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The protection of the environment and tourist development
Hélène BOUGUESSA - Direction of Sustainable Development, European Council, Strasbourg, France

The "Sommets du Tourisme" in Chamonix will mainly be concerned with sustainable tourist development and the protection of the natural environment. My presentation represents the Council of Europe's contribution to this Summit's undertaking and will review the principles upon which the Council of Europe bases its activities in terms of tourism and the environment.

I will talk about the various activities of our Organisation concerning the protection of nature and the biodiversity relating to the Chamonix Summit theme.

I will then go on to briefly present the specific activities of the Council of Europe in terms of tourism and the environment.
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The protection of the environment and tourist development

During the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the launch of the "Agenda 21" programme illustrated the desire of governments to integrate the sustainable development concept in the various sectors where development policies had an impact upon the conservation of biodiversity and the environment in general.

Europe is, and will probably continue to be, the most visited tourist destination in the world. Because of its economic importance and the opportunities and risks that it offers, tourist development constitutes a challenge for the balanced and sustainable development of the European continent. Tourism has a growing impact upon the creation of new activities and upon jobs, on the modernisation of companies, the creation of services and on improvements to standards of living.

However, if it is badly adapted to the region or if it exceeds its capacity to welcome tourists, it risks seriously deteriorating the physical and natural environment, biological diversity and standards of living.

Past experiences, particularly in the Mediterranean, demonstrate that tourist development in Europe should not be based on an approach aiming for quick and unlimited expansion, but on consolidation at a reasonable rate, of qualitative choices correctly integrated into the economic, cultural and environmental framework of the site and consequently, through the choice of medium and long term policies for sustainable development.

The sustainability of European tourist areas will depend on an integrated strategy of regional management and planning, taking into account local ecosystems and biodiversity as well as key factors on a local and global level, such as mobility, use of land, water resources, energy consumption and the production of waste.

Working on the sustainability of tourism requires the involvement of such factors as the interpretation of regions, including the diversity of ecosystems; the regulating of accessibility as well as, if needs be, the imposition of limitations to the development of tourist activity as a function of each region's ability to welcome tourists.

The sustainable development of tourism requires innovation in terms of legal frameworks, procedures and methods of control. Preparing new orientations for the sustainable development of tourist areas also calls for considerable cultural changes requiring great firmness from public authorities as well as a concerted effort from the private sector and an important public participation to the decision-making process.

Finally, the definition of a sustainable tourism, which is better integrated in European, transnational and transfrontier policies must be a priority objective of institutional action on the European continent and of the co-operation between the countries and regions it is comprised of.

The Council of Europe's action

This year the Council of Europe celebrates its 50th anniversary.

All the ceremonies which took place are in accordance with the Statutes of the Council of Europe adopted in London in 1949 and to the Organisation's objective to achieve the greatest unity between its members, based on the conservation of the principles and ideals which are the common heritage of all European countries as well as the promotion of their economic and social progression.

With currently 41 member States, the Council of Europe's anniversary thus provides an opportunity not only to reaffirm the principles upon which our Organisation is founded, but also to give it a larger audience than Europe for its objectives, including its activities for the protection of the environment and sustainable development.

"Europe, a common heritage" Campaign

In order to mark this anniversary, the Heads of Government of the member States have decided that a European Campaign is to be organised in 1999 and 2000 on the "Europe, a common heritage" theme.

The aim of the Campaign is to highlight the importance of the common values shared between all Europeans and to reinforce the feeling of a common identity. The Campaign aims to encourage the importance of the natural and cultural heritage throughout Europe and the promotion of integrated policies with a view to preserving these two heritages.

The protection of nature within the framework of the Council of Europe

The protection of nature represents one of the Council of Europe's major areas of action since 1963 and even more so since 1975 with the first European Nature Year. In 1995, during the second European Nature Conservation Year, note was taken of the progress achieved over the last twenty years in the awareness of European decision-makers and citizens for the need to protect their natural heritage.

"An environment for Europe" process

Since 1995, the Council of Europe's action concerning the conservation of the environment is part of the pan-European process of environmental awareness at ministerial level entitled "An environment for Europe".

This was launched during the first Pan-European Conference of Ministers of the Environment in Dobris, in 1991. A certain number of other ministerial Conferences followed : at Lucerne in 1993, at Sofia in 1995 and at Aarhus in 1998. The fourth ministerial Conference will take place in Kiev in 2002.

At Sofia the Ministers of the Environment approved the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy as a European response to the implementation of the world Convention on Biological Diversity.

The world Convention on Biological Diversity and the Pan-European

Strategy have been asked to reinforce their affiliation and a joint meeting of the steering committees should be held next year in Latvia.

