THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONVENTION - CG (4) 6 Part II

 

 

Rapporteur
Mr Pierre HITIER (France)

 

 

I. Introduction

1. In Resolution 256 (1994), the former Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe invited the Congress "to draw up, on the basis of the Mediterranean Landscape Charter adopted in Seville, a framework convention on the management and protection of the natural and cultural landscape of Europe as a whole".

2. One year later, the European Union's European Environment Agency published "Europe's Environment: the Dob_íš Assessment", a very detailed document on the state of the environment in "Greater Europe" and its prospects for the future. That text, based on the first European Ministerial Conference on the Environment (Dob_íš, June 1991), devotes an entire chapter to the landscape. It contains a proposal for drafting a convention on rural landscapes under the auspices of the Council of Europe, which was strongly reiterated by the IUCN in its European Programme on Protected Areas.

3. In the light of those recommendations and drawing strength from its close contact with ordinary people, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe took up the challenge and decided to draw up a draft European Landscape Convention. A working group was set up for that purpose and held its first meeting in November 1994.

4. Prepared for the 4th plenary session of the Congress, this report presents the working group's achievements to date: a preliminary draft European Landscape Convention, along with the principles and methodology followed and the working documents used.

5. Given its decision to draw up a draft European Landscape Convention, the Congress undoubtedly understands the important role played by the landscape in strengthening regional identities, and its function of encouraging individuals to find fulfilment in their local environment. However, that is not all. It also realises that the expression "quality of life" should not refer solely to the physical dimension of the environment and that human health is not merely a matter of the body. The concept of environment is multi-faceted.

6. In particular, as a body representing the interests of local and regional authorities, the Congress is mindful of the importance that European populations attach to their surroundings. They now demand re-examination of policies affecting the areas they live in to take greater account of the qualitative aspect of spatial planning. They see their surroundings as being based, inter alia, on the feeling associated with their perception of their environment, especially in visual terms. That feeling, or perception of the environment, is known as landscape. It is the spiritual dimension of the environment.

7. The landscape owes its very existence to the shaping spirit of human beings. It is the product of their work, combined with the natural scene that preceded it. The landscape is to the environment what skin is to the body, a surface that shows a living organism's state of health. If the landscape is sick, the causes should be sought in the way society and individuals relate to their environment. Healing a damaged landscape necessitates full understanding of and respect for that relationship. If the landscape is to play a continuing role in maintaining human beings' spiritual balance and to remain an essential part of their identity, the development of our societies must take it into account in all relevant areas.

8. In former times, people did not talk about the landscape but simply reproduced it; that may have been a good sign. The fact that more is heard about the landscape today reflects the disruptive changes it has undergone, a sign that, in many cases, it can no longer fulfil the function societies assign to it. The European populations sense that a wide range of factors has reduced the quality and diversity of many landscapes, diminishing the quality of people's lives and of their surroundings.

9. By deciding to draw up a draft European Landscape Convention, the Congress is now responding to the concerns of those populations; it had noted that, at the European level, there were no specific, comprehensive international legal instruments on the environment, spatial planning or the cultural heritage which were entirely devoted to the conservation, management and enhancement of the European landscape. The geographical scope of existing instruments is often limited, and they deal only with some aspects of the landscape or touch on it as part of moves to protect and manage other local interests.

10. The CLRAE rightly considers that the time has come to take action, through a proposal for an international legal text which specifically addresses the changing attitudes of European populations to all the functions and facets of their environment. The landscape is one of those facets, perhaps the most troublesome and probably the most complex; that is precisely why it helps to satisfy one of the deepest and most elusive human needs.

II. The Working Group and its guiding principles

11. The group's discussions are chaired by the rapporteur. Ms Cristiana STORELLI (Switzerland) held that position until the middle of 1996, but left the CLRAE in September owing to the expiry of her term as an elected regional representative to the Congress. I would like to thank her for her dedication. She succeeded in injecting an impressive dose of humanism and open-mindedness into the working group. She also did an outstanding job of organising the preparatory documents for the preliminary draft convention, which serve as the scientific and legal basis for all the group's activities. Ms STORELLI managed to establish an atmosphere of trust and even friendship which is regularly recreated at each of the group's meetings.

12. The working group, for which I am now honoured to act as rapporteur, set out from its very first meeting to define the principles that should guide its activities.

They may be summarised in nine points:

a. Protection and management of the European landscape are means of consolidating European cultural identity; that consolidation is one of the fundamental purposes of the Council of Europe;

b. In view of the requirements of democracy and the special nature, diversity and variety of the landscape interests and values that have to be taken into account, it is important that any landscape convention should be planned and prepared within the Council of Europe by a body representing local and regional authorities, such as the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe;

c. The initiative taken by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe in deciding to prepare a draft convention on the landscape reflects a growing social and institutional need: the protection and management of the landscape in Europe now requires a basis in international law;

d. The landscape is a complex issue encompassing both cultural and natural aspects which, in a spirit of democratic participation, must take account of the interests and needs of a great many parties. In all landscape-related activities, it is thus essential to ensure that working methods are based on interdisciplinarity, co-ordination and participation;

e. A European landscape convention must be a highly flexible legal instrument: the wide range of interests involved and the many different kinds of action required by various types of landscape make maximum legal flexibility essential; the future convention will have to cover landscapes which, depending on their specific characteristics, necessitate measures ranging from the strictest conservation, through protection and preservation, to management, planning and actual creation;

f. The resolution of European landscape issues necessitates a binding legal instrument which applies to all European landscapes; the European Landscape Convention will have to cover the whole of Europe, including cultivated and natural rural areas and urban and peri-urban areas. It must not focus exclusively on man-made and historical components, nor on natural parts of the landscape, but will have to apply to all these elements and to the interaction between them. Similarly, the European Landscape Convention will not be concerned solely with protecting outstanding or exceptional landscapes, but with protecting all landscapes, since they all contribute to Europeans' quality of life. The convention must cover the visible aspects of the European landscape, that is, its natural and man-made components and their geographical layout, dynamics and interaction, as seen by individuals and societies through the different local, regional and national cultures. The convention must emphasise the concept of an indivisible whole, and should not deal with these various elements separately. In that light, measures adopted in application of the convention at the international, national, regional and local levels must concern the whole of Europe. Once it enters into force, the convention may affect wide areas of private and public law, as well as acts of public authorities and activities of individuals;

g. Certain landscapes are of interest to Europe as a whole. That interest may stem from the fact that they are special or rare, that they are the product of activities or ways of life threatened with disappearance, that they bear witness to the efforts of past societies or that they are particularly ingenious. The convention must therefore ensure "European recognition". A form of "European recognition" should also be accorded to landscapes which, although assessed as ordinary, deserve special attention nonetheless because of the efforts made to maintain them by local and regional authorities;

h. Conceptual, legal or functional separation of interests relating to natural landscapes (without human intervention) or cultural landscapes (with human intervention) is undesirable; "landscape" denotes a geographical area as perceived by human beings, the appearance of which has been shaped by natural and cultural factors and their interaction; wholly untouched areas are very rare and even they have a cultural component: the human eye that sees them and the human imagination that works on them. The landscape is therefore always a "cultural" product, and the functions assigned to it vary widely;

i. The convention must insist on the importance of encouraging ordinary people to participate in the taking of decisions about the landscape. Such participation should be facilitated by informing people, including them in the consultation process, making use of the various media and running educational activities at all levels.

13. In application of the principle of consultation and participation, several international, national and regional institutions are being asked to contribute to the working group's activities. They include the Parliamentary Assembly, the Cultural Heritage Committee (CC-PAT), the Committee for the Activities of the Council of Europe in the Field of Biological and Landscape Diversity (CO-DBP) (Council of Europe), the World Heritage Centre (UNESCO), the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission (European Union), the Executive Bureau for the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (Council of Europe, United Nations Environment Programme and IUCN), the Italian Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Assets and the regions of Andalusia (Spain), Languedoc-Roussillon (France) and Tuscany (Italy).

14. In this context, I would particularly like to thank Mr Régis AMBROISE and Mr Bengt JOHANSSON who, as observers representing the Council of Europe's CO-DBP and CC-PAT committees respectively, have made an attentive, active and enriching contribution to the working group's activities since its inception. We hope that the Council of Europe bodies referred to will be able to continue to contribute to the preparation of the draft European Landscape Convention through the work of these experts.

III. Preparatory documents

15. The working group is conscious of the difficult task ahead of it. As has been shown, the landscape ecompasses many disciplines, its main features being diversity, constant change and the different feelings and interpretations it inspires. There is a variety of very different national standard-setting texts which refer to the landscape, but they rarely address it directly and, in most cases, touch on it as part of initiatives to protect other local interests.

16. Owing to the scientific complexity of the subject and the variety of national legal approaches to it, the working group decided to draw up the following texts as preliminary working documents:

a. a full draft convention in non-legal language prepared on behalf of the working group and under the supervision of its former Rapporteur, Ms Cristiana STORELLI, by Prof Michael DOWER, acting Director of the Countryside Commission (United Kingdom) and Prof Yves LUGINBUHL, CNRS Laboratory Director (France), in co-operation with Prof Michel PRIEUR, CNRS Laboratory Director and Honorary Dean of the Law and Economics Faculty at the University of Limoges (France), Prof Florencio ZOIDO NARANJO, Geography Professor at the University of Seville (Spain) and the Council of Europe Secretariat. That version was adopted by the working group at its meeting in Seville on 29 February and 1 March 1996. This working document, which appears in Appendix 1, serves as the scientific basis for all the working group's activities. Indeed, the group is of the opinion that a draft convention on the landscape can hardly be drawn up until the precise purpose of such an instrument, the problems it raises and ways of resolving those problems have been defined from a rigorously and exclusively scientific point of view;

b. a comparative study of European landscape law drawn up to provide a picture of the conditions governing landscape protection, management and development in a significant number of the Council of Europe's member states.

The study, a provisional version of which appears in Appendix 2, was prepared by Michel Prieur, using information supplied by a number of European ministries responsible for landscape and basing himself on a data base supplied by other independent experts.

Although not yet finalised, the working document generally shows that the law deals with the landscape in three different contexts, each of them reflecting a specific attitude to the landscape itself:

- in countries which emphasise the beauty and aesthetic qualities of the landscape, it is covered by the laws on historic monuments and sites;

- in countries which emphasise outstanding natural areas and sites, nature parks and reserves, it is covered by the laws on nature conservation;

- in countries which see territory in both cultural and natural terms, with the landscape - even ordinary landscapes - as an integral part of that vision, it is covered by the laws on town and country planning.

Ten member states have constitutions which refer explicitly or implicitly to the landscape, confirming that it has indeed become fundamentally important in contemporary societies.

The study shows that nearly all European states cover certain aspects of the landscape in their sectoral legislation on monuments, sites, nature conservation, forests, water and town and country planning.

In actual fact, the law rarely ventures to define "landscape", which is often confused with the concept of "site". Inventories are drawn up to help identify landscapes; they are often the product of administrative practices. They may be straightforward lists of sites which are already protected, may serve to identify sites for future protection, or may be detailed studies of sites prepared with a view to future landscape planning schemes.

Four methods are used, separately or together, to protect landscapes in law:

- landscapes are incorporated into town and country planning schemes;

- certain landscapes are classified as protected areas, with legal implications ranging from the prohibition of certain activities to mere recommendations;

- landscape is made a factor in land-use decisions, which means that permission to put up a building, set up an industrial plant or operate a mine or quarry may be refused on landscape conservation grounds;

- specific landscape plans are drawn up and integrated to a greater of lesser extent into urban planning schemes or simply used as guidelines.

These measures are often preceded by an environmental impact study which sets out to assess a project's foreseeable effects on the landscape and its development.

Landscape-related policies and legal measures are often backed up by tax or financial incentives. Information, participation and education are unquestionably essential where landscape is concerned but they are not yet sufficiently developed.

The study also shows that international interest in the landscape is undoubtedly increasing, finding expression both in binding conventions and in declarations and recommendations.

UNESCO's 1972 Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage covers both cultural and natural landscapes, and is the most practical instrument available at present. Regional conventions also exist, but they deal only indirectly with specific aspects of the landscape. Eight regional conventions on protection of nature and the environment have been traced; they explicitly refer to the landscape as an element to be taken into consideration.

The fact remains that there is no convention dealing with the landscape as such in a comprehensive way, even though it is generally agreed that European landscapes have a distinctive character which should be safeguarded and enhanced. As the IUCN and the declaration adopted at the third European Ministerial Conference on the Environment (Sofia, October 1995) have emphasised, they must therefore receive special attention in the future. A European convention, which could supplement and enrich UNESCO's world convention, is the only way of formalising principles for the identification and sustainable management of European landscapes, at the same time collectively recognising those which are outstanding and those which are excellently maintained by local and regional authorities.

17. To facilitate preparation of an international landscape convention, the working group constantly refers in its work to existing national and international legal texts on the subject. In addition to the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, those texts include the Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe, the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage, the Mediterranean Landscape Charter, the EU regulation on production methods compatible with environment and management of natural habitats, the EU directive on conservation of semi-natural and natural habitats, the EU directive on environmental impact assessment and other major national and international standard-setting texts. The complete list of international legal texts and programmes taken into consideration by the Working Group when drawing up the preliminary draft European Landscape Convention appear in Appendix 3 of the present report.

IV. The consultation process

The working group responded to the requirements of democracy and the special nature, diversity and variety of the landscape interests and values that had to be taken into account by launching an initial phase of public consultation and organising a hearing on a draft convention, couched in non-legal language, in November 1995. That hearing was attended by over 70 experts in landscape-related fields, representing public bodies and non-governmental organisations involved in landscape protection and management in more than 28 European countries. They welcomed the forthcoming preparation within the Council of Europe of a convention on European landscape by a body very close to European citizens, namely the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe. The oral and written comments made at that hearing enabled the working group to make considerable improvements to the non-legal version of the draft convention, which is appended to this report.

19. Along the same lines as the hearing on the "non-legal" version of the draft convention, the working group is holding a second hearing in March 1997 to present the preliminary draft convention. That second hearing will be attended by representatives of the organisations, intergovernmental programmes and regional authorities concerned, such as UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, the IUCN, the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy, the European Union's Committee of the Regions and the regions of Andalusia (Spain), Languedoc-Roussillon (France) and Tuscany (Italy). The comments made by those representatives will help the working group to refine the preliminary draft convention presented to you today. At that hearing, the Italian Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Assets and the Andalusian regional government will officially present their candidacy for the organisation of an international conference on the draft convention in 1998.

20. Between presentation of the preliminary draft convention at this plenary session of the Congress and presentation of the final draft at the 5th session, the working group hopes to arrange intergovernmental consultation with representatives of the national ministries responsible for the landscape in the various member states and of the main organisations with relevant technical expertise.

As already stated, the Italian Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Assets and the Andalusian regional government will officially present their candidacy for the organisation of such an international conference on the draft convention during the first quarter of 1998. The final draft convention would then be submitted to the 5th plenary session of the Congress.

V. The multimedia CD-ROM

21. In order to encourage openness, participation and innovation, the working group also hopes to produce a multimedia CD-ROM to provide computerised backup to the draft convention's principles. The Group intends this product to put across in an innovative way the essential message of the draft Convention, which is the conviction that European landscape as a whole, being one of the fundamental factors affecting the surroundings in which populations live, should benefit from protection, management and/or genuine planning. This new concept, which has in fact been confirmed by several European governments' choices regarding regional/spatial planning, can have positive repercussions on the social and economic development of European societies. The initiative to produce a multimedia CD-Rom on European landscape reflects the CLRAE's wish to spread the above concept to all parties (individuals, firms, public administrations, etc.) who recognise that quality of the surroundings in which populations live is an essential factor for quality of life and economic development.

22. In particular, the following arguments may be put forward in favour of that initiative:

a. the landscape is an ideal subject for computer presentation because of its connections with the human imagination, cultural identity and aesthetics and its multidisciplinary nature; the CD-ROM sector is clearly expanding rapidly and has immense technological potential which should be applied to topics likely to yield a profit;

b. presentation of the draft European Landscape Convention's principles on a multimedia CD-ROM is a new and unique means of raising awareness which fits in with the aims of our organisation and reflects the latest developments in the communication and information sectors;

c. the Council of Europe must not refrain from entering the new information technology market; it should present its own initiatives as products to be disseminated via European or even worldwide communications networks;

Giving practical form to this initiative will require the assistance of the following:

- experts responsible for compiling the various elements that will make up the CD-ROM (photographs, films, texts, music, diagrams, tables and other interactive material) and the corresponding database; they should be communications specialists with contacts in media circles;

- computer programmers and graphic specialists - possibly with experience in the environmental field - who will use the database in order to assemble the material referred to above;

- expert qualified in multi-media projects concerning landscape, assigned with the scientific and technical co-ordination of the experts responsible for collecting the various elements that will make up the CD-Rom, and computer programers responsible for assembling these elements;

- company(ies) responsible for developing and managing the whole project from a practical angle and for its financial operation.

