3 staff members of the French National Park Vanoise have been held hostage by sheep farmers

The president, the Director and other staff members of La Vanoise National Park have been held hostage since the evening of the 1st of September by about 50 sheep farming representatives of the French community of Bramans, during 15 hours.

The sheep farmers are demanding further measures from the French government to protect their herds against wolf attacks:  they want a shooting permit in case of acute attacks on herds, as well as an additional shooting permit for 5 more wolves in the Department of Savoie until the end of the year, including in the core zone of the National Park.

Even though the return of the wolf to the French Alps brings with it a number of problems for the ranchers that have to be taken seriously, the farmers´ current method of undue deprivation of freedom is totally unacceptable.  No occupational group has the right to act this way.

The National Park administrators and staff of Alpine protected areas take the concerns of ranchers very seriously.  However, for a regulation of wildlife even outside protected areas there have to be clear guidelines on how to ensure a viable population status and on unreasonable damages occur despite the presence of herd protection measures.

France has one of the best developed and probably most coherent National Park concepts in all of Europe, which is distinguished in particular by the strict and efficient protection of core zones. This protection must not be weakened, or the credibility of nature protection and of a sustainable nature protection policy could be jeopardized.

EUROPARC expresses its profound support to La Vanoise National Park.

Information provided by Alparc

Recently the EUROPARC Federation and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) renewed an important  agreement as a great example of partnership oriented to sustainable tourism development. The WTTC is committed to promoting sustainability in the Travel & Tourism industry and the Tourism for tomorrow awards aims at recognising best practice in sustainable tourism within the industry globally.

They have just informed us that the applications to the 12th Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are now open! The deadline is the 16th of November 2015 no fee is charged for submitting your application. Find more about the award and the work of WTTC here!

They are looking for inspiring businesses and organisations from Travel & Tourism sector who feel they have what it takes, are encouraged to enter one of the five award categories for next year:  Community, Destination, Environment, Innovation and People.

Find more about the award and the work of WTTC here and watch the winners of 2015 edition in this video.

From now on, tourists from all over the world have another tool to better discover some of the most impressive Spanish protected areas.  It is a free multiplatform app (mobile and fixed devices: web, iOS and Android) in English and Spanish which aims to improve visibility, promotion and commercialisation of Ecotourism destinations in Spain. The project was developed by TUREBE, the spanish governing body – Ecotourism in Spain Club, and cofinanaced by MINETUR (Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism).

The destinations and businesses in the Club voluntarily comply with the environmental and social requirements established in the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas of the EUROPARC Federation. Thus they stand out as sustainable destinations and companies and connect their products to natural and cultural values by  means of authentic, unique and memorable experiences. Spanish Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks have used the same focus and similar systems to make sustainable tourism stand out. The aim is to guarantee attractive and trustworthy natural tourism, which also contributes to local conservation and development.

Spain, with more than 1,500 protected natural areas, has more than 7 million protected hectares (nearly 13% of the country). Not only is it the European country with the most natural areas, but it also boasts the Natura 2000 Network’ s largest surface area. Including the area encompassed in this European network, the area of Spanish territory under some sort of protection rises to 28%. Spain’s biodiversity parameters are also among the highest in Europe, with more than 8,000 species of flora (85% of the species in the EU), and nearly 50% of the estimated 142,000 of fauna in Europe. In both flora and fauna there are noteworthy numbers of autochthonous species. More than half of the European Habitats of greatest interest compiled in the Habitats Directive are found in Spain.

“Biodiversity is one of the main factors influencing travelling, since the wide variety of well preserved landscapes and ecosystems makes tourist destinations attractive. This is especially relevant in the case of nature tourism, which is based on discovering, enjoying and contemplating biological biodiversity.” (Nature Tourism Sector Plan, Spanish Government.)

This app was launched on 17th June at the headquarters of the EFE agency in Madrid, to coincide with the first anniversary of the approval of the Sectorial Plan for Nature and Biodiversity. The launch was presided over by Jacob Petrus, presenter of the RTVE programme “Aquí la Tierra”, with the participation of Monserrat  Fernández , deputy director of the National Parks Autonomous Organisation, Juan Manuel  Penín, director of Institutional Relations at the National Society for Management of Innovation and Tourist Technologies (SEGGITUR),  José Antonio Montero, vice president of TUREBE, Enrique Lancis, Director of Business Development and New Technologies at SEGITTUR,  Amanda Guzmán, Director of TUREBE and José María Cáceres, representing Lacq Consulting which developed the app.

Representatives of the businesses in the Club, natural areas, environmental foundations and associations among others were also present at the launch.

App available online, App Store and Google Play: http://ecotouristinspain.soyecoturista.com/

The second edition of the Summer School on Green Growth and Travelism will take place from the 24th to the 28th of August 2015.

The ‘Green Growth and Travelism (GG&T)’ Summer School has a specific focus on sustainable mobility and biodiversity and is organized by the Transportation Research Institute, Hasselt University, Belgium.

Among the promoters of this initiative and one of the keynote speakers, Ignace Schops – EUROPARC President, will share his knowledge and experience during these five days.

So if you are a graduate manager or a student and interested in the themes ‘climate change and biodiversity’ or ‘sustainable tourism and mobility’ then you should consider this great opportunity!

You will have the chance to attend a series of lectures given by renowned experts in the field of green growth, travelism, mobility and biodiversity. Field visits to Hoge Kempen National Park in the Province of‪ ‎Limburg and to the ‪‎European Parliament in Brussels will also be part of the programme.

Don’t miss this great event and register here for this fruitful 5-day course!