News

Poland signs the European Landscape Convention

Strasbourg, 21.12.2001 - Ambassador Krzysztof Kocel, Permanent Representative of Poland to the Council of Europe, today signed, in the presence of Hans Christian Krüger, Deputy Secretary General of the Organisation, the European Landscape Convention [ETS 176].

The Convention, opened for signature on 20 October 2000, aims to encourage public authorities to adopt policies and measures at local, regional, national and international level for protecting, managing and planning landscapes throughout Europe. It covers all landscapes, both outstanding and ordinary, that determine the quality of people´s living environment. The text provides for a flexible approach to landscapes whose specific features call for various types of action, ranging from strict conservation through protection, management and improvement to actual creation.

The Convention proposes legal and financial measures at the national and international levels, aimed at shaping "landscape policies" and promoting interaction between local and central authorities as well as transfrontier cooperation in protecting landscapes. It sets out a range of different solutions which States can apply, according to their specific needs.

The Council of Europe intergovernmental committees will be supervising the convention´s implementation. The text also provides for a Council of Europe Landscape award, to be given to local or regional authorities or an NGO which introduced exemplary and long-lasting policies or measures to protect, manage and plan landscapes.

It will enter into force after its ratification by ten Council of Europe member States.

The Convention has so far been ratified by Norway and signed by Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.