This initiative has the support of the Council of Europe's Information and Information Technologies directorate and Publishing and Documentation Service.

VI. The draft European Landscape Convention in the context of the principal international programmes, reports and legal instruments in the field of the environment and the cultural heritage

23. The draft European Landscape Convention is a Council of Europe initiative which fits in with the main legal instruments, action programmes and reports established at European level in the field of environment and cultural heritage.

It has direct links with:

a. The Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy. This text is an international framework for co-operation which was endorsed in October 1995 by 55 European countries at the 3rd European Ministerial Conference on the Environment, in which major international governmental and non-governmental organisations also participated. The Strategy was drawn up by the Council of Europe, the United Nations Environment Programme and the European Centre for Nature Conservation. Its main aim is to halt the process of nature and landscape deterioration in Europe.

With reference to the landscape, it is recognised in the Strategy that the issue of landscape diversity has not yet been adequately addressed at European level in the instruments intended to protect and improve the environment. The document setting out the Strategy points out that 6% of Europe's land area is subject to landscape protection, but that such provisions generally have weak legal status and that a number of European landscapes are in the process of disappearing for ever. Once again, these observations highlight the fact that there is no specific, comprehensive legal instrument in Europe which is entirely devoted to landscapes and landscape conservation, management and enhancement.

The draft European Landscape Convention provides a practical response to the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy by encouraging the adoption of specific, practical measures in areas not already equipped with suitable instruments.

The Strategy provides for use of the CLRAE's draft European Landscape Convention in its implementation.

The European Landscape Convention could thus serve as the legal basis for implementing the landscape diversity aspect of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy, as set out in the action theme "Conservation of Landscapes", thereby complementing the convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern, 1979), which deals more specifically with biological diversity.

The preliminary draft European Landscape Convention recommends that the European Landscape Committee, the body which will be responsible for implementing the convention and monitoring its application, should be attached to the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention as one of its sub-committees.

These thoughts could be taken up again when the final draft is presented in 1998.

b. "Europe's Environment, the Dob_íš Assessment". This text, published in 1995 by the European Union's European Environment Agency, is a detailed report on the state of the European environment and its prospects for the future.
As stated at the beginning of this report, the Dob_íš document devotes an entire chapter to the subject of landscape. It identifies the value of European landscapes and gives a descriptive outline of them, drawing up a list of factors that are detrimental to the landscape; in the framework of preventive measures, as already pointed out, it proposes that a convention on rural landscapes be drafted under the auspices of the Council of Europe. The Dob_íš Assessment also recommends setting up a network of landscapes of European interest.

c. The UNESCO Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Ever since the designation of cultural landscapes as a category of site eligible for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage List, close links have been maintained between the draft European Landscape Convention and the Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Paris, 1972). In particular, the World Heritage Committee, which is responsible for implementing the UNESCO convention, has on many occasions referred to the risk of including an excessive number of European landscapes in the World Heritage List. Accordingly, a list of landscapes of European interest could be drawn up under the European Landscape Convention as a means of reducing the number of European landscapes eligible for UNESCO's World Heritage List.
According to the Director of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, Mr Bernd VAN DROSTE, "the World Heritage Convention, aimed at protecting natural and cultural landscapes, and the European Landscape Convention, although still in draft form, complement one another". Mr VAN DROSTE also informed the Congress Secretariat that, at its 20th session held in Mérida (Mexico) from 2 to 7 December 1996, the World Heritage Committee had stressed the importance of close co-operation with the Council of Europe to ensure complementarity between the World Heritage Convention and the draft European Landscape Convention.
The working group has consequently decided to devote one article of the draft convention to the protection of landscapes of European interest; it will be compatible with and complementary to the UNESCO system. The draft resolution therefore proposes that specific co-operation with UNESCO's World Heritage Centre be set up forthwith.

d) The IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. The Chair of the Commission, Mr Adrian PHILLIPS, has indicated the Commission's support in principle for the Congress' initiative. In particular, he recognises that the CLRAE's preliminary draft European Landscape Convention represents a practical response to the recommendations made by the IUCN during its "Parks for Life" programme. It was acknowledged in that programme that a European convention could make a substantial contribution to protecting the most outstanding European rural areas.

VII. Conclusion

24. The working group would like to submit the results of its activities described in this report to the 4th plenary session of the Congress. Those results comprise the preliminary draft European Landscape Convention in particular, but also the preliminary working documents appended to this report: the draft convention couched in non-legal language and the comparative study of European landscape law.

25. The preliminary draft European Landscape Convention may be found in Appendix 1 to the draft resolution, which will be adopted by the Congress together with a draft recommendation. The draft recommendation invites the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Committee of the Regions of the European Union to study the preliminary draft European Landscape Convention contained in the draft resolution, to express an opinion and, if possible, to support it with a view to presentation of the final draft convention. That final draft will be presented to the Congress at its 5th plenary session in 1998, as part of a draft recommendation to the Committee of Ministers inviting it to adopt the final draft of the European Landscape Convention and to open it for signature as a Council of Europe convention.

A P P E N D I X I

DRAFT EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONVENTION

(Non-legal version)

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

The present text is a full version of the proposed convention, drafted in non-legal language on behalf of the Working Group and under the supervision of its Rapporteur, Mrs Cristiana STORELLI, by Professor Michael DOWER and Professor Yves LUGINBUHL in conjunction with Professor Michel PRIEUR, Professor Florencio ZOIDO NARANJO and the Council of Europe Secretariat represented by Mr Riccardo PRIORE; the present text takes into account the observations made at the hearing held in Strasbourg on 8 and 9 November 1995; it was adopted by the Working Group at its meeting on 29 February and 1 March 1996 in Seville.

I. PREAMBLE

The member States of the Council of Europe, signatories hereto,

1. Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage;

2. Bearing in mind the need to achieve a balanced relationship between society and the environment in order to promote sustainable economic development;

3. Noting that landscapes, as complex elements of the environment, perform important functions of general value, especially in cultural, ecological, social and economic terms, and help maintain the balance between society and its environment;

4. Noting that agricultural, forestry and industrial production techniques, practices in town planning, transport, tourism and recreation, and the resultant transformations, have the effect of altering the landscape and threatening its delicate balance;

5. Considering that no international legal instruments deals directly, specifically or comprehensively with European landscapes or the preservation of their quality, despite their immense cultural and natural value and the many factors threatening them;

6. Being convinced that conventions are effective means of action because they:

- foster public and political awareness of the problems they deal with;

- establish general guidelines applicable at various levels;

- inform States how to manage resources of international importance and encourage them to co-operate;

7. Considering that efforts made for the benefit of landscapes should not depend solely on measures taken at national level but should involve all the interested parties at local and regional level, whether public bodies or private individuals;

8. Being convinced that the establishment at European level of guidelines concerning the active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes will facilitate the taking of concrete measures aimed at ensuring that the economic, social and cultural development of Europe's populations makes due allowance for the values specific to landscapes;

9. Having regard to the following legal texts existing at international level in the field of the active protection and management of the natural cultural heritage:

a. the Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Paris, 23 November 1972 (UNESCO);

b. the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Bern, September 1979 (Council of Europe);

c. the Convention for the Protection of the European Architectural Heritage, Granada, 3 October 1985 (Council of Europe);

d. the European Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (revised), Valletta, 16 January 1992 (Council of Europe);

e. the Benelux Convention on Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, Brussels, 8 June 1982;

f. Recommendation No. R ENV (90) 1 on the European Conservation Strategy (Council of Europe);

g. Recommendation R (95) 9 on the integrated conservation of cultural landscape areas as part of landscape policies (Council of Europe);

h. Recommendation R (94) 6 for a sustainable development and use of the countryside with a particular focus on the safeguarding of wildlife and landscape (Council of Europe);

i. Recommendation R (94) 7 on a general policy for a sustainable and environmentally-friendly tourist development (Council of Europe);

j. Recommendation R (95) 10 on a sustainable tourism development policy in protected areas (Council of Europe);

k. Recommendation No. R (79) 9 concerning the identification and evaluation card for the protection of natural landscapes (Council of Europe);

l. Recommendation R (92) 8 on soil protection (Council of Europe);

m. Directive No. 337/85 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (European Union);

n. Directive No. 92/43 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (European Union);

o. European Regional/Spatial Planning Charter, European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning, Torremolinos, 20 May 1983;

p. the Mediterranean Landscape Charter
[Resolution 256 (1994) of the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (Council of Europe)].

Have agreed as follows:

II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

A. Scope

10. The present convention applies to all parts of the European territory, whether cultivated or natural rural areas, urban or peri-urban areas. It is not confined to cultural or man-made items or to natural components of landscapes: it refers to all these elements and to relations between them. This comprehensive geographical coverage is justifiable for the following reasons: urban and rural landscapes interlock in complex ways; most Europeans live in towns and cities, the quality of whose landscapes greatly affects their lives; and rural landscapes occupy an important place in the European consciousness. It is also justified by the profound changes which European landscapes, particularly per-urban ones, are at present undergoing.

11. The convention is concerned not only with the protection of outstanding or exceptional landscapes but also with the management of all landscapes, since these go towards the quality of life of Europe's populations. It demands a forward-looking attitude on the part of all those whose decisions affect the active protection, dynamic management, planning or creation of landscapes. It thus has implications for many areas of official policy and of official or private action, from the local to the European level.

B. Object

12. A landscape possesses a multi-faceted character which endows it with the significance not only of a material object but also of a sensitive relationship between people and their environment.

13. Definitions of landscapes are for that reason highly variable. They may be confined to the various forms and colours visible from one viewpoint. They may also take account of the effect of human activities on the geological and ecological substratum. Furthermore, they may embrace the sensitivity of individuals, who, according to their conceptions of nature and space and their personal culture, will attribute to a landscape different values of an aesthetic, affective, historical, symbolic, ecological, economic or other nature.

14. This Convention relates to what is visible in the land, ie the natural and man-made elements of its composition and their spatial organisation and their dynamics and inter-relations as perceived by individuals and societies in the perspective of the various local, regional and national cultures. It emphasises the idea of an indivisible whole and does not consider these elements separately.

15. The concept of landscape is bound up with other concepts, with which it is often confused and from which it should be distinguished, such as environment, ecology, territory, land-use and site.

C. Landscape values

16. Populations and their political leaders have become aware of the importance of landscapes in recent years. This awareness is part and parcel of the growing sensitivity of European societies to environmental problems; it derives from a belief that the quality and diversity of many landscapes have decreased under the influence of many different factors and that this trend is impairing the quality of human life.

Landscapes are valuable for the following reasons:

17. Quality of life. The aesthetic qualities (whether natural or man-made) of the environment as well as its ability to meet the new needs of societies are a fundamental element of the quality of life. Landscapes that are recognised as possessing these qualities are synonymous with a more congenial life, whereas landscapes regarded as mediocre are associated with poor living conditions. There is a direct relationship between, on the one hand, the quality and dynamics of landscapes and, on the other, the physical and mental well-being of human beings.

18. Diversity. Landscapes reflect the diversity of different places (configuration of the terrain, natural components and past and present human activities) as well as their inter-relations. This diversity is a fundamental part of the distinctive character of a place. It is cherished by local inhabitants, as they believe it contributes to their sense of belonging. It underlies a host of varied sensitivities and ways of perceiving reality, and constitutes one of Europe's principal assets.

19. Culture. Landscapes testify to the uses and techniques which societies have applied to nature or urban fabric, reflect part of local history and have inspired people's imaginations, in many cases for thousands of years. They enter into the feelings of rootedness, belonging and continuity, and also collective memory. They have stimulated story-tellers, writers, painters and other artists, permeating the culture and the soul of peoples. They occupy a predominant place in traditions and customs and often possess a highly symbolic value, even for people who have never seen them.

20. Scientific value. Landscapes reveal to the scientific disciplines concerned the ecological workings of nature. They afford a means of studying the relationship of societies with nature and of comprehending the uses which societies have made of natural resources; not only do their revelations further research and education; they also have a practical application in present-day of natura resources and land management.

21. Economic value. The quality of a landscape may help to create economic activities or foster their emergence, particularly in the field of recreation and tourism or when measures are taken to attract activities to a given region. People are taking an increasing interest in landscape-related outdoor activities, particularly in rural, mountain or coastal areas. Tourist activity has recently declined in regions where landscapes have been spoilt by intensive development of large resorts, both at the seaside and in mountain areas; social demand is now turning more towards natural landscapes, whether cultivated or uncultivated. Industrial and business leaders concerned for their corporate image and their employees' welfare now prefer to operate in a high-quality environment. The added value conferred on a product by a quality label or a designation of origin largely depends on the link which consumers establish between the product and the character of the environment in which it is manufactured. The productive role or rural areas also enhances the value of landscapes. At local level, a landscape possesses a genuine economic value which plays a part in local development and in the development of local resources as a factor of competitivity.

22. Ecological value. The considerable diversity of Europe's ecosystems stems from the variety of climatic and geographical conditions: geological substrata, exposure, altitude, scarcity or abundance of water, oceanic, continental or Mediterranean climate. These factors determine the character of the environment on which societies have left their mark. Each major type of land-use - reflected in the presence of towns, harbours, hedgerows, open fields, marshland, terracing, forests, mountain pastures, moors, scrub etc. - contributes to the diversity of natural configurations and bears witness to the ability of societies to gather knowledge about nature and develop techniques for managing it. The earth is not just a medium for human activity; it is a natural, living and fragile environment where societies have established manifold complex relations that are often perceptible in landscape.

23. These values have not always been recognised in the same way down the ages. Only in recent years have societies attached increasing importance to them, so much so that Europe's landscapes are now regarded by its inhabitants as an undeniable cultural, ecological and economic asset.

24. Nor are these values acknowledged in the same way in all regions and countries. They are nevertheless present in each of them. Landscapes regarded as the most outstanding for their ecological value or the most historic, are not the only ones to possess such values. Even ordinary landscapes have both an individual and a collective value for local populations.

25. While the values of a landscape are more particularly and generally beneficial to local populations, they may also be advantageous to visitors, where accessible to them. Many groups of individuals may thus acquire an interest in landscapes, notably through ownership or other claims recognised by property laws. But such interests go far beyond this framework and reflect the importance attached by all populations to the values inherent in landscapes. They should be taken into account in the democratic processes described below, which are intended to enable landscapes to be identified, protected and managed.

D. Processes detrimental to landscapes

26. Europe's landscapes, in all their quality and diversity, have been created by age-old human activities and by their interactions with nature. The transformations they have continuously undergone are due to the constant adjustments which societies have made to land-use. While transformations are a fundamental feature of landscapes, including the most natural ones, in certain circumstances they may impair the diversity of landscapes and cause dysfunctions inconducive to the renewal of natural resources.

27. Especially since the Second World War, many landscapes have been radically altered as a result of processes or policies whose impact on them had not been adequately evaluated. In certain regions, some of these processes have speeded up. For example:

a. The considerable spread of urbanisation, which is often poorly controlled and organised in areas of high population pressure, such as coastlines or large alluvial valleys and the outskirts of major cities; even when less intensive, this urbanisation is still detrimental to the quality of landscapes as its visual impact is greater than the actual built-up area. Excessive urbanisation is also inconducive to collective access to a landscape, as most of the buildings are erected in places offering a view of the most open sites. Generally speaking, urban and peri-urban landscapes have also been greatly affected by reconstruction, urban sprawl and the expansion of major transport infrastructures.

b. The development of areas of craft or commercial activity near towns, often without any regard to architecture or landscape.

c. The sometimes excessive development of transport and energy production infrastructures, often without any consideration for specific landscape features.

d. The great boom in leisure activities which are affecting the very landscapes that are of high social value.

e. The rationalisation of agricultural landscapes in areas with the highest production potential, due to intensification aimed almost solely at increased productivity. Conversely, rural areas with considerable natural disadvantages are being abandoned and their landscapes, suffering from a lack of maintenance, are deteriorating.

f. The spread of ill-managed forest land or fallow land in areas abandoned by agriculture and the destruction of forests by fire, especially in the Mediterranean region, and the spread of industrial-monoculture forests consisting of species unfavourable to landscape diversity and harmful to local ecosystems.

g. The exploitation of mining and soil resources with technical means enabling large quantities of materials to be extracted without any concern for the landscape or the environment: or the abandonment of mining areas without the soils and ecosystems being reconstituted.

h. The emergence or development of ecological phenomena endangering landscapes, such as soil erosion, water and air pollution and major hazards.

