ More
Development with a Green
Context
Posted on 30 July 2013
District development plans, that will protect
natural resources and reduce the vulnerability
of three Fijian communities to a changing
climate, have been created.
The plans identify the
key natural resources like mangrove forests,
rivers, marine resources and forests that
provide various ecosystem services like
food, medicine and income that we see and
others we do not see like fresh air, clean
water, stable coastal and river banks for
the communities of Labasa and Wailevu districts
in Labasa and Nailaga district in Ba.
As a key tool used in
sustainable resource management, the plans
are able to guide those making decisions
about developments in these districts on
the types of developments that can be allowed
which does not severely harm existing natural
resources.
Mangrove forests for
example directly support as many as 3,000
lives in the district of Nailaga in Ba through
food and income derived from the crabbing
industry.
An outcome of the formulation
of the district’s development plan is a
decision by the people of the district to
ban the harvesting of mangrove forests even
for firewood purposes.
District representative
to the Ba Provincial Council Meeting Jeremaia
Tuwai said this means that any future development
that will result in mangrove destruction
will not be allowed.
Development plan construction
is an activity of the AusAID Building Resilience
to Climate Change programme, coordinated
by WWF South Pacific.
Programme Coordinator
Stephanie Robinson said a pleasing point
to note about formulating development plans
at the district level is the united approach
to sustainable resource management that
is adopted.
“Development is taking
place and will continue to take place in
the various provinces and in the districts,”
she said.
“Although it is great
that individual communities are taking the
initiative to protect their natural resource
- they cannot do so alone.
“If communities (with
similar issues/concerns) are able to foresee
developments in their area, they can also
ensure that when it comes, consideration
of their natural resources is also taken
into account and development proceeds in
a sustainable manner.
“Working together as
a district and then as a province, makes
this plan stronger than if communities were
to go it alone.”
Climate change field
officer Apolosa Robaigau ran consultation
workshops with the three districts, at the
end of which development plans, which are
also linked to Vulnerability Assessments/Action
Plans, were developed.
In this way, communities
can identify activities they can do to rejuvenate
or protect their natural resources.
For example, in Labasa
district riverbank erosion, improper waste
management, soil erosion and declining water
quality were some issues of vulnerability
identified.
Vunivau community, within
this district has undertaken a reforestation
program and the digging of proper waste
disposal pits for every household in the
village.
Previously, rubbish
was disposed off carelessly, usually ending
up in rivers and waterways.
Vunimoli, Vuo and Mataniwai
villages within Labasa district also carried
out a mangrove replanting activity to protect
their coastline and riverbanks.
Pigpens have also been
relocated inland, away from the usual spots
on riverbanks and seaside, harvesting of
riparian vegetation has been banned and
burning to clear land has been frowned upon.