Vienna, 17 December 2018 – The Convention for the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathian Mountains was awarded a WWF Gift to the Earth award today, its highest accolade, at a ceremony at UN Environment offices in Vienna.
Arching across the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary, and down to Romania and the tip of Serbia, the Carpathians are Europe's last great wilderness area - a bastion for large carnivores, with over half of the continent's population of bears, wolves and lynx, and home to the greatest remaining reserve of old growth forests outside of Russia.
“The Carpathian Convention is the product of cooperation between governments and different stakeholders, including from civil society, science, the public and private sectors that all share a dream,” said Harald Egerer, head of UN Environment Vienna Office, Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention. “It is for this dream and our efforts to sustainably develop the region and preserve it for future generations that I believe we are receiving this Gift to the Earth award from WWF.”
Covering an area five times the size of Switzerland and larger than the Alps, the Carpathian Mountains are home to 18 million people. Many of them depend on the natural resources of the region for their livelihoods and well-being. Forestry, tourism and agriculture are important for local economies, including income and employment. More significantly perhaps, the region and its natural resources provide a host of ecosystem services, including climate regulation and water management.
The region’s exceptional natural treasures are increasingly threatened by unsustainable development. Demand for biomass is driving the harvesting of the region’s forests, both legally and illegally.
The Carpathian Convention has played an important role in leading and coordinating action by its member countries and relevant stakeholders. These actions have not only sought to address a host of environmental challenges across the very diverse Carpathian Mountains, but also to identify and promote opportunities for sustainable local development.
“WWF has given a Gift to the Earth, its highest award, to the Carpathian Convention. This award recognises the important role that the Convention has played in facilitating action by its seven member governments and relevant stakeholders to preserve the exceptional natural values and promote sustainable development in the globally-important Carpathian mountains region, as well as in serving as a model for cross-border cooperation. The Carpathian Convention presents an example of the necessity and potential for working together across national borders and across sectors,” said Andreas Beckmann, Director of the WWF-Danube-Carpathian Programme.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About UN Environment
UN Environment is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UN Environment works with governments, the private sector, the civil society and with other UN entities and international organizations across the world.
About the Carpathian Convention
The Convention for the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathian Mountains (“Carpathian Convention”) was adopted and signed by the seven Parties (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Ukraine) in May 2003 in Kyiv, Ukraine, and entered into force in January 2006. It is the only multi-level governance mechanism covering the whole of the Carpathian area. Alongside the Alpine Convention, it is one of only two sub-regional treaty-based regimes for the protection and sustainable development of a mountain region worldwide.
About the Gift to the Earth Award
The Gift to the Earth is WWF’s highest award for a globally significant conservation achievement, which addresses WWF’s conservation priorities by advancing conservation of biodiversity, especially forest, freshwater and marine ecosystems, or enhancing the prospects for survival of threatened species, and addressing global threats posed by climate change, toxic chemicals and unsustainable use of resources such as timber, freshwater and fisheries.
For more information
Konstantin Ivanov, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, +359 884 514 636, kivanov@wwfdcp.bg
Shari Nijman, UN Environment News and Media, nijman@un.org