28. The adverse effects of these changes on the climate and on landscape diversity are particularly apparent in the rural regions of the European Union as a result of agricultural policies, as well as in the Mediterranean and Alpine regions on account of the development of tourism and intra-European migration, in coastal areas where human settlement has become more dense, and in Central and Eastern Europe because of successive changes in the status of farmland (collectivisation and liberalisation).

29. These processes of change have occurred because it was believed that they would improve the economic and social well-being of Europe's populations. They were not motivated by any intention to damage landscapes. Moreover, they were often approved by the populations concerned. Nowadays, however, people are becoming more aware of what they are losing in terms of quality of life and health; they are demanding that these processes be reconsidered and that greater attention be paid to the qualitative aspect of spatial planning and to landscapes, also having regard to a new social, cultural and economic context.

30. Other processes of change cannot be easily identified. There are nevertheless some economic processes which operate on an international scale and over which national authorities have little control at present. International trade and the globalisation of the economy are inducing transformations of landscapes, by causing certain commodities or natural resources to be produced or exploited elsewhere than was previously the case.

E. Landscapes and sustainable development

31. The present convention is aimed at enhancing the place occupied by landscapes in official policies. It acknowledges the legitimacy and necessity of constant economic and social development. Landscape and development should not be mutually exclusive but should jointly contribute to the well-being of societies. Landscapes have always evolved under the influence of natural phenomena or changes in human needs. The earth, which is the foundation of landscapes, also serves as a medium for all human activities and contains resources which people may need in order to live and improve their living conditions.

32. The convention is designed to reconcile landscape quality improvement and economic development and is thus consistent with the principles of sustainability laid down at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Such sustainability depends on a form of development capable of meeting the present needs of societies without affecting the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs. Development must be sustainable, both now and in the future: it must ensure renewal of natural resources with a view to their potential, but continuing and equitable use by future generations.

33. The implementation of sustainable development to achieve landscape quality calls for the enlistment of all relevant agencies to apply principles of action selected according to local peculiarities and the types of pressure exerted on landscapes.

F. Principles of action

34. The principles of action should not be reduced to an antithesis between landscape protection and socio-economic development. Action relating to landscapes should be conceived in a dynamic, forward-looking manner as three-pronged: active protection, dynamic management and planning. They imply that all those whose decisions have an influence on landscapes should adopt an anticipatory approach to landscapes and determine which of their features should be handed on to future generations.

35. Active protection cannot be excluded from official action, but it should be reserved mainly for landscapes deemed to be of an exceptional character (either on account of their natural configuration or because of the values attributed to them by society) and threatened by new pressures that are also liable to deny the public access to them. This type of action should be accompanied by maintenance and access measures ensuring such protection.

36. The dynamic management of landscapes consists more of steps or measures aimed at supporting transformations induced by economic and social needs, again in a context of sustainable development. These measures may concern the organisation of landscapes or their components or be aimed at the transformation factors so as to modulate the evolutionary processes; they should always be designed to improve the quality of landscapes according to the aspirations of local inhabitants or other populations.

37. Landscape planning should be envisaged as the drawing up of genuine town and country planning schemes taking account of existing landscapes but reflecting a marked anticipatory approach. It is particularly in areas which have been most affected by recent economic and social change and are considerably impaired or socially disadvantaged (suburbs, peri-urban areas, coastlines) that such schemes are needed for the purpose of radically restructuring spoiled landscapes. The schemes should go hand in hand with measures designed to improve the situation of the populations concerned.

G. The parties involved

38. Active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes are of concern to all members of the resident populations. They must be able to express their wishes under democratic consultation procedure so that public authorities can decide and act in accordance with residents' aspirations.

39. Responsibility for the principles of action lies primarily with public authorities, at local, regional and national levels. This apportionment reflects the fact that, while the quality of landscapes mainly depends on measures taken at those levels, such measures are not necessarily of the same kind and do not always involve the same resources. The authorities concerned have the necessary administrative powers and human and financial resources to take action for the active protection, dynamic management or planning of landscapes. They can also exert a strong influence - through regulations, fiscal and financial measures, public information and in other ways - on measures taken by other bodies.

40. However, responsibility does not lie solely with public authorities. Landscape values are beneficial to everyone: the task of protecting and enhancing them should therefore be shared by all. All individuals may, at their own level, take measures for the benefit of landscapes, such as when building on a plot of land or when working in an agricultural or forestry operation. Although such changes are brought about by particular individuals, the resulting landscapes are there to be seen or visited by the whole population: as all individuals are duty-bound to look after their own areas as well as others, in particular any public areas used by them, they should be vigilant and creative in carrying out their personal activities. Businesses, other private bodies, non-governmental organisations and voluntary associations can also contribute to active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes.

41. In addition to their local significance, Europe's landscapes possess values for Europe's population as a whole, which increasing mobility enables to appreciate. They are cherished beyond their locality and outside national frontiers. The aspirations of populations outside must therefore be attentively considered too. Moreover, certain landscapes have identical characteristics on either side of the borders and therefore require transfrontier measures to implement the principles of action. Finally, landscapes bear the consequences, whether positive or negative, of processes which may originate in other areas and whose magnitude is not limited by frontiers. That is why it is legitimate to be concerned with landscapes at European level.

III. OBJECTIVES

42. The general purpose of the convention is to enjoin public authorities to take measures at local, regional and national levels for the purpose of protecting, dynamically managing and planning landscapes throughout Europe so as to improve their quality and secure the recognition of populations, institutions and local and regional authorities for landscape values and interests.

43. In order to achieve this general objective, the Contracting Parties pledge themselves to take the following measures:

a. commitment of programmes to educate and raise the awareness of the public, to involve citizens in decision-making and to increase the technical capacities of the responsible bodies, in particular by promoting training in landscape matters for elected members and technical staff of local, regional and national government;

b. consolidation of the resources devoted to knowledge, identification and evaluation of landscapes;

c. exact definition of the aims of active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes, conceived in such a way that they will gain public support;

d. framing of strategic principles capable of reconciling the objectives pertaining to the landscape with residents' aspirations, and to foster appropriate changes conducive to sustainable development;

e. drawing up and explaining to the public appropriate plans of action for the following purposes in particular:

- development of research and specialist training in order to devise specific methods geared to the principles of sustainable development;

- use of suitable instruments designed to foster active protection, dynamic management or planning of landscapes and closer attention to landscape in town and country planning programmes;

- introduction of financial and fiscal incentives and of land policy action by the public authorities;

- assignment of special statuses to those landscapes deemed to be of outstanding value and requiring special protective measures designated by appropriate terminology;

f. encouragement of international co-operation in the active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes, and the provision of machinery at European level for the implementation of the Convention and also for identifying, evaluating and safeguarding landscapes, especially those of Europe-wide interest.

44. The active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes requires the application of a combination of action strategies and measures in each area concerned, to a degree varying according to the features.

IV. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT, AWARENESS-RAISING AND EDUCATION

45. All citizens are concerned by landscape quality, as it has an impact on their quality of life. The quality of a landscape may positively or negatively be affected by the activity or inactivity of certain persons, especially those who own or manage land or buildings. Moreover, measures taken by public authorities to protect or improve landscapes may set limits to the changes such persons may make to their properties.

46. For these reasons and in the interests of democracy, it is necessary to lay emphasis on public participation in processes for identifying, evaluating, protecting, dynamically managing and planning landscapes. Such participation should be fostered through public information, the involvement of all representative bodies in consultations, recourse to the media and the carrying out of educational campaigns at all levels. Public authorities should in particular ensure public access to landscapes, while respecting the principle of sustainable development.

47. It is also necessary for the level of technical competence of a large number of public bodies and representative organisations to be raised in regard to landscape evaluation and management. For this purpose, governments and the professional organisations concerned by regional planning, environment and heritage management, the agricultural, touristic and industrial management of land and the implementation of construction and infrastructure schemes should introduce further training programmes in these matters for members of all the professions concerned, who should be provided with instruction appropriate to their tasks.

48. The implications of landscape transformations should also be studied in educational establishments at all levels with the help of suitable teaching materials so that young people will be aware of the environmental problems they will one day encounter as citizens.

49. All operations for defining the goals of action and landscape identification and assessment, and for implementing the action strategies, are to be conducted by the responsible local authorities, which should enlist for that purpose:

a. local and regional councillors and officials;

b. independent experts appointed according to the aspects under consideration;

c. representatives of the socio-professional categories concerned;

d. representatives of local residents and duly qualified associations.

The information resulting from such an inquiry should be made public and subjected to the scrutiny of the populations concerned.

V. STUDY, IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF LANDSCAPES

50. The objectives of this convention cannot be achieved without a sufficiently detailed knowledge of the specific characteristics of landscapes, their processes of change and the values which people attribute to them. For that reason the convention's Contracting Parties should initiate research and studies at all levels prior to any action. These studies should be carried out thoroughly so that landscapes can be protected, dynamically managed and planned in a context of sustainable development.

51. Research work should draw lessons from international exchanges of experience and ideas. There is no universally acknowledged method for studying, identifying and evaluating landscapes, but a considerable body of knowledge has already been built up and should be utilised and disseminated. International co-operation would encourage countries to take action, ensure the pooling of knowledge and experience concerning landscapes and their values as well as current problems and policies, and make it possible to determine what landscapes or problems warrant international consideration.

A. Identification of landscapes

52. The first step to be taken with a view to introducing a policy devoted to landscape and designed for their active protection, dynamic management and planning is to identify landscapes and analyse their characteristics and processes of evolution, having regard to future prospects. These analyses should make it possible to determine the specific features of each landscape, its natural and man-made elements, the history of its formation, the various legal statuses of the areas concerned and the pressures to which they are subjected. They should also make it possible to identify those responsible for such pressures as well as the values they attribute to landscapes.

53. For landscape identification purposes, various terms may be used, such as:

a. major types of European landscape: these are landscapes recognised by virtue of their general characteristics of relief, climate, vegetation and formation by large-scale human processes, such as hedgerow landscapes, open fields, terraced landscapes, deciduous, coniferous or mixed woodlands, towns, peri-urban areas and marshlands;

b. landscape units: physical spatial entities at local or regional level where the landscape has homogeneous characteristics;

c. landscape areas of special interest: areas to which, for landscape reasons, the public authorities have assigned a special status for protection purposes;

B. Evaluation of landscapes

54. It is essential to evaluate landscapes in order to ensure that measures of active protection, dynamic management or planning are appropriate to their characteristics and values. Such values vary according to individuals and their interests. It is therefore difficult to extend the evaluation to include subjective criteria accepted by only a portion of the populations concerned. The evaluation should therefore be made first of all according to objective criteria, then compared with the diversity of the values attributed to the landscape by local inhabitants. These values should be made the subject of appropriate studies.

55. The evaluation involves determining a landscape's specific features. If any of its features are of a rare kind, this will warrant the application of a special terminology entailing a high degree of protection.

56. A comparison of each landscape's specific features with the range of values attributed to it by the population concerned may be made the subject of a public inquiry where everyone has the right to express opinions and/or negotiate with the various representatives of the interested parties (professional organisations, voluntary associations, other bodies, etc.).

VI. DEFINITION OF THE AIMS OF Active protection, DYNAMIC MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING OF LANDSCAPES

57. Before any measure is taken for the active protection, managing and planning of a region's landscapes it is essential to provide the public with a clear definition of the objectives to be pursued. these objectives should be laid down and announced by the local authority or by the authority specifically responsible for the landscape, in consultation with the persons referred to in paragraph 49 above. They may be set within the more general framework of a policy conducted by regional authorities or the central government.

58. The definition of objectives should clearly indicate:

a. the special features and qualities of the landscape concerned;

b. the general thrust of the policy for the active protection, dynamic management or planning of landscapes;

c. the landscape items it is wished to:

+ actively protect,
+ manage dynamically,
+ plan and devise genuine landscaping schemes;

d. the instruments it is intended to use to achieve the objectives.

59. There should be a clear relationship between the objectives, the results of the above-mentioned identification and evaluation operations and the measures deemed necessary for achieving the objectives. However, it is also important that the objectives should be explained in relation to sectorial policies or other official programmes which do not directly concern landscapes but which may, in the medium or long term, have consequences for landscapes.

60. The convention's Contracting Parties undertake to define and announce the relevant objectives for each area affected by an active protection, dynamic management or planning scheme.

VII. STRATEGIC PRINCIPLES

61. The active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes does not depend solely on land-use planning. Landscapes are the product of the efforts made and the care provided by people, who must continue their task in order to preserve or improve the landscapes. Many traditional landscapes were created by societies which, more or less by trial and error, devised methods of natural resource exploitation and management that were capable of ensuring the renewal of those resources and at the same time satisfying their own needs in terms of food, clothing, housing, etc.

62. In some areas, the styles of life and exploitation which created the traditional landscapes can be perpetuated while adapting to new techniques. Positive examples of this are provided by certain wine-growing landscapes or stock farms where traditional practices are sustained by public subsidies. It is nevertheless true that in other cases the existence of certain landscapes is being jeopardised by changes in the methods of exploitation and management and by the introduction of new techniques. If the traditional systems for exploiting and managing natural resources cannot be kept intact in order to preserve landscapes, it is necessary to envisage the introduction of new systems appropriate to contemporary knowledge and techniques. However, historical analyses of traditional systems are undeniable sources of inspiration and experience from which scientific and operational research can draw principles of management consistent with the requirements of sustainable development by adjusting them to current social and economic conditions.

63. Moreover, European societies have considerably changed in their composition and their geographical distribution. Life-styles have evolved, populations are increasingly mobile, needs are no longer the same and social relations are different. Not only should the active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes make use of new techniques ensuring the renewal of natural resources in the future; they should also take account of the new aspirations towards equitable sharing of such resources in a spirit of democracy.

64. The active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes will be more effective if responsibility for these operations is entrusted to the authorities closest to the practical realities of the areas concerned and to the populations who help to create landscapes and are in daily contact with them: within a legislative framework laid down at national level, local and regional authorities are in a better position to exercise responsibilities in connection with these operations.

65. These responsibilities should be closely linked to those exercised by local and regional authorities in the field of local development. Thus, any local development programme should include the landscape dimension so as to take the form of a comprehensive programme for economic and social development and for the active protection, dynamic management or planning of landscapes, without there being any separation between the development aspect and the problems raised by the evolution of landscapes.

66. Although responsibility for the active protection, management or planning of landscapes should be vested first and foremost in local and regional authorities, other circles play an essential part too: any operation initiated should involve the consultation and participation of the local population and, in particular, local conservation associations, as well as consumer protection bodies, professional organisations, etc.

67. Active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes does not simply mean ensuring that the appearance of landscapes is deemed satisfactory by the people and bodies concerned. The techniques of active protection, dynamic management and planning should ensure that the ecological function of a landscape guarantees the preservation of natural resources for both present and future generations. A landscape may be appreciated for its aesthetic qualities but fail to meet the necessary conditions for the renewal of natural resources. For that reason, operations should always be carried out with the help of specialists in the relevant fields working on an interdisciplinary basis with the operational technicians.

VIII. ACTION STRATEGIES

A. Town and country planning instruments

68. Town and country planning is a sphere of spatial organisation which makes it possible, amongst other things, to initiate and carry out infrastructure and development operations and redistribute the use of natural resources. It is therefore and effective means of obviating any land-use changes and any forms of development of equipment or construction that would impair the quality of a landscape in a particular region. Conversely, it can foster changes and developments conducive to the active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes, provided that these objectives are accompanied by active policies or measures.

69. It is consequently of paramount importance that the quality and diversity of landscapes, the identification of areas suitable for landscape protection, management or planning operations and the objectives of such operations be enshrined in town and country planning regulations at national, regional and local levels. Each level should thus draw up action programmes forming a graduated whole, starting with a general planning policy or a national or regional "framework law" and ending with local development plans, development control systems and local regulations consistent with the principles of sustainable development.

70. The importance of the part played by local and regional authorities with regard to landscapes means that each country should precisely define the tasks and measures for which each level - national, regional and local - is responsible, and lay down rules for co-ordinating such measures between these levels, especially as far as town and country planning instruments are concerned. Definitions of measures appropriate to each level and formulation of rules of co-ordination are a matter for each country's legislation, which varies in character.