Currently, the activities of the Council of Europe which concern more specifically the Chamonix Summit work can be resumed as follows :

the implementation and the monitoring of the Bern Convention along with a new initiative, the Emerald Network, which in central and eastern European countries is a continuation of the European Union's Nature 2000 programme ;

the launch of the Pan-European Ecological Network which should, in the future, create a synergy between all the networks for the protection of nature in Greater Europe ;

the Network of the Council of Europe's diploma sites, which constitutes a protected species network of sites answering to a certain number of excellence criteria and which are submitted to an expertise report ever five years for renewal of the Diploma ;

the drafting of a European Convention for the protection of landscape ;

past and present activities concerning tourism and the environment.

The Bern Convention and the Emerald Network

The Convention relative to the conservation of Europe's wildlife and natural environment was adopted in Bern in September 1979 and came into force in June 1982. Its aim is threefold :

to ensure the conservation of all wild plant and animal species in their natural habitat ;

to encourage co-operation between States ;

to accord special protection to the most vulnerable or threatened species, including migratory species.

36 States of Europe and of Africa as well as the European Community are Party to the Convention. Appendices to the Convention list the strictly protected plant species (Appendix I), strictly protected animal species (Appendix II), protected plant species (Appendix III) and prohibited means and methods of killing, capture and other forms of exploitation (Appendix IV). A permanent committee meets every year to monitor the Convention's implementation and to investigate files concerning violation as well as drafting the reports addressed to States every five years.

The Emerald Network is an ecological Network which is currently being implemented in the territories of contracting Parties and States possessing the status of observer at the Bern Convention, in other words 45 States representing as much Western Europe as Central and Eastern Europe. It is a Network of zones which have a particular ecological importance for threatened and endemic species registered in the appendices of the Bern Convention. Because of its geographical coverage, the Emerald Network can be thought of an extension of the principals of Nature 2000 for Central and Eastern European countries.

The work to implement the Network involves the definition of selection criteria for species whose habitat necessitates special protective measures, the drawing up of rules to establish the Emerald Network and the elaboration of a data software program relating to the Network.

The Pan-European Ecological Network

One of the important implementation resources of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy is the creation of the Pan-European Ecological Network. This should be set up in 2005 throughout the territory covered by the Strategy, in other words the 54 States of the Economic Commission for the Europe of the United Nations. This Network will include :

core zones sheltering species, habitats and important European landscapes,

corridors enabling species to disperse and to migrate between core zones

and buffer zones to protect core zones and the corridors from damaging environmental effects of activities implanted outside these zones.

The Pan-European Ecological Network is a new approach in terms of a biodiversity safeguard on an international level. Its creation will involve the contribution of a large number of interesting resources, agreements, programmes and initiatives which have been adapted in the last few decades, on a world, pan-European, European and community level.

The Council of Europe's Network of diploma areas

The Council of Europe's European Diploma for protected species was created in 1965 to reward outstanding protected areas in the Council of Europe's member States. These areas have to satisfy very strict selection and appraisal criteria concerning as much European concerns for the zone as the quality of its management. 56 European protected zones are currently holders of the European Diploma and the number of candidates is increasing.

Selection is based on an expertise report which assesses both the importance of the area for the conservation of Europe's biological diversity and its system of protection. The Diploma is accorded for five years when its renewal is once again submitted for appraisal.

In spite of a lack of financial support, the monitoring carried out by the Council of Europe and the importance of this highly appreciated distinction lends this European Diploma moral weight which plays a very important role when sites are threatened by a development project in the zone skirting the diploma area.

Regular meetings of diploma area managers also enhances the experiences of each of the zones.

The European Convention on Landscape project

Following the first Conference of European Ministers of the Environment in Dobris in 1991, the hope was expressed that the Council of Europe would take the initiative to draw up a European Convention on Landscape. This project was handed over to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe of the Council of Europe to draw up a project with a view to its adoption by the Organisation's Committee of Ministers.

This initiative was in answer to the need to provide Europeans with an international legal guarantee, with the view to protecting their environment and landscapes. It filled a legal void given the absence, on a European scale, of a specific instrument entirely devoted to the conservation, management and enhancement of the European landscape in legal terms covering environment, planning and cultural heritage.

Following a certain number of consultations, auditions and meetings on a European level, the project is being finalised and should come up for signing by the States next year, as part of the Council of Europe's Campaign "Europe, a common heritage".

The future convention's field of application should cover both outstanding as well as ordinary landscapes. This choice is because all landscapes contribute to the quality of the environment of the European people and that protective landscape measures should not be uniquely reserved for sites and landscapes of exceptional quality. The convention will not make a distinction between natural and cultural landscapes. It will include them in the protective, management and planning measures intended by the text without drawing an artificial separation between those landscapes that have, and those that have not, been modelled by man.

A European Landscape Award is also planned by the Convention which could reward local and regional authorities for their accomplished efforts to maintain landscapes.

Council of Europe's activities for tourism and the environment

To the Parliamentary Assembly and to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe

The Council of Europe has been involved in sustainable tourist development and the environment for many years and I feel that we can truthfully say that whatever the angle taken by the activities dealing with this topic, the message has always been of value.

