Minutes of the Sustainable Tourism Working Group Meeting
14-15 May, 2004, Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia

Participants

Minute-taker

Anna Iványi, CEEweb

Future project - Education of field guides

The participants decided to start developing a project on training field guides working in natural areas, to integrate and promote biodiversity considerations in their daily work.

The first step of the planned project is an assessment of education practices, licensing and certification of field guides, to explore the opportunities for including nature interpretation in the curricula.

Bernadetta Zawilinska (PTTK, Poland) and Antonia Chilikova (EO Rhodope, Bulgaria) is taking the lead, and will further clarify the concept of the project.

The ongoing twinning program between CEEweb and Ecological Tourism in Europe (ETE), funded by PHARE Multi-country program was presented to the participants. This project will bring benefit for the entire working group, not only through building the capacities of the coordinator and the chair of the working group, but also through the development of a comprehensive training material on biodiversity and tourism.

Tender and Call for Proposals for CEE protected areas

The proposals submitted for the Tender and call for proposals for CEE protected areas were evaluated during the last Board Meeting of CEEweb, and after assessing the recieved applications, the Board made the decision to choose the proposal of CenORT, Serbia in the first place, and then later look for resources supporting the proposal of SOSNA, Slovakia.

ETE negotiations with UNEP- Biodiversity Service to ensure necessary funding are in progress, and depending on the time of final approval, the Serbia model project is expected to start in June. The outcome of the project is a methodology for developing the tourism strategy and management plan of a protected area, which might be useful as best practice for all members of the working group.

Presentations

Definition of ecotourism

The presentation made by Gábor Törocsik, Working Group Chair (Nature Friends Hungary) on the definition of ecotourism was followed by an interesting discussion on tourism, sustainability and related issues.

CBD Guidelines on biodiversity and tourism development

Stefanie Hoehn (ETE, Germany) gave a presentation on the Guidelines on biodiversity and tourism development, adopted by the 7th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (the meeting was held this February in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). The Guidelines might be used as an effective tool to promote conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, through ensuring that tourism developments and activities take fully into account natural, social, cultural and economic aspects and are planned, designed, implemented, operated and monitored through multi-stakeholder processes.

Questionnaire of basic background information

As the member organizations of the working group work in different countries of the region, it is important to collect some basic background information on the various legal and institutional frameworks relevant to tourism and biodiversity. The questionnaire prepared in this matter, which was circulated in advance and was further discussed at the meeting, will also help to compile the perceived needs and requirements, as well as to identify available funding sources. The results of the questionnaires (to be submitted by 15 June) will provide a helpful and essential basis for planning future activities and model projects.

Budget of the Working Group

The participants also discussed how to allocate the budget dedicated to the operation of the working group from the core funding of CEEweb. The decision was:

1. to print a brochure presenting the working group
2. to finance the next meeting planned to take place in October
3. to provide some sources for the Chair to cover the occurring communication and other costs
4. to organize exchange trips for the member organizations (depending on the availability of budget).

Closing of the meeting