71. If town and country planning is to contribute effectively to the active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes, it is particularly important:

a. that the responsible public authorities should be determined to protect each landscape's distinctive features from the effects of development in a manner which nevertheless enables the public's present and future needs to be satisfied, and hence ensure that town and country planning instruments are consistent with the principles of sustainable development;

b. that the responsible public authorities should adopt an imaginative and forward-looking approach to the management of areas experiencing either rapid or limited development, especially the outskirts of major towns and the sites chosen for new basic infrastructures, so that the resulting landscape matches the aspirations of the population concerned. Thus, peri-urban and suburban landscapes should be subjected to large-scale landscape planning schemes closely involving the public by means of consultation and the planning agencies by means of negotiation.

72. The Contracting Parties undertake to integrate the various objectives and rules concerning landscapes into:

a. their town and country planning regulations, especially development control systems, procedures relating to building permits, construction regulations, environmental impact assessments, etc;

b. their programmes for carrying out major public works and infrastructure schemes;

c. their sectorial policies concerning agriculture, forestry and industrial or tourist development;

d. their contributions to international policies such as the European Union's (especially the Common Agriculture Policy).

B. Financial and fiscal incentives

73. In so far as local communities have undergone a radical recomposition as a result of which farmers occupy a diminishing position while still being the most direct managers of most of the land and natural resources, contractual arrangements may be established between responsible public bodies and farmers to ensure that the latter continue, in return for appropriate remuneration, to manage those resources in accordance with the principle of sustainable development, as is the case with the agri-environmental measures of the European Union.

Any public body with responsibilities for regional planning, particularly territorial authorities, should be able to initiate such arrangements, whether with farmers, with associations or with non-governmental organisations; the arrangements should be accompanied by a text specifying each party's rights and duties.

74. Some regions or areas have undergone very substantial changes resulting in considerable damage to landscapes, especially in peri-urban zones, in large alluvial valleys, along coastlines or in major mining basins. The planning of such areas will require significant financial efforts on the part of public authorities in order to encourage the various bodies and territorial authorities concerned to launch innovative, ambitious programmes and draw up landscape planning schemes consistent with the principles of sustainable development.

75. Financial or fiscal arrangements may be introduced to ensure more effective active protection, dynamic management or planning of landscapes. These arrangements may take the form of a system of equalisation between favoured regions and disadvantaged regions where an effort of solidarity may reasonably be expected.

C. Action relating to property

76. When the pressure on landscapes is so great as to jeopardise the preservation of their quality or cause them to be used in a manner precluding equitable access thereto, the public authorities may introduce measures for acquiring land or buildings in order to protect them. This may be the most effective way - and, indeed, in some places the most profitable one - of ensuring the active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes.

77. Such acquisitions may be entrusted to public or semi-public bodies (foundations, charities, etc). Local authorities may also acquire land or buildings on an optional or compulsory basis; they should undertake to do whatever is necessary for the protection, management or planning of landscapes.

78. Many properties already belong to the state, local or regional authorities or foundations:

a. the state or local or regional authorities may possess many plots of land, including in national parks, nature reserves or regional parks throughout Europe;

b. public, semi-public or non-profit bodies may be landowners;

c. other public or private bodies, such as railway, mining, electricity or banking companies, possess substantial properties;

d. these owners should undertake to subject their properties to landscape protection, management and planning techniques consistent with the principles of sustainable development.

79. The Contracting Parties to the convention should undertake:

a. to regard the development of properties of this kind as a means of ensuring effective protection, management and planning of landscapes, especially those which are deemed outstanding or which are seriously threatened;,

b. to encourage the creation of other public bodies, facilitate the acquisition of buildings and land and help those bodies to administer their acquisitions efficiently and in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.

80. Each landowner may be required to open up part of his property in order to facilitate public access to a landscape. Arrangements of this kind exist in certain countries, on certain conditions. They should be studied with a view to being generally applied, especially in coastal regions or in areas where the landscape has a special status by virtue of its recognised characteristics.

D. Creation of special statuses

81. The defining of a landscape's characteristics, the level at which action is necessary and the aims of such action enable public authorities to specify the type of operation to be undertaken and decide if it is necessary to assign to the landscape concerned a special status embodied in a special designation. Whenever they consider that an area comprises landscapes whose quality, rarity and historical or natural interest justify such action, public authorities may assign a special status to the area in order to ensure that it is stringently protected or managed in a particular way. The designations of landscapes assigned special statuses should be incorporated in local regulations, in regional or national legislation or in international conventions, so as to serve as references when it comes to determining what landscapes are suitable for this type of specific action.

82. Many countries already have their own graduated list of special designations for these landscape areas. Some designations are also recognised at international level. Few of them prohibit the area concerned from being used for such activities as agriculture, forestry or house-building. For that reason, these special designations are not usually a substitute for the other forms of action mentioned earlier; rather, they serve to supplement them. However, a designation may often mean that the area concerned enjoys special priority or that the requisite forms of action should be applied to it with particular rigour.

83. The Contracting Parties should undertake to establish a graduated system in each country or supplement any incomplete existing system so that it:

a. specifies, through the titles and legal definitions of the areas concerned, the characteristics which a landscape is recognised as possessing, the legal status assigned to it, the obligations implicit in that status and the measures envisaged;

b. declares that any landscapes to which such special status has not been assigned are just as important, especially for local inhabitants, or deserve to be managed or planned;

c. fosters transfrontier programmes of identification, evaluation and action for the benefit of these landscape areas between neighbouring countries.

IX. INTERNATIONAL MEASURES

84. The Contracting Parties undertake to set up a European Landscapes Committee, composed of representatives of the states which have ratified the convention and their territorial authorities, representative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, representatives of the governmental and non-governmental international organisations concerned and independent experts. In order to perform its functions, the Committee will hold regular meetings.

85. The European Landscapes Committee's functions should be threefold:

a. implementing the convention;

b. drawing up a "List of European landscapes";

c. awarding a seal of quality to local and regional authorities.

A. Implementation of the convention

86. The European Landscapes Committee will be responsible for:

a. monitoring the application of the convention;

b. drawing up directives aimed at fostering the identification and evaluation of landscapes;

c. encouraging exchanges of information and research work, and promoting its introduction of training programmes in landscape matters at all levels of education;

d. promoting the implementation of programmes to make the public aware of the importance of landscapes;

e. fostering international co-operation in the landscape sphere.

B. List of landscapes of European interest

87. The aims of active protection, dynamic management and planning of landscapes concern all European regions. However, some landscapes possess exceptional features and are therefore of interest to Europe as a whole. This interest may lie in their specificity, rarity, the fact that they represent works produced by activities or lifestyles in danger of disappearing or the testimony they bear to the efforts or incentiveness of past societies.

88. Some historic cities, major historic sites and nature reserves of historical or cultural interest have already been recognised as possessing such qualities. Many rural landscapes have been similarly recognised. These sites have inspired writers and artists, attracted visitors and acquired a celebrity extending far beyond their region.

89. The European Landscapes Committee will be responsible for:

a. laying down criteria on which to determine what landscapes are of European interest;

b. examining proposals from national authorities concerning landscapes which might be classified as "European landscapes";

c. on the basis of these criteria, this examination, and open democratic procedures, determining what landscapes are of European interest and publishing a "List of European Landscapes";

d. ensuring that the contracting parties guarantee the maintenance and protection of landscapes recognised in the "List of European Landscapes";

e. using the list as a planning basis and a model, so as to alert the public to landscape issues and ensure proper administration of other landscapes;

f. establishing links with the relevant bodies of other international organisations concerned.

C. Award of a landscape quality seal to local and regional authorities

90. Since the Convention covers all European landscapes and sets out to promote the idea of high-quality landscape throughout the continent, it is plainly important that action should not be confined to those landscapes deemed outstanding. Certain landscapes which may appear ordinary by criteria of uniqueness or rarity nonetheless deserve special attention by virtue of the efforts made by local and regional society for their maintenance and local recognition as an acceptable human environment.

91. The European Landscape Committee will be responsible for:

a. laying down criteria to determine which landscapes bear witness to efforts by the local and regional authorities to ensure landscape quality and offer residents an acceptable and lastingly renewable environment;

b. identifying locations and regions whose landscape may fulfil these criteria;

c. to award the responsible local or regional authorities a "Council of Europe Landscape Quality Seal";

d. to ensure that the local or regional authorities concerned guarantee the upkeep and lasting protection of the landscapes in question; local and regional authorities not having shown the ability to maintain this quality and meet the criteria laid down may forfeit the "Council of Europe Landscape Quality Seal";

e. to use these landscapes as examples to acquaint other local or regional authorities with the political, administrative, legal, economic and technical means available to ensure maintenance of the landscapes in their keeping.

A P P E N D I X II

Preliminary draft report on

THE LAW APPLICABLE TO LANDSCAPE IN COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

by Prof. Michel PRIEUR, University of Limoges, CRIDEAU-CNRS (France)

_______

SUMMARY

This report was drawn up on the basis of a general questionnaire which was sent to all Member States of the Council of Europe (28 replies received) and a detailed questionnaire sent to national experts in the following countries : Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Landscape first became the subject of legislation in Belgium, France, Spain and Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th Century, in connection with national parks or the use of hydroelectric power. Broadly speaking, landscape has been legally regulated in three ways, each reflecting a particular conception of landscape :

- under legislation on historic monuments and sites, emphasising landscape as the reflection of beauty and aesthetic value;

- under legislation on protection of the environment, emphasising landscape as the reflection of a vision of outstanding natural spaces and environments, given form in parks and reserves;

- under legislation on land use and town planning, emphasising landscape as the reflection of both a natural and cultural vision of space and recognising the intrinsic value of even ordinary landscapes.

I - Landscape in Comparative Law

1) Legal foundations

In 10 states, the Constitution contains direct or implied reference to the landscape. This demonstrates that landscape has become a core value of contemporary societies.

Four countries (Czech and Slovak Republics, France, Germany, and Switzerland) have laws dealing specifically with landscape. Virtually all the states take account of certain aspects of landscape in sectoral laws on monuments, sites, nature protection, forests, water, land use or town planning.

2) Legal concepts of landscape

Very few legislatures have ventured to define what landscape is and there is often a confusion between landscape and sites. One means by which landscapes are identified more clearly is inventories, which are often carried out as part of an authority's normal working practices. Such inventories may simply list sites which have already been classified as protected, but they may also be aimed at identifying future protected sites or may involve systematic study of the land with a view to drawing up landscape plans.

3) Legal protection of landscapes

There are four instruments for the legal protection of landscape, which may be used either separately or together :

- provision for incorporating the landscape into rural and urban land use plans;

- systems for classifying certain landscapes as protected areas with varying levels of legal protection, from prohibitions to simple recommendations;

- cases where landscape is taken into account in land use decisions, meaning that planning permission for construction, industrial installations or mining and quarrying operations, may be refused on the grounds of landscape conservation.

In such cases, an environmental impact study is often carried out to measure the quantifiable effects of a construction or installation project on the landscape and its evolution;

- actual landscape plans which are incorporated more or less directly into town planning programmes or simply serve as guidelines for action.

4) Landscape management

The area of landscape management is regulated more by practice than legal norms.

Landscape policies are frequently accompanied by fiscal or financial incentives. Information, participation and education on the landscape are indubitably vital, but insufficiently developed. Measures to raise the awareness of decision-makers and the wider public should be encouraged.

II. - Landscape in international law

There is undoubtedly growing interest in landscape at international level, manifested both in binding conventions and in declarations and recommendations.

The 1972 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of World, Cultural and Natural Heritage is currently the most effective international instrument, covering both cultural and natural landscape.

There are also a number of regional conventions, although these make only indirect mention of one particular aspect of landscape. In the field of nature and environment protection, there are now 8 regional conventions which expressly refer to "the landscape" as an element to be taken into consideration.

However, none of these conventions deal specifically with the landscape as such, in its totality, despite the fact that it is universally agreed that European landscapes have an identity which is worth protecting and enhancing. Consequently, special attention must be paid to the European landscape, as the IUCN and the Sofia Pan-European Declaration have stressed. A European Convention is the sole means of formalizing the identification and sustainable management of European landscapes and would ensure collective recognition of noteworthy European landscapes in such a way as to supplement and enrich the UNESCO Convention.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report has been made possible by replies received from the following States:

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

and by contributions from the following experts:

Anne PETITPIERRE (Switzerland), Michael BOTHE (Germany), G. PECCOLO (Italy), Mary SANCY and A. GIBELLO (Belgium), Gabriel REAL FERRER, J. OCHOA MONZO and J. NUNEZ VALLS (Spain), M. CASELEY-HAYFORD (United Kingdom), J. SOJA (Denmark), P. GILHUIS and J. VERSCHUUREN (Netherlands).

The author wishes to thank all of the above.

Michel PRIEUR

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

1 - Landscape is a complex and often ill-defined notion which is often approached in a highly subjective manner. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the law on the subject is itself extremely vague. This report reflects a study of replies received to a general questionnaire which was sent to all Member States of the Council of Europe (28 replies received) and replies to a detailed questionnaire to national experts in the following countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom. The replies were often a reflection of the attitude of the respondents towards certain situations and concepts. It is a striking fact that in the case of countries sending replies from several different public authorities, these replies were significantly at variance to or even contradictory of one another.

2 - The available information has proved very uneven, and this is explained by the fact that landscape is not a regular responsibility of any single clearly-defined administration or service. Since the data studied was confined to the information returned, that information was naturally less detailed than would have been obtained by means of oral interviews. Very frequently, we find that the law has not yet caught up with existing landscape management practices. This study deals only with positive law. The authors have also drawn widely on the Spanish study "Paisaje y politica de Ordenacion del territorio, analisis de la experiencia internacional comparada, Direccion del territorio y urbanismo, Andalucia", (Seville 1993, 2 vol., 475 pp).

3 - A list has been compiled of international instruments and conventions relating to landscape, which shows that international law does in fact embrace this new concept, although to a lesser extent than domestic law. This list makes no claim to be exhaustive.

INTRODUCTION
Is the landscape a subject of law? Is there a law of the landscape? As we will see, many States have incorporated landscape concerns into their legal systems, but usually in an indirect or implicit fashion. However, we see that in the past few years the landscape has become an increasing focus of interest, both in domestic and in international law.

It is noteworthy that landscape is not invariably associated with any particular branch of law; this is for the good reason that clear statements of public policy on landscape protection are the exception rather than the rule. However, all countries have a policy for landscape, or claim to have one. Hence there is a broad general concern for the landscape. However, it rapidly becomes clear that in most cases this is a declaration of intent rather than a reality, as there is little precise detail available about the policy itself. This is due to the fact that landscape has its place within a number of areas of concern which differ markedly among one another, by reason of history and of local and national culture.

The following are among the approaches commonly found (not always mutually exclusive):

- landscape in association with natural beauty and the story of historical monuments, and with the archaeological heritage (Greece, Estonia);

- landscape together with aesthetics and the heritage of historic or public gardens (Italy, Cyprus, Hungary)

- landscape as an intrinsic part of town planning, including public open spaces and parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty (Liechtenstein, Malta).

- landscape as an aspect of environmental protection and a reflection of natural ecosystems, especially in protected natural areas (Portugal, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Germany).

- landscape as an integral part of the environment, reflecting the linkage between nature and culture (France, Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Netherlands).

Two competing or complementary approaches are found in many countries:

landscape as a reflection of history and culture, with special emphasis on historical monuments in their settings, or on artifically-created gardens and parks

landscape as a bio-physical element, treated as part of the human approach to the countryside.

In some countries, a public policy on landscape has given rise to a branch of law on the subject (Denmark, Switzerland, Germany); in others, a body of scattered implicit legal norms results in a more precise formulation of public policy (France, Spain).

It is interesting to trace back the first specific references to landscape in some countries, expressing a new concern of the lawmakers.

The earliest legislation on landscape is found in Denmark, in a law of 1805 on the apportionment of communal forest.

The first piece of French legislation on landscape dates from 1906. It states that the protection of the landscape should be included in public orders on the distribution of energy (art. 19, law of 15 June 1906 on the distribution of energy). Similarly, since 1919 there has been a requirement that specifications for hydroelectric enterprises must provide for the protection of the landscape (art. 10.2, law of 16 October 1919 on the use of hydroelectric power).

