Side Event

Implementing the CBD Guidelines on Biodiversity and Tourism Development - Good practices and lessons learned of a UNEP/GEF project in Central Eastern Europe

Organizer
Ecological Tourism in Europe

Date and Time
22 May 2008 13:15 - 14:45

Meeting
Ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 9)

The proposed side event introduces the experiences made within the GEF-UNEP Project 'Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity through Sound Tourism Development in Biosphere Reserves in Central and Eastern Europe', implemented from March 2005 until May 2008. The project aims at strengthening the protection of globally significant mountain ecosystems in the three Biosphere Reserves Babia Gora (Poland), Aggtelek (Hungary) and Šumava (Czech Republic) through the development of new tools and innovative management systems with a special focus on tourism-related uses of these important sites. The project is a model case for the implementation of the CBD Guidelines on Biodiversity and Tourism Development. As such, the project demonstrates in which way local development related to tourism can contribute to the conservation goals of protected areas.