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Overview

International Conventions and Agreements on the Environment

Council of Europe

The European Diploma

The European Diploma is an award established by the Council of Europe under Regulation (65) 6 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of 6 March 1965 instituting the European Diploma for certain landscapes, reserves and protected national features, and Resolution (73) 4 of 19 January 1973 on the Regulations for the European Diploma (amended and revised by Resolution (88) 39 of 5 December 1988, (89) 12 of 19 June 1989 and (91) 16 of 17 June 1989). By awarding the European Diploma, the Council of Europe recognises that the area is of particular European interest from the natural-heritage standpoint; and that the area is properly protected. The Diploma can be awarded to national parks, nature reserves or natural areas, sites or features.

Resolution (91) 16 consists of nine articles and three appendices. Appendix II proposes the criteria for classification under each of the three proposed categories (A, B and C). When a government proposes a candidate for the Diploma, the application is examined and there is an on-site appraisal. If approved, award of the European Diploma is for a five-year period. The award can be renewed for further five-year periods, subject to appraisals for each period. The Council of Europe is able to make recommendations when presenting the award. The authorities in charge of managing the area must submit annual reports to the Council of Europe.

There are three categories of the award:

Category A: large natural areas in Europe which are not much affected by man and where the aim is to protect the natural heritage, the ecosystems and the wildlife;

Category B: areas where the overriding consideration is to protect the landscape and preserve the areas in their present state; and

Category C: areas whose social and recreational function is successfully combined with maintaining their biological or aesthetic features.

A total of 50 European Diploma sites (34 Category A, 10 Category B and 6 Category C) have been awarded, as of December 1997, in 20 countries (Annex 2a).

Criteria

Category A

1. The primary objective of sites in this category is the protection of the European heritage of flora and fauna, its environment and ecosystem. Aims may be as follows:

to protect the haunts and hide-outs of species of animals and/or plants which are rare, endemic or liable to become extinct;

to protect the breeding grounds of certain types of fauna which should be preserved in Europe and the areas in which they gather for migration;

to preserve single or collective examples of environment, vegetation and biocenoses which bear special witness to the natural ecosystems of Europe; and

to protect sites or areas of major importance to natural history and the earth sciences.

2. The criteria for protection that these sites must meet are prescribed by the need for as stringent biological protection as possible:

absence of permanent human occupation and of economic activities such as agriculture, sylviculture, mining, industry and tourism (i.e. no ?development?);

guarantees that existing human activities and installations in the environment cannot damage the physical and biological integrity of the place;

protection, afforded by legislation, (i.e. law or decree promulgated by the competent authorities);

protective regulations prohibiting any artificial change in the environment or any biological depredations (hunting, fishing or culling), with certain possible exceptions for justifiable scientific purposes aimed at controlling or maintaining certain species or environments;

arrangements for patrolling by wardens, including power to report offenders; and

no access to the public unless specially authorised and in any case regulated or channelled in a manner appropriate to the habitats.

Category B

1. The primary objective is to protect the character of the landscape and to maintain the habitats, biological protection playing a secondary role. Aims may be as follows:

to preserve sites, landscapes or natural features of special aesthetic or cultural value or of an imposing nature;

to maintain areas as witnesses to the history of Europe?s rural areas or forest; and

to preserve sites and areas as significant examples of geological, geomorphologic, hydrographic or biogeographic phenomena.

2. The required criteria for protection should be those that help to maintain the existing condition of sites, namely:

guarantees that existing human activities and installations cannot damage the landscape;

legal recognition of the protected area by means of decree, inclusion in an official list or in a legalised planning scheme, with an indication of the conservation requirements and prohibitions;

supervision with the possibility of bringing an action in case of damage to the characteristics which are the specific object of the protection; and

free or regulated access for the public, with the possibility of installing rustic reception centres.

Category C

1. The primary objective in this case is to combine the social and recreational functions of the area concerned with maintenance of its biological or aesthetic characteristics for the purpose of achieving a first-class environment:

the planning of a rural or forest area for social purposes, by reconciling the conservation of the landscape with the harmonious development of leisure pursuits, yet in no way excluding other activities commensurate with protection of the landscape; and

the planning for the same purpose of suburban, coastal and lakes, while preserving the character and beauty of the landscape.

2. The criteria for protection that such areas must meet are as follows:

the boundaries of the area must be laid by some official procedures (in most cases, regional planning). The boundaries must be set out in a plan;

the area must be zoned, or the proposed use of the soil must be clearly indicated, especially where agriculture, forestry, tourism, recreation and housing are concerned;

there must be effective measures for the protection of the landscape, for the size of built-up areas, for recreational or residential installations, for economic development, for civil and rural engineering works; and

the public should have free access and certain arrangements might be made for their benefit (parking areas, walks and drives, etc.).

The regulations on the European Diploma are currently under review in order to:

suppress A, B and C categories;

include in the European Diploma document and the corresponding Resolution the reasons for its award; and

retain the requisite criteria for the experts responsible for on-the-spot visits, in order to guide the decision to award or renew the Diploma and help monitor the areas by means of the annual follow-up reports. The criteria should correspond to the objectives set by nominated areas and the protection measures required attaining these objectives.

European Diploma sites in danger

The Diploma can be withdrawn at any time if the area comes under threat or suffers serious damage incompatible with award or renewal.

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