A similar law of 22 December 1916 in Switzerland on the use of hydroelectricity stipulates that the installations "must, to the extent possible, avoid disfigurement of the landscape" (art. 22, para. 2). Interestingly, it is also in Switzerland that we find, in an order of 7 July 1933 on the installation of high-tension cables, a requirement to avoid "disfigurement of the landscape" through the erection of aerial wires (art. 72). In Belgium, a law of 12 August 1911 is entitled "Conservation of beautiful landscapes" (M.B. 19 August 1911). In Spain, landscape is mentioned for the first time, under the heading of areas of outstanding natural beauty, in a law of 7 December 1916 on the national parks.

We have identified three methods whereby landscape becomes a subject of legal regulation:

- legislation on historic monuments and sites, emphasising the cultural aspect of landscape; this is done purely for aesthetic reasons and the protection involved is more akin to museum conservation;

- the legal protection of nature is extended to the law of the environment, placing the emphasis on the natural features of the landscape and its ecological components, and establishing protected areas such as parks and reservationss.

- land use planning and urban development are placed on a legal footing; landscape is treated as a blend of nature and culture, and landscape acquires an intrinsic value, even in the case of ordinary landscapes, which are regarded as features for the purpose of land use planning (agricultural land) and elements of both rural and urban land.

It will be found that these three types of legal regulation
are indissolubly linked, and that modern policies of landscape protection and management seek to combine the concerns underlying these three approaches, which are often to be found in combination or in succession.

The first part of this study will analyse the replies received to the questionnaire in respect of current trends in national legal systems. Part II will deal with the coverage of landscape by international law, both through non-binding statements and documents, and in international conventions.

PART I

LANDSCAPE IN COMPARATIVE LAW

I - LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF LANDSCAPE REGULATION

A - Landscape in constitutional law

It is noteworthy that in 10 States, the constitution contains direct or implied reference to the landscape. This shows that in spite of the vagueness of the concept and the lack of definition in the various constitutions, landscape represents in modern society a core value which in some countries has been given legal recognition at the highest level in the hierarchy of written law.

In four States, the Constitution refers directly to the landscape. In a narrower sense than now, there is an express reference to landscape in four older constitutions:

- The Italian constitution of 1947, art. 9.2, "the republic guarantees the protection of the landscape and of the historic and artistic heritage of the nation".

- The German constitution of 1949, art. 75, "the Federation is competent to legislate on the protection of nature and the management of the landscape". This is a new attribution of competence, and unusual in the sense that the prevailing tendency at the time was to cut back Federal powers to a level below those of the Weimar Constitution. In the latter, there was an outline clause on the landscape1.

Closer to our own times, the Swiss constitution, revised in 1962 (art. 24 sexies) empowers the cantons to protect nature and the landscape, specifying that the Confederation, in carrying out its tasks, must conserve the characteristic features of the landscape2.

The 1976 constitution of Portugal, in article 66, requires the State to ensure, in its land use planning, that landscapes are biologically balanced, and to classify landscapes according to their need for protection, in order to secure the conservation of nature and of cultural values of historical and artistic significance.

In other constitutions, where there is express reference to the environment as a new responsibility of the State or a new human right, the landscape is implicitly included as an integral part of the concept of the environment.

- the 1976 Greek constitution (art. 24) provides for the protection of the natural and cultural environment.

- the 1978 Spanish constitution (art. 45) deals with the environment, referring to the rational use of all natural resources. According to the original draft text of the Constitution, this includes the conservation of the landscape.

- the 1982 Turkish constitution (art. 56) recognises the right of every person to live in a healthy environment.

- the 1983 constitution of the Netherlands contained a reference to the environment as a fundamental right (art. 21), without expressly mentioning landscape. Environmental protection is stated to be among the major obligations of governments. Dutch environmental law continues to treat the environment as a whole, the beauty of landscape being only a minor element.

- the constitution of the Slovak Republic, in arts. 44 and 45, recognises a right to the environment.

- the 1944 Belgian constitution (art. 24) refers to a right to the environment, and this must, though implicitly, include the landscape which forms an integral part of the environment, as the texts on impact studies show.

On examination, we also find in the constitutions or fundamental norms of the autonomous or federated regions a number of express references to the landscape.

In the German Laender, where landscape is expressly mentioned this is in conjunction with the protection of artistic, historical, cultural and natural monuments (art. 86 of the constitution of Baden-Wurtemberg, 1953; art. 141 of the Bavarian constitution, 1946; art. 62 of the constitution of Hesse, 1946; art. 18 of the constitution of Rhineland-North Westphalia, 1950; art. 40 of the constitution of Rhineland-Palatinate, 1947; art. 34 of the constitution of the Saar, 1947). In Bavaria, following a revision in 1984, the Constitution provides that society and individuals must preserve amd care for the typical outward appearance of towns, villages and landscapes, and public authorities must therefore manage and protect the landscape, and ensure that everyone has access to areas of natural and scenic beauty. The new constitutions of the Laender of former East Germany all recognise environmental protection as a guiding principle of State policy. The Constitution of Brandenburg even states, in article 42-1, that "protection of the natural environment and of manmade landscape, as an essential part of the lives of present and future generations, is a duty incumbent upon the State and citizens".

In the Italian regions, 15 out of 20 expressly mention the landscape in their statutes. Landscape is usually associated with the protection of the historical heritage at the national level (e.g., Liguria, Molise, Tuscany), but also in some cases (Calabria) with land use planning, with the conservation of resources such as water, soil and air (Piedmont), or with the development of tourism (Puglia).

In the Spanish regions, the four autonomous communities of Galicia, Castilla-Leon, Castilla la Mancha and Andalucia expressly state that the landscape is within their competence. The term landscape is found in association either with "the countryside" or with the "historical and artistic heritage".

B - Landscape in legislation

Laws dealing specifically with landscape are few and far between; we have found only four. More commonly, landscape is covered indirectly by sectoral laws or by general laws on the environment. Some countries, such as Hungary, which were contemplating legislation on the topic of landscape seem to have abandoned it. Ireland has a draft law on the protection of the natural and historical heritage.

- Direct protection of the landscape through special legislation

There are special laws at State level in Germany, France, Switzerland and the Czech and Slovak Republics.

- Germany (federal law of 1976 on the protection of nature and management of the landscape). Although linked to the protection of natural ecosystems, this law deals with landscape in both urban and non-urban settings, and includes the cultural and historical aspects. Its aim is maintain the diversity and beauty of the landscape as the natural foundation of life and a prerequisite of of wellbeing. The principles of protection include the preservation of landscapes which have been fashioned by man in the course of history (historische Kulturlandschaften). Specific measures have to be taken in built-up areas to protect nature and the landscape. This law introduces landscaping programmes and plans, and provides for the incorporation of landscape planning into land use and town planning. The laws of the Laender take up the Federal principles in detail. For instance, in the Saar in 1993 "buildings must be adapted to the character of the landscape as defined by nature. Land transport routes and energy transmission lines must be installed with due regard for the landscape. The fragmentation of areas of land and the creation of land pockets must be avoided."

- France (1993 law on the protection and development of landscape). This is not a global law as in Germany; rather, its aim is to incorporate landscape concerns on a regular basis into a number of existing legal instruments (land use plans, regrouping of lands), and to give special support to the regional nature parks. Another aim of this law is to enable the State to impose guidelines for landscape protection on the local authorities responsible for land use planning.

- Switzerland (1966 federal law on the protection of nature and the landscape, revised in 1995). Its aim is to preserve and protect the characteristic features of the landscape and of particular places, sites reminiscent of the past, natural curiosities and national monuments, and to promote their conservation and maintenance. In exercising their functions, the authorities must take care to respect the character of the landscape by ensuring that buildings conform with it and by attaching charges or conditions to the issue of licences and concessions, which may also be refused. Article 16 of the law contains a conservation measure, providing that in the event of imminent threat to a natural site the federal Department of the Interior may order as a temporary measure that the necessary steps are taken to conserve the site. In article 18b, the Federal law provides that in areas where the soil is intensively used (whether for cultivation or for urban development), the cantons are responsible for "ecological compensation" in the form of landscaping, by planting or maintaining copses, hedges, hedgerows or other kinds of natural vegetation. The regulation of 16 January 1991 on nature and landscape protection specifies, in article 15, that the purpose of ecological compensation is to create linkages among isolated biotopes, to promote diversity of species, to achieve the most natural and balanced land use attainable, to incorporate natural features into built-up areas and to "animate" the landscape.

- Czech Republic: law no. 114/92 of 19 February 1992 on the protection of nature and the landscape introduces a detailed system whereby the landscape is zoned for specific purposes, with special protection for significant areas of landscape, which are valued in both aesthetic and geomorphological terms.

- In the Slovak Republic, law no. 187 of 23 August 1994 on the protection of nature and of landscape, in force since January 1995, draws a close connection between nature and landscape. It emphasises the typical features of the landscape and of the constituent elements which contribute to its ecological stability, such as forest, lakes, wetlands, vegetation bordering watercourses, dunes, valleys and marshes.

In Germany, Switzerland and Italy, there is also special regional legislation on the landscape. In Italy, the regional laws on landscape implement the obligations laid down at the national level for the landscape plans contemplated in the 1939 law and the 1985 Galasso law, which we will consider later. Mention may be made, for instance, of the provincial law of 6 September 1971 on landscape management in the autonomous province of Trento, or the law of 11 March 1986 of the Veneto region.

2 - Indirect protection of the landscape through sectoral legislation
This type of protection is of course the most widespread (Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom).

The same applies in countries which have special legislation on the landscape, but where it is regarded as sufficiently important to be taken into account in sectoral laws (France, Germany, Switzerland).

The sectoral legislation most concerned with the landscape is the following:

-laws on land use planning (e.g., Swiss law on land use planning: article 3, "the landscape must be preserved", the German law of 1965, amended in 1989, the Danish law of 1992).

- law on natural sites and monuments (Belgium 1931, France 1930).

- laws on nature protection (e.g., 1973 Belgian law, France 1976, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark 1992, etc.)3

- laws on the historical and cultural heritage (Sweden, Slovenia, Norway).

- laws on the protection of water (Swiss law of 24 January 1991, in which article 1 refers to water as part of the landscape; Romania 1974, Germany 1986, Spain 1985)

- law on seacoasts (France 1986, Spain 1988)

- law on town planning and urban development (Norway, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Malta, Finland, Liechtenstein, Hungary, Cyprus, Spain, Denmark).

- law on forests (Romania, Lithuania, Greece, Denmark, 1989).

- law on architecture (France 1977).

II - ADMINISTRATION OF THE LANDSCAPE
How the landscape is administered is of course decided by the national approach to the concept of landscape. At central government level, there are usually four kinds of government departments involved:

- Ministry of Culture and Historic Monuments (Italy)

- Ministry of Town and Country Planning (Cyprus)

- Ministry of the Environment (France, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Denmark, Germany).

- Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Nature (Netherlands)

Where the public policy on landscape is not clearly defined and no individual Government department is responsible, inevitably a number of different departments deal with landscape issues, usually including the three ministries mentioned above (Greece, Slovenia, Sweden, Lithuania, Norway). This calls for effective coordination when it is a matter of defining and implementing principles.

Sometimes one particular ministry will take a leadership role (in Denmark, the Ministry of the Environment) and will organise a working group or committee on the subject (the environment-countryside working group in Liechtenstein; the Institute of Nature Conservation in Portugal; an ad hoc committee in Belgium). In Switzerland, the responsible department is the Federal Office for the Environment and Landscape, which has a sub-division called "protection of the landscape". Similarly, in the Czech Republic the landscape is the responsibility of an agency "for the conservation of nature and the landscape". In France, since a decree of 18 August 1945, the Bureau of Architecture has been responsible for the aesthetic protection of special sites and, in general, for "the whole of the national landscape".

Since 1971, the French Ministry of the Environment has been responsible for urban and rural landscape, and since the decree of 12 May 1992 one of its departments has been called the "division for nature and landscape".

Special mention should be made of one original and highly active institution for the conservation of the landscape. This is the British Countryside Commission, established in 1968. It is the successor to the National Parks Commission which was set up in 1949, but it has a wider mandate, covering both protected areas and the whole of the national territory. It has the status of an independent Government agency, and its role combines organisation, promotion, information and public education, in close collaboration with all those concerned (States, local authorities, landowners, industry, professional bodies). It is represented locally by regional offices, and is subsidised by the Department of the Environment. Its many functions include advising the Government and Parliament on the landscape, carrying out enquiries into changes in the countryside, designating the various protected areas, ensuring that the countryside is taken into account in the planning process, raising the awareness of those concerned, helping to protect and manage the landscape, and collaborating with the ministries responsible for agriculture and the environment in implementing agri-environmental projects.

At the regional and local levels, landscape is simply a concern which is reflected, implicitly or otherwise, in decisions on urban development and land use, and increasingly in the planning process. The local authorities therefore have certain specific responsibilities in this area in federal States, and also in certain unitary States (Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Denmark).

Sometimes, as in Switzerland, the coordination of policy and services is better organised at the federal level than in the cantons. In the latter, the authorities with responsibility for the environment are not necessarily responsible for the countryside.

In Spain, where autonomous communities are responsible for the environment, local authorities (consejerias) deal both with the environment and with landscape.

In Germany, some of the Laender entrust responsibility for the landscape to the ministry of agriculture rather than to the ministry of the environment.

In countries where the regional authorities have no specific landscape function, there are nevertheless relevant bodies which reflect local public policy in the field. For instance, in France, the Provence Cote d'Azur region devised in 1990 an experimental programme on landscape with the help of the State, the French Countryside Federation and the Marseilles school of architecture. This programme consisted of a regional countryside inventory, a permanent observatory, the launching of a periodical about Mediterranean landscape, and specialist tertiary-level education programmes.

III - STUDY OF LANDSCAPES

A - The legal concept of landscape

Very few legislatures have ventured to define what landscape is; only rarely do we find texts defining the meaning of the concept. For instance, the 1982 Benelux Convention related to conservation of nature conservation and the protection of landscapes defines landscape as:

"a tangible part of the earth defined by the relation and interaction of various factors: soil, relief, water, climate, flora, fauna and man. Within a specified landscape unit, these phenomena give rise to a pattern resulting from the combination of natural, cultural, historical, functional and visual aspects. The landscape may be considered as a reflection of the attitude of the community to its natural environment and the way in which it acts on this environment" (art. 1-2).

In the Netherlands, the new draft law on the protection of nature, which was debated by Parliament in 1995, describes landscape as: an area, open or built up, which because of its structure, its forms or constituent parts, or because of its visual appearance, is of public interest for historic or aesthetic reasons. A 1992 report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Nature on landscape planning for the next 30 years defines landscape as: "the visible portion of the land surface which derives from the combined influence of the climate, land formation, the water, the soil, the flora and fauna and the human hand". The 1992 law of the Czech Republic defines the landscape, in article 3-K, as a part of the land surface which has typical features and is formed of a complex collection of integrated ecosystems and elements of civilisation.

In Portugal, a landscape requiring protection is a part of the countryside, in a semi-natural or cultivated state, which results from a harmonious interaction between man and nature, and which has great aesthetic or natural significance (article 9 of decree law no. 19/93). In Belgium, the Walloon Code on town and country planning and land use defines a site, in article 345-5C, as: "any work of nature or any combined product of man and nature, which occupies an area sufficiently characteristic and homogeneous to permit of topographical demarcation". Following a more traditional approach, which regards landscape simply as a place to be protected, the general declaration of intent by the Luxembourg government on 24 April 1981, on the land use plan for the natural environment, states that a protected landscape is a piece of territory smaller in extent than a nature park, and which is subject to special rules to safeguard its natural resources, its typical appearance and its recreational role. In Hungary, according to the standards set in 1990, the landscape is a complex territorial unit determined by the interaction between nature and society; it is a reflection of natural resources and of economic and social conditions, and at the same time is of high visual and aesthetic quality.

In Switzerland, although there is no actual legal definition, the 1995 version of the federal law on the protection of nature and of landscape states that the aim of the legislation is to protect the character of the landscape and of villages, sites reminiscent of the past, natural curiosities and monuments worthy of protection. It will be noted that where urban areas are concerned, the term most often used is "sites". However, the French term used in article 702 of the Swiss civil code is "site", whereas the German version of the code uses the term "landschaft". Evidently, sites and landscapes are here regarded as similar, and this is confirmed in the Geneva law of 4 June 1976 on the protection of monuments, nature and sites, which states in article 35 that the term site covers "characteristic landscapes such as banks, hillsides, lookout points and buildings which deserve protection either for themselves or because of their advantageous position".

A small minority of countries take account only of natural landscape and countryside, disregarding townscapes (as in Sweden).

B - Landscape inventories These inventories are made in many countries. Because the landscape is often regarded as simply the equivalent of the countryside, parks and natural reserves will be found in these inventories. Systematic landscape inventories are rare, except on occasion where landscape plans are being drawn up, as we will see below.

