6th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention

25th November 2020

The Carpathian Convention is a subregional treaty to foster the sustainable development and the protection of the Carpathian region. It has been signed in May 2003 by seven Carpathian States (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Ukraine). Carpathian Convention Conferences of the Parties are organized to strengthen bonds between the partners and to serve as a reminder about the goals of this Convention. This year brought a surprise, as the physical conference of the Carpathian Convention COP6 (initially scheduled on 14-16 September 2020 in Rzeszow, Poland) had to be cancelled and moved to the virtual format. Therefore, on the 25th of November 2020, the 6th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP6) will take place in the virtual realm.

This year at COP6, the 3-year Presidency of the Carpathian Convention will be handed over from Hungary to Poland. COP6 will create a platform to review the status of the implementation of the Carpathian Convention and will focus on harmonizing and strengthening sustainable development in the Carpathian region. 

More information on the website of the Carpathian Convention: COP6 general information and previous Conferences of the Parties

11th meeting of the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee

To prepare for this conference, the Carpathian Convention Secretariat organized the 11th meeting of the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee (CCIC). It was held on 8th of October in online format. During this meeting, fruitful discussions and idea exchanges were summarized in the draft COP6 Decisions document. This document contains information on what the Carpathian Convention is seeking to achieve in the next years, what measures should they implement and what examples to use. 

We are very delighted that Centralparks has been endorsed in the Decisions Draft, and called to make significant contributions to the protection of natural and cultural heritage of the Carpathians in two different categories: Conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity and Sustainable tourism. Regarding the conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity, Centralparks gives considerable support to the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA) activities, encourages CNPA and WG Biodiversity. Regarding sustainable tourism, the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee takes note of the activities of the Centralparks project, especially the Strategy for Local Sustainable Tourism Development based on natural and cultural heritage of the Carpathians. The Secretariat encouraged the parties to contribute to and use the results of the Centralparks project accordingly. This is a great honour to the partners of Centralparks, highlighting the importance of our work. 

Please also read: The Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee welcomes Centralparks