The Charter was drawn up under the leadership of the EUROPARC Federation, and based on five years of research and consultation. Its practical application was demonstrated in "pilot parks" across Europe, seven of which achieved full Charter status in 2001. Since then, ten more protected areas have joined this initial group.

Examples in line with the International Guidelines :

• Partnerships are encouraged and strengthened

• Baseline information is collected and assessed for the protected area region

• Vision and goals are established to maximise the positive benefits of tourism on
  biodiversity, ecosystems, and regional development while minimising negative
  impacts

• Joint actions are taken to implement these overall goals.

During the Charter’s development it was envisaged that the Charter would be in three separate parts :

• For the parks

• For tourism businesses in the parks

• For tour operators bringing visitors to the parks

Part I for the parks represents the core of the Charter, setting out a framework for working with a range of stakeholders - including representatives of the tourism industry - on tourism development and management.

Parts II and III envisage taking the involvement of individual tourism businesses and the tour operators a step further and developing a system which would enable them to be recognised as "Charter businesses".

Although the official text covers all three parts, only the first part, for the parks, has so far been developed to the stage of full implementation by EUROPARC.

In order to become members of the Charter, protected areas need to complete a process of application and verification, during which they must demonstrate that they fulfil the Charter requirements.

The basic steps are as follows:

• Registration as a candidate park with EUROPARC Federation (the protected area is required to be member of the EUROPARC Federation in order to join the Charter).

• Park starts working with the Charter

• Completion and submission of the application documents

• Checking of application and selection of expert verifier

• Verification by an expert in sustainable tourism in protected areas

• Decision by the EUROPARC Evaluation Committee

• Award of the Charter certificate to successful parks:

  • Official recognition by EUROPARC (Certificate of the Charter)

  • A commitment by the park (5 years)

The Charter is designed for individual protected areas of all kinds. In order to achieve the status of Charter member, protected areas need to fulfil a number of requirements, which include :

• The establishment of a permanent forum or equivalent arrangement for partnership between the park authority, local municipalities, conservation and community organisations and representatives of the tourism business,

• The elaboration, in this forum, of sustainable tourism strategy for the protected area. This should address key issues specified by the Charter and include an action plan for meeting the identified strategic objectives.

Decades of economic growth and large increases in tourist numbers in Europe and throughout the world have meant that sustainable development and the management of tourism have become highly important issues. This is especially important for tourism based on nature where the risk of damaging the environment and the socio-economic fabric of a destination is potentially higher. The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, by providing a useful checklist of procedures and actions, helps balance the needs of local economic development and the environment.

The process of implementing the Charter serves as a basis for protected areas to strengthen relationships with local tourism stakeholders and the wider tourism industry. In addition helpful internal and external assessment can lead to the generation of new ideas and improvements in park’s tourism work. An increased understanding amongst tourism representatives for the aims of protected areas (and vice versa) can result and traditional barriers between different interest groups can be broken down. Award of the Charter demonstrates that parks are working to a high standard in the field of sustainable tourism. It thereby raises the profile of the area as one devoted to sustainable tourism, a fact which can be high-lighted in protected areas´ own literature and publicity. The Charter therefore offers a higher profile in the European arena as well as public relations opportunities. Recipients of the Charter also have the opportunity to work with and learn from other European parks in a network.

Once a park has decided to work with the Charter and is ready for verification it must submit a full range of application documents to EUROPARC. On receiving a park’s application, it will be checked for completeness and an expert in sustainable tourism in protected areas will be appointed as the verifier for the park. The verifier will examine the application, visit the protected area and make an assessment report. The verification visit usually takes two days. The verifier will conduct interviews with personnel of the protected area responsible for tourism and should also meet a selection of other stakeholders involved in tourism in the area, including representatives of tourism enterprises.

The verifier will be asked to pay particular attention to the processes adopted by the protected area, including liaison and consultation with stakeholders, the analysis undertaken, the balance and consistency of the strategy and action programme, how it relates to the Charter principles, and the resources the park is applying to ensure that the proposed action plan is achievable.

An Evaluation Committee of professionals, experienced experts in protected areas and sustainable tourism, has been appointed by the EUROPARC Federation. It was re-formed in 2003 to ensure that a wide range of perspectives was represented. The Committee considers the park’s full application together with the verifier’s report and decides whether the park fulfils the requirements to be awarded the Charter or not. At present, the Evaluation Committee meets once a year, in the summer (following completion of the verification process).

The members of the Committee are as follows:

• Dr Patrizia Rossi, Chair (Alpi Marittime Nature Park, Italy)

• Josep Maria Prats (La Garrotxa Nature Park, Spain)

• Dr Richard Denman (Tourism Consultant, United Kingdom)

• Manfred Pils (Naturfreunde International, Austria)