Very often, these inventories are not compiled in response to any statutory requirement, but as part of the working practice of the agencies concerned or as a result of initiatives by research organisations or voluntary bodies (in Denmark, the Danish association for the protection of the environment and the landscape). However, what follows is an attempt to review the work being done according to the aim of the inventory and its legal effects.

1 - General inventories
These inventories may relate to ordinary landscapes or to landscapes which have already been protected or classified. Their aim is either to improve knowledge of the area, or to provide better information for the public and for local authorities about the wealth of existing landscapes. As long as it is readable and accessible, the inventory may serve as reference material when land use or urban development plans are being drawn up, or may serve to inform the public authorities during the decision-making process. These inventories may be purely informative, but public authorities may also be under an obligation to take them into account.

In Liechtenstein, during the compilation of an inventory of natural resources in 1992, a landscape inventory was made which is used as a frame of reference for all State and communal planning purposes, and which is binding upon the administrative authorities. In Ireland, an inventory was drawn up in 1977 by An Foras Forbatha, during an IUCN survey of the same year which prepared the ground for the green paper on outstanding landscapes. There are also particular inventories for particular zones, for instance the coastline. Estonia makes archaeological inventories and inventories of traditional rural landscapes. In Finland, inventories without binding force were compiled quite recently, in 1993. One of these identifies 171 rural landscapes of national significance, and 1772 landscapes of historical and cultural significance. A permanent databank is planned for outstanding landscapes. In Sweden, an inventory of traditional agricultural landscapes is in preparation, and an understanding of the history of these landscapes is obtained by comparing old maps. Slovenia is engaged in research to identify significant landscapes, with a view to preparing a land use plan. Typologies will be drawn up of Slovenian landscapes and of local styles of architecture.

Some inventories cover all natural elements, vulnerable areas, species and habitats, and therefore include all types of landscape. This is the case with the Spanish government's central database, known as HISPANAT, which includes 2400 sites of ecological interest. In Denmark, a complete inventory has been carried out in the county of Funen. In France, there is no national inventory organised on a statutory basis. However, administrative moves have been made for some years to gain a better understanding of the present situation and of likely future developments. The French Environment Institute (IFEN), a national information and documentation agency, is responsible for compiling a series of indicators on the landscape, and is taking part in the Corine land Cover programme, a European cartographic inventory of the bio-physical use of land. In "The state of the environment in France" (1994-1995, Dunod 1994, p. 67), there is a chapter dealing with "the use of land and landscape". At the Ministry of the Environment, the department responsible for the protection of nature has started a photographic observatory, and the department of architecture and town planning at the Ministry of Public Works and Urban Development has produced an index of protective measures which brings together classified and registered sites, the ZPPAUPs and the plans for conservation and development. Under the law of 2 February 1995 on enhanced environmental protection, an inventory must be made on a departmental basis of the natural heritage (article 30), recording sites, landscapes and countryside areas which are already under special protection. An optional but more innovatory feature of the law is an "inventory of the landscape heritage of the region", which may be drawn up by the Regional Environment Committee established, under the same law, under the auspices of the regional council.

2 - Inventories for special protection purposes or for classification

These are inventories for a very specific legal purpose. Their function is to identify outstanding landscapes or those of special interest, for the purpose of either immediate classification (Switzerland) or later classification (Norway).

In Switzerland, as early as 1963 an initial inventory of landscapes and natural sites of national importance was approved by the Federal Council. A landscape inventory commission designates the regions to be given priority protection. Article 5 of the 1966 law on the protection of nature and landscape makes provision for an inventory of objects of national importance, to be decided after consulting the cantons. This inventory is regularly updated. Since 1977, a distinction has been drawn between inventories of biotopes and inventories of landscapes. Inclusion in an inventory has the same effect as a classification, since any site included in the inventory must be conserved intact, except where there are overriding grounds of national importance. The Federal Commission for the protection of nature and landscape must obtain an expert report on the measures to be taken to protect the site. Since 1987 there has been an inventory of marshland sites of special beauty and national importance, following a popular vote to revise the Constitution to protect marshes and marshland sites.

Norway began in 1992 an inventory of outstanding landscapes. 264 were identified in 1993, 104 being given priority because of their ecological and historical significance. Special development plans will preserve the environmental quality of these areas. In the Czech Republic, when regional plans are drawn up landscapes have to be mapped, in line with the 1992 law on nature and landscape, which seeks to establish a territorial system of ecological stability of the landscape.

3 - Inventories for the purpose of landscape plans
These plans call for the preparation of systematic inventories, to identify the types of landscape which should feature in the plan, and the various degrees of protection required according to the recognised value of the landscape (see below for landscape plans as prepared in Germany, Italy, France and Spain).

C - The hierarchy of landscapes

As in the case of inventories, the law plays a relatively minor role, but it does identify a hierarchy of objectives and a territorial hierarchy, which of course overlap. The law may require protection on a rising scale, depending on the category to which a landscape is assigned, ranging from the ordinary to the exceptional. Likewise, on the territorial level, landscapes are defined as being of local, regional, national, European or international interest, depending on the significance attributed to the constituent elements of the landscape. The criteria for this kind of hierarchy are not to be found in any law; at most, they may feature in internal documents or in government recommendations.

In 1977, the IUCN recommended that when selecting landscapes for their intrinsic interest, the following factors should be taken into account: natural aspects: morphology of the land and water, characteristics of the vegetation (fragility, rarity, diversity); cultural aspects: traditional uses of terrain representing cultural values (e.g., hedges), typical structures of historical interest.

In France, a methodology has been devised for identifying and categorising landscapes, on the initiative of the department of architecture and town planning. It is based on a proposed methodology prepared by SESA in 1991. Within a large area (the department) it can be used to identify and categorise landscape areas with a view to formulating policy. Finally, mention should be made of the indirect landscape inventories resulting from the inventories of the fauna and flora heritage and of the Natura 2000 areas which are notified to the UE Commission.

In Switzerland, special legal protection at the Federal level is confined to two kinds of landscape:

- those comprising specially protected biotopes (salt grasslands and meadows, banks of watercourses, high and low-lying marshes)

- those included in the inventory of objects of national importance, as "outstanding" landscapes (article 5 of the law of 1 July 1966)

The other landscapes of regional or local significance are protected by the cantons, which impose their own quality standards before granting protection. In Geneva, the law requires the landscapes to be "typical". The German law on the protection of nature and landscape management lays down criteria (article 15) for the creation of areas of protected landscape: conserving or restoring the ecological capacity of the natural environment, preserving the diversity, specifity or beauty of the landscape, and recreational activities.

IV - METHODS OF LEGAL PROTECTION OF LANDSCAPES

Merely to list landscapes without providing legal measures for their protection would be pointless. This is why legal systems, in varying degrees, provide for legal methods of protection, with variable legal effects. Broadly speaking, there are four instruments for the legal protection of landscape:

a) provision for incorporating the landscape, more or less directly, into development programmes, global planning measures or land use plans

b) systems for classifying protected areas which are more or less specific to the landscapes concerned

c) cases where landscape is taken into account in decisions on the use or occupation of land

d) actual landscape plans.

We note that in many countries, these instruments exist alongside one another.

A - Incorporating the landscape into urban and rural land use plans or programmes

This relates mainly to land use plans and urban development plans.

In Slovenia, a long term regional plan mentions the most important aspects of the natural and cultural heritage, and is a compulsory part of municipal planning. In Sweden, planning for land use must take account of the law on natural resources; the comprehensive plan (OPL) marks out on a map the natural and cultural areas of national significance which must be respected by the local authorities. In Norway, a pilot project has just been launched by the Ministry of the Environment to develop a plan in Nord-Trondelag to preserve both the cultural and the natural environment, including all types of landscape.

In the Netherlands, municipal plans incorporate a strict form of zoning which is compulsory for all activities, and which can contribute effectively to the protection of particular rural and natural landscapes. Provincial plans, which are not obligatory for citizens, but which influence the municipal plans, establish homogeneous ecological settings to combine unspoilt tracts of countryside in a series of landscape areas.

In Belgium, the 1984 Walloon code on town and country planning, urban development and the national heritage makes provision for regional, sectoral and commune-level plans with binding force. These plans expressly incorporate, along with the economic and social aspects, the aesthetic aspect and the development of the natural and cultural heritage.

In Switzerland, the protection of landscape is among the objectives of land use planning, and must be reflected in the plans drawn up by the cantons. The cantonal master plans deal with landscape in different ways: preserving the mix of built-up and open spaces, to combat the trend towards dullness and fragmentation of the landscape; promoting farming and forestry in mountain areas in order to conserve the landscape, retaining a mix of forested land and clearings; and preserving the appearance of towns and villages. In 1985, the cantonal master plan of Thurgan contained a list of the areas covered, with a view to protecting the appearance of the villages. Every activity affecting these areas is subjected to the strictest scrutiny. In the United Kingdom, structure plans make provision for areas to be protected on account of their natural, ecological and aesthetic significance, and for sites belonging to the national heritage. The visual characteristics of the urban landscape (views of the locality from outside, the appearance of roads and vistas, etc.) are an important part of most urban development schemes, as expressed in local plans.

In Denmark, the 1992 law on development planning includes among its objectives the protection of nature and of the environment, and the creation and conservation of the urban environment and of landscape (article 1). Each of the 14 counties has a regional plan lasting 12 years which sets targets for urban development, the countryside, the protection of nature and the environment, and major works. Each of the 275 municipal authorities draws up a municipal plan, which plays a central role while respecting the regional plan. It may be accompanied by specific directives, for instance on landscape, for the design of facades, billboards and signs. Finally, local plans are drawn up by the communes on an individual basis for particular areas, large or small, or for particular problems. Accordingly, there may be local plans for the landscape to preserve its features, for instance in relation to the development of an urban area or a site for summer houses (article 15.10 of the 1992 law).

In Portugal, regional development plans make provision for areas of landscape interest (e.g., the 1990 Algarve Plan) which offer striking vistas because of the diversity of landforms, a fine outlook and the presence of interesting elements of the natural or architectural heritage. In these areas, no operations or activities are permitted which would detract from the landscape as a whole.

In Spain, the law of 27 March 1989 on the conservation of the countryside and of woodland flora and fauna makes provision for the development of natural resources. These plans must "define the state of conservation of natural resources, ecosystems and landscapes, and give a diagnosis and a forecast of future trends" (article 4.4 b). The plans will be used to formulate compulsory standards for the protection of landscape, to be incorporated in the various land use and urban development plans. Among these standards, mention may be made of the general ban on all public or private works which may alter or detract from the features of the landscape; the monitoring of aerials, advertising, signs and other objects which tend to spoil the view; and programmes for treating and rehabilitating the landscape of damaged sites: replanting, removing the visual impact of power lines, etc.

Plans associated with the regrouping of rural land can be very beneficial for the landscape. In Belgium, in the framework of the law of 22 July 1970 on rural land regrouping, a circular based on the recommendations of the Council of Europe in 1976 emphasises the obligation to draw up survey plans of the site before any development work is done. These plans are intended to guide the work of the regrouping committee. They list the outstanding features of the site within and alongside the perimeter of the regrouping line. This analysis has to specify:

a) the criteria of the landscape: the habitat, the crops grown, the pastureland, the woodland, the valleys, etc.

b) the evolution of the landscape, and therefore of the use of the land, distinguishing in particular the permanent features and the prospects for future development

c) the nature and influence of natural factors such as pedology, topography, hydrography, climatology and micro-climatology.

d) the semi-natural factors: the fauna and flora.

e) the visual aspects, according to the criteria of conformity, diversity, linear equilibrium, etc. (micro- and macro-analysis)

f) special areas, identified according to their aesthetic, scientific or historical aspects.

These features of each site are then assessed objectively, i.e., independently of the other regrouping operations, on the basis of:

a) their specific value as landscape (the aesthetic and social point of view), taking account of the specific agricultural character of the region;
b) their agricultural value (the economic point of view, including agricultural production).
c) their ecological value (the biological point of view).

The assessment focuses on the features themselves as well as on their incorporation into the landscape. This assessment consists of a classification into different categories of importance, such as:

- extremely high value, i.e., those which it is obligatory to protect. These are mainly special areas known for their scientific, historical, aesthetic or ecological interest.
- high value; to be protected as far as possible, or otherwise replaced.
- average value
- no value
- negative value, to be removed or concealed through alterations.

The plan may contain suggestions for incorporating new features or extending existing features which have been found to be essential, but this aspect is not covered in any detail.

In France, the landscape may also be embodied in urban development plans, as an aspect of the environment which has to be taken into account. Since 1976, the report submitted for the purpose of zoning regulations has had to take account of the environment. Sometimes, as a result, the regulations have been drawn up on the basis of landscape studies, and the Conseil d'Etat has gone so far as to rule that a landscaping bureau which carried out a survey of the landscapes in the commune, subsequently explaining its conclusions to a communal committee, would not be encroaching upon the functions of the municipal council (CE 2 December 1992, Commune of Beny-Bocage). Since the general policy Act on urban development of 13 July 1991, it has been obligatory for outline plans which set out the key planning guidelines for sub-regional areas to take into account "the preservation of sites and of natural and urban landscapes" (L. 122.1, Code de l'Urbanisme). So within the zoning regulations, it is possible to delimit portions of the landscape and of the sites to be protected or shown off for aesthetic, historical or ecological reasons. The delimitation is not simply a matter of drawing lines; there may also be binding requirements within the zoning regulation, in the form of urban development servitudes for which no compensation is payable.

Mention should also be made of the provision in France for landscape concerns to be included in municipal environment plans and in local environment charters. These documents, which are optional and have no binding legal force, put into effect at the local level the principles of Agenda 21. They encourage the communes, and sometimes the departments, to formulate an integrated approach to the environment as part of other local policies for sustainable cities. The landscape finds its place naturally among the special themes chosen for these charters, as a transversal aspect of the community heritage. In this sense, the landscape is a unifying theme which stimulates discussion and may lead to a number of key activities in the urban environment4. For instance, the environment charter for the city of Chateauroux brings in the notion of landscape at all levels of legal intervention: zoning regulations and permits.

B - Classifying landscape into protected areas

Landscapes may be classified directly or indirectly into special protection zones, either when plans and programmes are implemented, or through separate special measures.

Indirect protection is offered through the various protective mechanisms for national or regional parks and nature reserves, or those for vulnerable areas. In different ways, the landscape is implicitly or explicitly included in these protective instruments, with their varying legal effects, which range from a complete ban on changes to the site, to special servitudes or straightforward monitoring arrangements.

The most interesting finding, however, is that some countries are increasingly opting for direct protection of landscape through protected zones, which tend to be associated with protected sites, natural or historic monuments, or nature protection.

In Belgium, the Walloon Code on town and country planning and urban development provides that in the sector plans, rural areas may comprise "areas of landscape interest" (article 180). These are areas "subject to certain restrictions for the safeguarding or formation of the landscape. In these areas, all acts and works necessary for the normal usage of the area may be carried out, provided they do not endanger the aesthetic significance of the landscape". The Conseil d'Etat found that a tower 80 metres high, placed on a country road within an area of special landscape interest, even if surrounded by a tall curtain of greenery, cannot reasonably be regarded as compatible with the architectonic character of an area of special landscape interest and the general use for which an area of agricultural land is intended" (C.E. 3 March 1988, Commune of Merchtem). These areas are distinguished from the areas of cultural, historical or aesthetic significance in land zoned for housing (art. 171 of the Walloon Code). In Flanders, the decree of 3 March 1976 on monuments and urban and rural sites was amended on 22 February 1995 to place greater emphasis on groups of buildings, as works of the human hand and nature, and on their immediate visual surroundings. Arrangements for protecting landscapes are covered by servitudes similar to those which apply to monuments and to urban or rural sites. Where work is to be carried out on one of these sites, the owner must obtain prior advice. The Flanders Ministry of the Environment is preparing, on an experimental basis, a draft study of the regional landscape.

In Switzerland, biotopes of national importance (article 18 a, law of 1 July 1966) include alluvial areas (order for the protection of alluvial areas of national significance, 28 October 1992). As part of the inventory of objects of national importance, the order of 21 June 1991 on the protection of high-lying marshes and transitional marshland of national importance contains a list, in annex 1, of the protected marshes in the various cantons.

