DECISION COP4/6 Sustainable tourism Article 9 of the Carpathian Convention The Conference of the Parties

1. Welcomes the entry into force of the Protocol on Sustainable Tourism to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians and encourages the ratifications of the Protocol by the Parties, which have not yet done so;

2. Welcomes the cooperation with and contribution by the Ecological Tourism in Europe (ETE), CEEweb for Biodiversity, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), WWF-Danube-Carpathian Programme Office (WWF DCPO) and other partners on national levels in particular related to the development of the Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development of the Carpathians to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians, and of projects aimed at its implementation;

3. Adopts the Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development of the Carpathians to the Carpathian Convention, welcomes the Background Document and takes note that the Strategy aims at the implementation of relevant paragraphs of the Protocol on Sustainable Tourism adopted at COP3;

4. Requests the Carpathian Convention Working Group on Sustainable Tourism to coordinate and guide the implementation of the Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development of the Carpathians;

5. Invites stakeholders, especially the tourism sector, in the Carpathians to actively contribute to the implementation of the Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development of the Carpathians and to the establishment of online Carpathian platform on sustainable tourism;

6. Emphasizes the need for resource mobilization for the implementation of the Protocol and the Strategy at national and international level involving all relevant stakeholders and commits to cooperate on this matter;

7. Welcomes the outcomes of the ”Innovations in Rural Tourism” co-financed by the European Commission, which aims, among others, at facilitating the development of sustainable tourism in rural mountain areas;

8. Welcomes the outcomes of the First Carpathian States Tourism Forum organized by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of Poland on 28 May 2014 in Rzeszów, Poland;

9. Appreciates the funding made available by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety to support the elaboration of the Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development and its Background Document.