The Live Wire



Press Release

UK signs the world's first landscape treaty

24 February 2006

CPRE [1] warmly welcomes the Government’s signing of the European Landscape Convention (ELC) [2] as a step forward in protecting England’s superb and diverse landscapes, announced today (Friday).

The convention aims ‘to promote landscape protection, management and planning’ and commits the signatories to:

  • integrate landscape into land use planning;
  • involve the public in landscape issues;
  • make national landscape laws and policies;
  • develop the raising of awareness, education and assessment of landscapes, including urban and peri-urban places; and,
  • co-operate at a European level.

‘This is welcome progress towards better recognition of our priceless landscapes, and the need to protect and enhance them for the benefit of all,’ said Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at CPRE.

‘The cultural inheritance and wildlife which are associated with the rich variety of English landscapes are right at the heart of our identity. The Government has made a good decision in signing and we urge Parliament to ratify this convention ratification as soon as possible,’ Tom Oliver concluded [3].

Twenty European countries have already ratified the convention, and CPRE had been urging the UK Government to sign for some time. If there are no unexpected delays, it could come into force later this year.

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Sir Max Hastings. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen.

2. The European Landscape Convention, an international treaty, was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 19 July 2000 and was opened for signatures on 20 October 2000. The Convention entered into force on 1 March 2004. To date, 20 nations have ratified this treaty and a further 12 have signed it but have yet to ratify it.

3. Only when the convention is ratified by the UK’s Parliament will it be fully binding on the UK Government.



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