In Britain, landscape conservation is systematically incorporated into the zoning system covered by the classification of the Countryside Commission, which distinguishes areas dedicated to nature protection from landscape conservation areas. The latter include the national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty, national scenic areas, heritage coasts, forest parks, environmentally sensitive areas, the New Forest, the Broads, national trails and country parks. Areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) are designated for the purpose of protecting fauna and flora and geological and landscape features, and conserving relics from the past, while allowing for the needs of agriculture and the promotion of sustainable development.

In France, the legal mechanisms for the protection of landscapes have recently been reinforced by means of the special law of 8 January 1993. However, regulatory protection on a selective basis had existed since 1930, with the law of 2 May 1930 on natural monuments and sites (preceded by a law of 1906 on sites). The 1930 law, which applies to the larger areas, seeks to preserve sites on grounds of artistic, historical, scientific, traditional or scenic merit. There are two kinds of sites, classified and registered sites. The former, totalling 2564, cannot be either destroyed or altered without express authorisation from the Ministry. Advertising and camping are completely forbidden, and the owner may be subject to certain servitudes. In the latter, totalling 5000, works or alterations which may have a deleterious effect may not be carried out without a prior declaration and opinion by the government surveyor of France.

In France, another instrument of protection through local planning consists of the zones for protection of the architectural, urban and landscape heritage (ZPPAUP), which were established by article 70 of the law of 7 January 1983, and were extended to the landscape in 1993. This is a special form of zoning which calls for the consent of the State and the communes, in order to preserve and emphasise the value of sites which possess either a historical monument, or some aesthetic or landscape feature. A ZPPAUP may be created in areas requiring protection, regardless of the presence or otherwise of a historic monument, and for purely landscape reasons (five hundred ZPPAUPs have already been created, and 400 are under consideration). Each zone is covered by a set of regulations comprising particular rules which apply to the whole of the zone or to some of its parts, relating to the protection of landscape, architecture or town planning (decree of 25 April 1984). These binding rules form part of the zoning regulations, as public servitudes, and are therefore a compulsory part of these regulations, and also binding for third parties when land use permits are issued.

In Spain protected zones may be created to protect natural areas and features of particular interest from a scientific, cultural, educational, aesthetic, scenic and recreational point of view (article 10.2 b, law of 28 March 1989). There are four categories: parks, nature reserves, natural monuments and protected landscapes. Article 17 of the law defines the category of "protected landscapes" as particular places in the natural environment which merit special protection because of their aesthetic and cultural significance. The special protection regime for these landscapes is defined in the founding instrument and in the overall management plan. Moreover, protected landscapes may be surrounded by a peripheral protection zone designed to ward off damage to the landscape from outside. Socio-economic compensation may be granted to the population affected. The zones classified as "protected landscape" are in Murcia (Humedal del Ajacique y Rambla: Espacio abierto e islas del mar menor; Cuatro Calas; Sierra de las Moreras). In Spain, the town planning law makes systematic provision for landscape, at the various levels covered by land use regulations. The concept of landscape is mentioned at least 12 times in the law of 26 June 1992 on land use and town planning.

In Portugal, the decree law of 23 January 1993 establishes a national network of protected areas comprising the national parks, the nature reserves, natural parks and monuments and sites of biological significance. In articles 9 and 26, provision is made for a special category of "protected landscapes" of regional or local interest. This classification makes way for the adoption of measures of protection and enhancement of the features of natural and semi-natural landscapes, and of biological diversity. Local authorities may make proposals for classification, following a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the heritage to be protected. The decision is taken at the national level, by means of a regulatory decree. All the protected landscapes must be covered by a development and management plan.

In Hungary, the 1982 decree on nature conservation provides for landscape protection zones, as distinct from parks and nature reserves. In Germany, the 1976 law on nature protection (Title IV) provides for a system of protected areas including landscape protection zones (article 15), delimited for the purpose of conservation or the reconstitution of ecosystems, for the diversity, beauty or exceptional character of the landscape, and for its special leisure value. All activities which undermine the character of these areas are prohibited. There are "features of the protected landscape" (article 18) which require special protection (trees, a hedge, grassland) which may be classified outside a landscape protection zone. German nature reserves may also be used to protect aesthetic values, where they qualify as zones of outstanding beauty.

In Denmark, the law of 3 January 1992 on nature protection is also designed to protect sites of scenic, historic and educational significance, as well as areas of significant landscape value (article 1.2). This provides protection for a whole range of natural sites of landscape value (natural habitats, lakes and watercourses, moorland, salt meadows, pastureland, wet zones, coastal grasslands, stone walls, ancient monuments, churches, etc.).

The Greek law of 1986 on the environment introduces certain categories of landscape to be protected (wild landscapes, rural and industrial landscapes, townscapes), but it seems that no decree has yet been enacted to implement the law. Decree law no. 996 of 1971 establishes the category of scenic forest, having particular characteristics from the aesthetic, health or touristic viewpoint, representing a natural landscape which requires protection for its fauna, flora and natural beauty. This has led to the classification of 20 landscape forests.

In Luxembourg, in addition to the 16 nature reserves there is a provision for "green zones" in the law of 11 August 1982 on the protection of nature and natural resources. Chapter 2 of the law is entitled: "landscape conservation measures". The law also institutes protected zones for the purpose of safeguarding the landscape (article 27). Nature parks are covered in the law of 10 August 1993.

The 1992 Czech law on nature and the landscape makes provision for ad hoc classification of significant features of the landscape, imposing obligations on the owner to perform or refrain from certain acts (article 6). It also provides for the establishment of protected zones: national parks, zones of protected landscape, national nature reserves, nature reserves, national nature monuments and nature monuments. The areas of protected landscape (articles 25 to 27 of the law) are extensive areas with a landscape of natural ecosystems, forests, grasslands, a variety of wood species and historical and cultural reminders of the past. These areas, 23 in all, cover 14 per cent of the territory. They must be preserved in their natural state, and optimal development must be sought of the ecological functions of these areas. The regulations applying to these protected landscapes are based on a set of binding rules for the entire territory, and special rules deriving from the internal zoning system. The general prohibitions in force in these areas include a ban on dumping rubbish, on camping elsewhere than in campsites, on bringing in species and plants exogenous to the area, on building motorways, etc. The zone is divided into three areas, of which the first is a strictly protected zone where new building and the extraction of minerals are prohibited. Farming methods, including the use of chemical fertiliser, are subject to supervision. A global management plan for 10 to 15 years is compulsory, and must be reflected in sectoral plans.

The law of the Slovak Republic of 23 August 1994 provides for five categories of protected areas, some of which directly concern the landscape. Protected landscape areas must be at least 1000 hectares, and comprise typical landscapes associated with human establishments of historical interest and ecosystems which are significant for their diversity and stability. 15 activities are listed and submitted for administrative approval. Protected sites are under 1000 hectares; they represent bio-corridors occupied by animal and plant species under protection, and comprise natural features modified by human hand (parks, gardens, quarries and water reservoirs). Natural monuments are objects, alignments or small ecosystems not exceeding 50 hectares which present a scientific, cultural, ecological, aesthetic or landscape interest. The same law provides for special protection for trees growing outside forests and which it is important to preserve for the sake of the landscape and for biodiversity (articles 31 to 34).

C - Provision for the landscape in decisions on land use
Provision for the landscape may be made either directly and in a general sense when decisions are taken, or separately when building permits or other authorisations are issued (for the regrouping of lands, industrial plant, site-clearance, installation of power lines, advertisement hoardings, etc.;) or for works and other activities on a certain scale, through an environmental impact assessment made before the decision is taken and focussing particularly on the impact on the landscape of the planned project.

1 - Landscape and the issue of individual permits

Ownership rights have long been hedged around with restrictions imposed for reasons of public policy. Nowadays, these restrictions include the protection of the environment and provision for the landscape. In Switzerland, as early as 1902 the Civil Code, in article 702, permitted restrictions on ownership rights through measures intended for "the conservation of antiquities and natural curiosities or the protection of sites (paysages/landschaft) and sources of mineral water".

The European Commission on Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that the protection of landscape resulting in a limitation of the use of property is lawful. In its decision of 11 March 1985 (application no. 11185 84, Muriel Herrick v United Kingdom, DR 42 p. 275), the Commission found that there was no violation of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, nor a violation of article 1, paragraph 2 of the Additional Protocol. The applicant's property was situated in Jersey, in an area of special scenic interest. Local planning requirements were similar to those imposed by many member States of the Council of Europe "in safeguarding areas of outstanding beauty from unsuitable development ..."The Commission recognises that planning controls are necessary and desirable in order to preserve areas of outstanding natural beauty for the enjoyment of both the inhabitants of Jersey and visitors to the island..." "The existence and operation of planning controls which delimit areas where domestic development may be extended is a legitimate control measure to protect the amenity value of rural areas and thereby to protect the rights of others". On the basis of this important decision, it appears that the Commission on Human Rights admits not only that the law on landscape may validly restrict property rights, but effectively that what is here implied is a right to landscape.

In the same sense, many legal systems provide for the refusal of building permits on grounds associated with a risk of damage to the landscape. In France, since 1958 public authorities - until 1983 the Government, after 1983 the communes - have been able to reject a building application if the project, because of its location, its architecture, its scale or its outward appearance, is likely to detract from "natural landscape or townscape" (art. R 111.21 of the Code de l'Urbanisme), even if the landscapes in question are neither classified nor registered. There is ample case law to bear this out. With a view to reinforcing landscaping controls when building permits are granted, article 4 of the law of 8 January 1993, amended by article 6 of the law of 9 February 1994, and supplemented by decree no. 94.408 of 18 May 1994, stipulates that the building application must contain a "landscape section" with illustrations or photographs showing the visual impact of the buildings and how they will fit into the environment, and how access and surroundings will be dealt with. The purpose is to ensure that the applicant is more clearly aware of the visual impact of his project, and to help the competent authority to take fuller account of the effect of a building on the landscape, in both a rural and an urban setting. Similarly, permission to open a polluting factory or a quarry may be regarded as unlawful if the planned installation will cause unwarranted damage to the landscape. For instance, the administrative court of Clermont-Ferrand, on 17 December 1991, cancelled a permit to bring into use an unused vehicle storage facility, because of the damage which would be caused to the landscape.

Article 138 of the Spanish law of 26 June 1992 on land use and town planning directly provides for protection of the landscape. It states that all buildings must respect the environment in which they are situated, and construction of a building may be prohibited if its situation, volume or height restricts the field of vision for contemplating natural beauty, disturbs the harmony of the landscape or distorts the outlook.

In Luxembourg, protection of the landscape arises directly from provisions by which building permits may be refused if the structures would undermine the beauty of the landscape. According to the Conseil d'Etat, a building erected on a site of unusual beauty of a virtually unique kind, which offers numerous striking vistas and which is treasured by large numbers of walkers, will pose a threat to the beauty of the landscape and will undermine the natural environment, regardless of the architectural design of the building and the precautions taken by the owner to surround it with an appropriate curtain of greenery (Conseil d'Etat, 10 June 1970). The magnificent landscape of the Vallee de la Syre, which is unobstructed by buildings and completely intact, deserves protection by reason of its natural beauty alone (CE 8 December 1970). The construction of a dozen chalets in a site so far unencumbered by buildings and which offered many views of the valley of the Lour would endanger the beauty of the landscape and cause serious damage to the natural environment (CE 29 July 1971). It should be added that the regulation on buildings, public roads and sites (local land use regulation) may provide for "places to which a special scenic value is attributed" (article 55 of the amended town planning law of 12 June 1937). In the vicinity of these areas, new construction, extensions, advertisement hoardings and other advertising will only be permitted if they do not undermine the beauty of the site.

2 - Landscape and impact studies
Provision for the landscape when works or other significant operations are to be carried out may result from a prior scientific assessment, by means of the procedure known as environmental impact studies.

Although there is no doubt that EEC directive 85/337 of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the impact of certain public and private projects on the environment calls for an examination, by means of impact studies, of the direct and indirect effects of a project, including the effects on "the landscape" (article 3), this aspect of such studies seems often to be left out of account, and detailed studies of effects on the landscape are rare. However, there are some examples of States which have attempted to specify the elements of landscape which should be assessed. This is in response to a request by several States for an appropriate methodology for assessing impact on the landscape. In Ireland, for instance, there is an indicative document which describes the various kinds of impact to look for (see Annex 1).

In Flanders, a purely internal administrative document explains the objectives of a landscape study as part of an impact study. In many other countries there are such documents, which have no legal force (see Annex 2).

In Wallonia, the importance of a particular landscape is a criterion for the submission of certain projects for an impact study. In the case of projects which are not automatically submitted for study, those submitted will be confined to listed projects intended for sensitive areas; in rural areas, these are designated open spaces and areas referred to in the sector plan as having "scenic value" (Annex II of the 1991 order).

In Malta, on the basis of the 1991 law on the environment, an impact study must take account of the effects on the landscape and on the cultural heritage (visual impact, loss of open space).

In Italy, the decree of 27 December 1988 lays down technical standards for the preparation of impact studies. The environmental aspects to be taken into account include "the morphological and cultural aspects of the landscape, the kind of human community concerned and the cultural associations". Annex 2 explains this listing: the aim of describing the nature of the landscape by reference to both its historical and cultural aspects and to those relating to visual perception is to define the nature of the disruption caused by the project and the changes to the quality of the environment. The study of the landscape therefore proceeds through a series of analyses relating to:

a) the natural dynamics of the landscape, through a study of ordinary activities

b) agricultural, industrial, productive, touristic and recreational activities, infrastructures and their location, and their impact on nature

c) the natural and human factors which have prompted the evolution of the landscape

d) a strictly visual study of the relationship between the subject and the environment, and the origins of the transformation and emergence of the landscape through human intervention

e) landscape and territorial plans

f) types of protection: environmental, archaeological, architectural, artistic and historical.

Two important points should be mentioned here. When an impact study is compulsory, it is necessary to ensure that the assessment covers not merely landscapes of special note, but all landscapes. Above all, however, in view of the significant disparities in the extent and scope of impact studies in the various countries, specific measures should be provided for assessing the impact on the landscape of all projects not subjected to a general impact study. Relatively minor works may have a major impact on a local landscape, even an ordinary one. In this respect, the landscape building permit of the French kind is a good model for meeting the need for a minimum assessment of the impact of an ordinary project. Another solution consists of establishing a hierarchy of impact studies, varying their content according to the nature or scale of the project. France, for instance, has impact notifications, and in Spain there are three different documents: the impact study, the environmental report and the environmental classification, according to the terminology of the law of 18 May 1994 on environmental protection in the autonomous community of Andalusia.

There is an interesting and original mechanism in the German system: a territorial impact study, which guarantees that land use planning objectives will be met in the case of any particular project. The territorial impact study, which was long practised by the Laender before being incorporated into the 1989 federal law on town and country planning, is a macro-assessment which represents the first phase of the environmental impact study required by article 16 of the 1990 federal law on impact studies. The second phase of the impact study itself is a micro-assessment. This analysis of the territorial effects of a project, which is required only for projects above the municipal level, includes landscape as a formal visual aspect of the territory, and must cover all the variants and alternatives for the siting of the project (article 6a, para. 1 of the federal law of 25 July 1991). This is an example of the incorporation of the territorial impact into the environmental impact, coordinating both policies. Each Land has laid down guidelines for the implementation of the impact study procedure, specifying the role of landscape (e.g., the directive of 26 June 1991 of the Land of Hesse on the integrated procedure for assessing the territorial and environmental impact).

D - Specific landscape plans

Sometimes, in both law and practice, there is an attempt to individualise landscape plans by varying their content and scope. We will consider the cases of Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

1 – Germany

This is the country which, apparently, has the oldest and most highly integrated landscape policy. It dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, with the movement for protection of the natural and cultural heritage, and the reaction at the end of the previous century against the destruction of natural scenery by industrialisation. Under the federal law of 1976 for the protection of nature, there is a hierarchy of landscape plans alongside the land use plans, with three planning levels: at the Land level the landscape programme, at the regional level the regional plan for landscape, and at the municipal level the landscape plan. These are indicative plans, but in most of the Laender they form part of the land use plan and therefore become compulsory. Only the landscape plans for the city States and the Land of North Westphalia are directly binding. They are also incorporated within the sectoral plans (transport plans, inland waterways plans) and in the procedures for approving individual projects such as mining operations and the planting of forests.

The Laender use two different methods for incorporating the landscape plans into the general land use plan. Some of the Laender practise a so-called primary form of incorporation, whereby the various landscape plans are developed directly as a special part of the territorial and town plans (as in Bavaria, Hesse, Rhineland Palatinate, Saxony). Others practise secondary incorporation, whereby the various landscape plans are formulated as separate documents, and are then incorporated partly or wholly into the territorial and town plans through a formal legal act (as in the Saar, Baden Wurttemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg). In most cases, however, it should be noted that the institutions responsible for landscape planning are the same as those involved in the land use planning process. The administrative unity between the environment and the planning process is a crucial factor in the success of the this type of hierarchical coordinated planning.

