European Charter for Sustainable Tourism

The Charter is a practical management tool which helps protected areas to continuously improve the sustainable development and the management of tourism taking account of the needs of the environment, the local population and the local tourism businesses.

The Charter is not a typical quality or eco-label but a process-oriented methodology that can be used and applied by all kinds of protected areas. The Charters focus is on initiating and assisting a process of sustainable tourism planning which will lead to sustainable development step by step. The Charter assists this process by providing a 'strategy development kit' which contains principles, a methodology and check-lists for the protected areas to work with. The implementation of the Charter methodology increases the awareness of and support for European protected areas.

The European Charter Network: Working in partnership

Since the first seven protected areas signed the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Area in 2001, the European Charter Network has grown significantly. The European Charter Network now counts with 78 protected areas from eight European countries involving over 100 local tourism businesses as Charter partners, local and regional government authorities, NGOs and many more. Many more Charter Candidate protected areas are currently engaged in the Charter process and likely to hand in their application documents for evaluation in 2010.

Networking, sharing experience and knowledge is one of the main aims of the Charter. This includes regular Charter network meetings, exchange and study visits.

Linking biodiversity & tourism: Good practice in Charter protected areas

The European Charter has been successfully implemented for ten years and has led to an incredible range of well-structured activity. The new EUROPARC brochure 'Joining Forces', which was produced in the framework of the European CharterNet project features 24 case studies of how protected areas have developed and implemented sustainable tourism. Please contact us if you want a copy.

Please visit the Charter website  or contact Federico Minozzi to find out more about the European Charter and how your protected area can join the Charter nework and make it's tourism more sustainable.