These activities have been undertaken on various parliamentary, intergovernmental, local and regional levels as part of the Congress of local authorities and equally as part of the programme for special co-operation in favour of Central and Eastern European countries.

Over the past few years, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe have devoted a number of debates to the "tourism and environment" theme and have adopted resolutions and recommendations concerning European tourism policies.

Moreover, as part of the Conference of European Ministers responsible for planning, a Seminar was recently organised in Palma, Mallorca on the "Sustainable Development for Tourism and its relations with planning" theme. The conclusions of the Seminar will contribute to the Directing principals of sustainable and global planning of the European continent which should be adopted by the next Conference of European Ministers responsible for planning at Hanover in 2000.

Cultural co-operation

In the domain of cultural co-operation, the tourism theme has been brought up in various studies as well as in the creation of cultural itineraries in Europe. A new initiative entitled "The Heritage of Tourism and Travels " was recently launched in Nice last October. This programme aims to increase awareness of decision-makers and the general public to the cultural value of this heritage and to promote its integration within the sustainable development programmes.

Activity programmes in terms of the environment and tourism

A certain number of environmental activities with a direct or indirect link to tourism were implemented over the last few years.

Thus a programme of co-operation with Central and Eastern European countries, launched in 1990 has given rise to the organisation of a series of colloquies concerning tourism and the environment which have been successively held between 1991 and 1996 in Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Warsaw, Larnaca and Maribor. Similarly technical assistance programmes were also organised in order to help countries benefiting from this programme to develop global projects integrating tourist development and environmental protection.

The activities implemented as part of the Bern Convention relating to the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats as well as the preparation of the model Law on sustainable management of coastal zones and of the Code of conduct on the same theme have or will also have an impact on tourism and environmental policies.

Group of Specialists on "Tourism and environment"

The "Tourism and environment" activities represent a contribution from the Council of Europe to the implementation of the Domain of action 2 of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy, whose aim is to integrate concerns for the conservation of the environment and diversity in all sector-based policies having an impact on the environment.

Since its creation in 1993, the Group of Specialists on "Tourism and environment", which is represented in this Colloquy by Mrs Morawa and Mrs Thibal, has worked on the identification and the affirmation of the principles upon which the tourist projects should be founded, respecting the cultural and natural environment.

Several recommendations from the Committee of Ministers to the member States have been prepared by the Group of Specialists with a view to encouraging the elaboration and the implementation of sustainable tourist development policies which respect the environment, with particular emphasis being placed on protected and coastal zones. A specific recommendation has also been prepared concerning the integration of environmental values in the training of tourism professionals.

The Council of Europe's pilot studies

Tourism is becoming increasingly important in Central and Eastern European countries, with considerable potential for economic development and for creating employment. In these countries which have a substantial tourist appeal, it will also be very important to apply a model for sustainable development, with a view to ensuring balanced economic and social growth, founded on the respect of local cultures and lifestyles.

This is why the Group of Specialists on "Tourism and environment" launched in 1977 three pilot studies in various parts of Eastern Europe, respectively in Ukraine, Rumania and Latvia. The aim fixed for these pilot studies was to co-operate with national and local authorities in the drawing up of development schemes integrated in fragile zones, under the principles announced in the Council of Europe recommendations.

These three countries were chosen in order to reflect the diversity and richness of the natural and cultural environment in Eastern Europe and to adapt the major points proposed to the specificity of each regional fabric.

The pilot studies were finalised this year. They will provide a concrete contribution to the development policies in the three countries involved.

A study concerning a development methodology resulting from this work is also being drawn up and will be published in the months to come. It's aim will be to propose a model for the sustainable development projects in countries where the natural and cultural conditions are similar to those found in Latvia, Rumania and the Ukraine.

The Council of Europe's "Tourist and environment" encounters

The last activities that I will mention are on the one hand a Colloquy which recently took place at Riga (Latvia) from the 9th to 11th September and which was based on the "Natural, cultural and socio-economic implications of sustainable development". This Colloguy mainly concerned tourist development notably in protected zones and the right of access to nature by all and the restrictions that are applied to this by some national legislation.

The conclusions of the Colloquy called for the continuation of the work of co-operation and collaboration in this field, as tourism represents a key sector for development in several regions in Europe and it is important to apply the principles of sustainable management for a long term conservation of the heritage upon which this very development is founded.

Finally a Conference on "Sustainable Tourism and Employment" is currently being prepared. It will take place in Scotland next September and should bring together many government bodies and nongovernmental organisations, representing both authorities concerned by tourist development and the protection and creation of employment.

The Conference should encourage the job creation potential through all forms of sustainable tourism and tackle the promotion of the initiatives and measures mentioned above. The Conference should identify efficient methods and resources to stimulate employment as part of the sustainable tourist development policies.

I hope to see you all there !