Ecological Tourism in Europe

Association for sustainable tourism development

Projects

Current Projects Projects 2005 - 2009

Fostering sustainable tourism as a perspective for the future

Tourism and Biodiversity in Central Eastern Europe

Nature protection and tourism in the Low Tatras/Slovakia

The Carpathian Project

Complete Project List Project Map

ETE's websites

Zukunft Reisen

Portal for sustainable tourism in Germany

www.zukunft-reisen.de

Tourism4Nature

An ETE project in Biosphere Reserves in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic

www.tourism4nature.org

Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity through Sound Tourism Development in Biosphere Reserves in Central and Eastern Europe

Duration:

April 2005 - May 2008

Goals:

Developing of tourism management plans
Creating of strategies which combine sustainable tourism development and biodiversity conservation
Supporting of trans-boundary cooperation between the protected areas in issues involving tourism and conservation
Facilitating a consultative process with key stakeholders (in the public and private sectors) to ensure their active participation and influence in the development of public policies for sustainable tourism development

Description:

The overall goal of this project is to promote the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity through the development and implementation of sustainable tourism practices in the Biosphere Reserves Aggtelek (Hungary), Babia Gora (Poland) and Sumava (Czech Republic). This is being achieved through the development of new and innovative management systems with a special focus on tourism-related uses of these sites. Concurrently, awareness raising and capacity building systems are being developed and implemented, to ensure long term effects. Tourism initiatives and activities will be initiated to ensure distribution of returns for conservation purposes as well as to local stakeholders. These initiatives are consistent with the conservation and sustainable use of vulnerable mountain ecosystem biodiversity by using the UNEP/CBD International Guidelines for Biodiversity and Tourism Development.

Partners:

Biosphere reserve und national park Šumava (Czech Republic)
www.npsumava.cz

Institute of Systems Biology and Ecology (ISBE), Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Czech Republic)
www.usbe.cas.cz

Biosphere reserve und national park Aggtelek (Hungary)
www.anp.hu

Ecological Institute for Sustainable Development (EISD) (Hungary)
www.ecolinst.hu

Biosphere reserve und national park Babia Góra (Poland)
www.bgpn.pl

Friends of Babia Gora Association (FBGA) (Poland)

Donors:

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)/Global Environmental Facilities (GEF) - Sub-Programme Title: Biodiversity - 3: Forest Ecosystems and cuts across OP4
www.unep.org www.gefweb.org

UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB)
www.unesco.org

National, regional and local organisations and institutions

Website:

www.tourism4nature.org

Publications
for download:

Criteria for Sustainable Tourism
Sustainable Tourism Management Planning in Biosphere Reserves
Sustainable Tourism Training the Trainers Programme
The Trail Planning Guide. An insight into the process of planning interpretative trails. Principles and Recommendations
Background Study on Institutional and Management Frameworks in the Biosphere Reserves Aggtelek (Hungary, Babia Góra (Poland) and Šumava (Czech Republic)

Events:

CBD COP 9, May 2008, Bonn/Germany
At the 9th Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP 9) ETE presented the project at a side event and at the Plaza of Diversity. (www.plaza-der-vielfalt.de). The Central Eastern European network of nature conservation NGOs, CEEweb for Biodiversity was also presented at the stand.