Carpathian Convention
The Carpathian region boasts a stunning landscape of great beauty that is rich in both wildlife and culture. Europe’s greatest reserve of untouched forest, it serves as a refuge for brown bears, wolves, bison, lynx, eagles and some 200 unique plants found nowhere else in the world. It also provides some of the continent’s cleanest streams and supplies of drinking water.
The Carpathians are not an isolated wilderness untouched by human activity. Many small, rural communities have adapted successfully to the mountain environment over the centuries. Although separated by national boundaries, the people of the Carpathians are in many ways united by their cultural heritage. Altogether some 16 or 18 million people call these mountains home.
Fortunately there is room enough here for both wildlife and a modern economy – as long as effective measures are taken to preserve the region’s unique biological heritage. To protect the Carpathians’ wildness while helping its people improve their livelihoods, the region’s governments joined together in 2003 to adopt the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians.
Principles to live by
The Carpathian Convention addresses the many threats facing the region’s people and natural resources. These include unemployment, poverty, unplanned building and development, over-exploited natural resources, pollution, deforestation and excessive hunting.
The Government of the Czech Republic is collaborating with its neighbors in Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine to tackle these threats. Working together, these countries are collaborating through the Carpathian Convention to strengthen their economies while supporting isolated mountain communities.
The Convention puts the globally agreed principles of sustainable development to work at the regional level. It promotes an economic and social development of the Carpathians that does not damage the natural environment or deplete natural resources. It advances environmental “best practices” to secure the ecological base needed for a healthy economy.
The Convention also sets out other important principles to guide policymakers. These include the ‘polluter pays’ principle, the emphasis on public participation in decision-making, cooperation with neighboring countries, and the ecosystem approach (which involves managing biodiversity to meet the needs of both people and nature).
Czech Carpathians Delimitation
Taking action
Based on these principles, the countries of the Carpathians region are collaborating through the Convention to:
• Conserve biological and landscape diversity and use it sustainably. The planned Carpathian Network of Protected Areas will restore degraded habitats and reconnect fragmented ones to allow species to travel and migrate.
• Coordinate spatial planning in border areas. Since the Carpathians constitute a single natural region, governments aim to coordinate their national transport and energy systems and prevent cross-border pollution.
• Ensure the ‘integrated’ management of water resources and river basins. All aspects of water management, from pollution and sanitation to flood control and wetlands protection, are interdependent and need to be addressed simultaneously.
• Promote sustainable agriculture and forestry. Agricultural and land-management policies need to incorporate environmental concerns, while the multiple functions of forests must each be recognized and protected.
• Develop sustainable transport and physical infrastructure. Sensitive areas that are biologically rich, serve as migration routes or have a special value for tourism should not be damaged by transport systems or development.
• Create sustainable tourism. Promoting responsible tourism and recreation facilities that protect landscapes while benefiting local communities can provide win-win solutions for people and nature.
• Advance environmentally sound industry and energy. The adverse impacts of development can be minimized through cleaner production technologies, a rapid response to industrial accidents and stricter oversight of mining operations.
• Preserve cultural heritage and traditional knowledge. Special efforts are often needed to nurture local goods and handicrafts, traditional architecture, local breeds of domestic animals and the sustainable use of wild plants.
• Assess and monitor the environment. Key activities include research, risk assessment and identifying natural and man-made environmental hazards through early-warning systems.
• Raise awareness and educate people. Protecting the Carpathians requires the active participation of the general public in decision-making and improved public access to information.
The protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians will benefit the entire country, from urban centers to mountain communities. Success will require joint action by all stakeholders – including national governments, local and regional authorities, civil society organizations and committed individuals. Get involved and make a difference!