According to article 1, section 1 of the federal law, in both populated and uninhabited areas, the landscape and nature must be protected, conserved and developed, so that the capacity of the ecosystems, the availability of natural resources, flora and fauna, and the diversity, character and beauty of the landscape and of nature, which are fundamental to the quality of life and of leisure, are preserved in a sustainable manner. According to German case law and legal writings, beauty is not a matter only of the visual aspects of landscape, but also of the acoustic and olfactory aspects. There are thirteen basic principles, including: preventing the destruction of landscape and landscape features, preserving vegetation, providing guaranteed access to the landscape, and conserving cultural and historical landscapes. The structure and content of landscape programmes and regional plans are defined by the laws of each Land. Municipal landscape plans must determine the measures necessary to achieve the objectives of landscape protection. For this purpose, they must diagnose the present state of the landscape, its evolution and the situation of the landscape after the execution of the planned measures of protection or restoration. German landscape planning is a very ambitious affair, conceived as the product of a global approach to the overall planning of the physical surroundings. It is regarded, however, as a type of sectoral planning which is to be incorporated into the general land use plan. The law of 25 June 1992 of the Land of Brandenburg on the protection of nature and the management of the landscape specifies the priority objectives envisaged in the landscape plans, which include identifying possible conflicts arising from the existing situation in relation to the desirable form of development. Special attention is given to the protection of tree-lined avenues, which are a typical feature of the landscape.

The regional landscape plans all comprise a report presenting the findings of the diagnosis, a commentary on the objectives and an estimate of the cost of achieving the priority objectives. They are required to delimit protected landscape areas (landscape protection zones, natural monuments and features of protected landscape), areas which must not be built up, green belts, features of the townscape to be protected, leisure areas, etc. The plans are accompanied by standards for landscape management which cover outdoor advertising, waterworks, plantations, the obligations of owners and usufructuaries, farm management, and any necessary measures of compensation or substitution. Under the 1992 Brandenburg law, proper agricultural use of the land calls for appropriate agricultural techniques and ensures the conservation of the soil by avoiding erosion and loss of humus. It also contributes to regeneration, avoids endangering watercourses and banks, and preserves an adequate habitat for the fauna and flora. This merely translates into practice the principles of sustainable use of natural resources (see Annex 3).

2 - Italy

The founding text, although it makes no specific mention of landscape as such, is law no. 1497 of 29 June 1939 on the protection of natural beauty. The countryside is perceived entirely in terms of natural beauty and the visible traces of history; it does not represent the whole of the environment, but only that part of it which represents the cultural heritage. The law covers four categories of property:

a) immovable structures distinctive for their typical natural beauty or their geological singularity,

b) villas, gardens and parks which are not covered by the law on the historic heritage and which are of distinctive and unusual beauty

c) grouped structures of typical appearance, possessing aesthetic and traditional significance,

d) scenic panoramas regarded as a natural setting, and outlook points and belvederes which the public can reach to enjoy the view.

Once lists have been compiled of sites identified within these categories, they are registered and the owners of these places are bound to protect them; they may neither be demolished nor altered without permission. A territorial landscape plan was optional for sites covered by subparagraphs c and d; the plan was to be approved and published, its aim being to prevent these areas being used in a manner likely to impair their scenic value (article 5 of the 1939 law). The Galasso law of 8 August 1985 supplemented the 1939 law. It added to the categories of places eligible for protection, by incorporating structural features of the natural setting, and bringing in the exploitation of ecosystems5. This shows a very clear line of development, from a purely aesthetic criterion to landscape and environmental values. The same 1985 law also requires the regions to implement regional landscape plans, which are to define which uses of the land are compatible with the demands of landscape protection. However, not all the regions have carried out these plans, which calls into question the validity of protection measures in the absence of an approved landscape plan. On 29 December 1988, the Cour de Cassation ruled that landscape protection standards are binding even where there are no landscape plans. These plans must be coordinated with the plans for urban development. Whether the coordination is organised will depend on regional legislation. In most regions there is a specific regional plan which has to be incorporated into the regional territorial plan (Abruzzi, Basilicata, Emilia, Romagna, Lazio, Lombardy, Liguria, Marche). In other regions, the regional territorial plan performs the same functions as the landscape plan (Veneto, Umbria, Piedmont, Provincia of Bolzano and Trento). The Italian landscape plans deal with the landscape from both natural and cultural viewpoints, focussing on three areas: geomorphology, ecology and historical and cultural aspects. They place greater emphasis than the German landscape plans on the historical and cultural heritage. However, the content of the regional plans varies considerably. Some of them deal with natural hazards (Liguria plan). They are drawn up on the scale 1:25000. The 1989 regional plan for the Marche is arranged as follows:

- technical standard for atterazione
general provisions
thematic subdivisions (geology, geomorphology, plant botany, history and culture)
territorial subdivisions
categories of landscape
intervention involving changes
development and restoration
final provisions

- 18 maps
- an inventory of natural assets
- an inventory of historical and cultural assets

The legal scope of the plan depends on the provisions adopted. Some are mere guidelines, others are directives for adoption within urban development plans; still others are binding and prescriptive rules for immediate application by public and private bodies, and which must form part of all planning instruments (article 10, regional law of 8 June 1987).

3 – France
Two instruments should be mentioned. One of these has been given legal shape, since the landscape law of 8 January 1993, with the "Directives de protection et de mise en valeur des paysages" (decree of 11 April 1994, circular of 21 November 1994). These are documents produced by the Government and approved by decree in the Conseil d'Etat. They are legally binding upon local authorities in their urban development plans and where permits are sought for land clearance, occupation or use (including building permits and housing developments). They are, in fact, local landscape plans reflecting the Government's intention of imposing a landscape policy on local authorities following consultation, by involving in the preparation of each directive the local authorities, professional bodies, environmental bodies and the public, for which there is a consultation process lasting one month. The areas for which these directives are prepared, at the initiative of the Ministry of the Environment, are "areas of outstanding scenic importance". These, according to the decree of 11 April 1994, are "outstanding landscapes of established importance, either for their unity and consistency, or for their special heritage value or for the information they convey about lifestyles and habitat or industrial, craft, agricultural and forestry activities and traditions". These directives may be imposed on all or part of the area of one or several communes. Although labelled directives, these plans also have a normative content within "the guidelines and fundamental principles" by which rules may be laid down for the erection, outward appearance, volume or height of buildings, as well as the conditions for carrying out works or developments of certain kinds. The report submitted describes the condition of the landscape at the outset and states the objectives. The binding rules may be supplemented by a list of recommendations comprising straightforward advice on management and restoration.

Experimental practices were started on some sites in 1990 during development work (especially on the Loire). The experiments consisted of landscape charters, not intended specifically to protect the landscape, but to encourage consideration of the landscape in the course of development or infrastructural works. The aim was to identify the constituent elements of a landscape, make a study of its stable and evolving features, and devise a project in the light of the aim to be achieved, the nature of the landscape, and the people it serves.

Using a similar approach, based on partnership rather than legislation, in 1992 the Government began a series of contractual activities to foster activity and awareness by means of landscape plans. Experimental plans, of which there are now about thirty, were initiated by the Ministry of Public Works (department of architecture and town planning). They seek to establish a consensus within a pilot committee, and are effected in three stages, set down in a circular of 15 March 1995.

1 - To understand the landscape and foster understanding of it. This phase involves getting to know the landscape in its objective and subjective components: geography, history, local culture, ongoing changes. It shows what the problems are and where they are, and brings out the characteristics of the landscape, its strong points and its structural elements. This stage enables everyone to become familiar with the landscapes covered in the plan.

2 - The preparation of a project. Defining a future for the territory is a complex affair, based on the inter-retationship between the identity of the landscape, the economic and social forces affecting the area, and the development projects. Perceiving and understanding the effects on the ground of the possible options, and the results of trends already forecast or identified and of decisions to be taken, will yield a shared vision of the way to go in future. This option will make clear, at one and the same time, which are the goals of conservation (lines of force to be preserved, areas to be protected) and which are the aims of future development (enhancement, creation, re-categorisation).

3 - The landscape project is implemented through the preparation of an action programme and the involvement of all the partners concerned; the Government at all levels, local authorities, economic players.

Finally, when implementing agri-environmental measures which, according to the European Union, are supposed to take account of the landscape, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries prepares at the local level "sustainable development plans", following an agro-environmental diagnosis of the development which reflects the scenic element of the countryside being developed (hedges, banks, streams, ponds, isolated trees, low walls, terraces, outlook points, huts, wash-houses, etc.).

4 – Spain

In Spain, the management of the town planning process by the municipality is done through the municipal general plan, which may be supplemented and fleshed out through partial plans and specific subject plans, relating to communications, environmental improvements, health, and landscape in particular. Article 86 of the law of 26 June 1992 on land use and urban development provides for a "special landscape protection plan" to take account of countryside areas of scenic interest, scenic spots, isolated buildings which catch the eye by reason of their situation or their architectural beauty, artistic or historic parks and gardens, and groups of buildings representing traditional or aesthetic values. In the autonous communities and sub-regions, mention should be made of the special plans for the protection of the physical environment (PEPMF) which contain many provisions for the protection of the landscape (e.g., the 8 PEPMF for the provinces of Andalusia since 1986). The aim of these plans is to protect the natural physical environment in urban developments, making the landscape a feature of the surroundings. The plans lay down general norms applying throughout the territory of the province, and particular norms which apply only in the protection zones mentioned in the plan. This plan is binding on both public authorities and private individuals. Among the landscapes covered by a special protection regime, a distinction is drawn between outstanding landscapes and specific agricultural landscapes. Outstanding landscapes are defined as areas of scenic distinction, often with special geomorphological features. They also contain a valuable heritage of flora and fauna, and in general form relatively uniform settings which both send and receive visual messages of significant scientific, cultural and aesthetic value. The specific agricultural landscapes feature traditional farming activities and structures of social and environmental significance.

V - THE MANAGEMENT OF LANDSCAPES

The law is much less ingenious when it comes to the management of landscape, which relates more closely to practice on the ground and to the active role of the various parties concerned. Nevertheless, financial and fiscal support for landscape protection plays a significant part in national legal systems, although specific sanctions are rare. On the other hand, there is a multitude of provisions for the compulsory purchase of scenic land, and many initiatives in the field of public information, but little provision for the participation of the public.

A - Legal instruments involving incentives or financial mechanisms

There are no genuinely original solutions in this area, but the countries with most sensitivity as regards landscape protection have for some years been attempting to devise incentives or financial mechanisms to reinforce traditional legal measures.

The method most frequently encountered in the member States of the European Union is, of course, to make use of the new common agricultural policy, which embraces a concern for the environment. In Ireland, for instance, the rural environment protection schemes of 1994 aim to improve the management of the rural landscape, and are backed up by special financial subsidies for landscape restoration. The same is true in France, with the plans for sustainable development. In the Netherlands, management contracts are concluded between the authorities and the farmers. The contract specifies obligations to be fulfilled as regards the ecological exploitation of soils and the conservation of landscapes. In return, farmers receive financial compensation for careful management of nature and the landscape. This programme, called "Relatienota", covers 200,000 hectares of farmed land. In Luxembourg, article 33 of the law of 11 August 1982 on the natural environment provides for subsidies for the purpose of landscape conservation, i.e.:

- the maintenance and restoration of meadowland and of valleys within forests
- the protection of plants in rocky outcrops and escarpments, and of watercourses and peatlands
- the planting of hedges and thickets
- the protection and improvement of forests

These subsidies may be granted for works carried out by national environmental associations. The Grand Duke's regulation of 22 October 1990 defines the conditions for granting these subsidies. Aids like these to farmers for the preservation of landscape are also found outside the European Union. In Liechtenstein, subsidies are provided by the laws on forestation and the development of the countryside. A draft law is in preparation on ecological guidelines for agriculture. In the Czech Republic, a special programme of subsidies for farmers, called "care for landscape" is managed by the Ministries of the Environment and Agriculture, to finance ecological management of farming activities (the conversion of arable land to grassland, the ecological management of grassland, the revitalisation of small rivers with the restoration of riverbeds and banks); and the 1992 law on the protection of nature and the landscape provides, in article 69, for subsidies in the case of contracts with the beneficiaries. In Norway, the agricultural and environmental authorities pay subsidies to farmers to maintain landscapes.

Apart from these direct aids to farmers, often supplemented by aids for the regrouping of land with a concern for its ecology, there are other types of incentives. In Portugal, article 29 of the decree law of 23 January 1993 provides, alongside measures for the regional and local protected landscape areas, for programme contracts between the Ministry of the Environment and the local authorities, with a view to facilitating investment and the co-management of the operating costs of the protected landscape zones. In Belgium, the Flemish government, acting by order on 12 October 1994, introduced a bonus scheme for maintaining private protected sites, as a means of contributing to the maintenance of the national heritage. The bonus, not exceedings 40% of costs incurred, may be paid for works on a list comprising 13 activities, many of which have a major impact on the environment. They include:

- the upkeep and repair of features of sites which are straight-edged or pointed, such as marshes, wooded enclosures, trees, rows of trees and hedges
- repair of the structural features of watercourses
- the maintenance and repair of terraces and earthworks
- the clearance and removal of obstructive buildings
- the removal and disposal of turf
- the clipping, pollarding, staking and maintenance of trees, shrubs and hedges.

Most of the German Laender have introduced special financial mechanisms to accompany landscape protection, such as those in North Westphalia for the protection of hedges, biotopes, wetlands, sewage farms and orchards.

In Switzerland, article 13 of the 1966 federal law provides subsidies for the conservation of landscapes and the appearance of villages, sites reminiscent of the past, natural curiosities and monuments worthy of protection. These subsidies may not exceed 35 per cent of the costs incurred, and are granted only if the canton participates. They may be subject to conditions for the conservation and maintenance of the protected site and its surroundings. In 1992, the sums paid out amounted to 22 million Swiss francs. The most original initiative is the creation in 1991 by the Swiss Parliament of a landscape protection fund (fund for the protection and management of rural and traditional landscapes). This fund supports landscape protection activities when the usual public sources have been exhausted, or when the projects serve as a model for others (such as the restoration of natural stone walls in the Jurassic park of the Vaud).

In France, a number of initiatives testify to a new determination to improve control of landscape development. Landscape contracts were launched in 1994, for signature between the Government and one or more local authorities. These contracts are a means of implementing the programme of a landscape plan, and they represent the outcome of in-depth study assisted by landscaping professionals. The Government may finance part of the preliminary studies, on the basis of a protocol. The landscape contract is signed for the Government by the departmental prefect. Its execution calls for a monitoring committee representing the various government agencies and the public enterprises concerned (EDF, France Telecom). The Ministry of the Environment may provide financial support for the execution of these contracts. However, in future the management fund for the countryside will provide most of the finance for these contracts, and for the various restoration measures for the rural landscape. This fund was set up by the town and country planning law of 4 February 1995 (article 38 of the decree of 5 April 1995) for all projects which help to maintain or rehabilitate the countryside. The fund is mainly intended to benefit farmers. It is intended to help in the management of sensitive areas or fragile ecosystems (wetlands, hedge restoration, maintenance of natural features likely to contribute to the landscaping of farm buildings, the maintenance of traditional ancient orchards, the maintenance of natural expansion areas for running water, the replanting with grass cover of areas vulnerable to erosion, and the reconstitution of copses).

One experimental measure for incorporating landscape into motorway policy should be mentioned here. In 1989, the French government decided that for two sections of motorway (the A75 from Clermont to Beziers and the A20 from Vierzon to Brive) the equivalent of 1 per cent of the cost of the works would be spent on landscape enhancement and on developing the economic and tourist potential of areas in the vicinity of these motorways. By agreement with the local authorities, and in reliance on departmental routing charters, this 1 per cent for landscaping will be spent through local charters and a departmental monitoring committee consisting of representatives of the Government, the department, the communes concerned, the socio-economic sectors and voluntary bodies. The administrative and financial execution of this 1 per cent policy has been explained in joint notes from the respective departments involved in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (department of roads and department of architecture and town planning), the Ministry of the Environment (department of the natural environment and landscape) and DATAR (responsible for town and country planning and regional initiatives) (notes of 26 October 1992 and 25 April 1994). Among the implementing instruments for this policy, mention may be made of the agreement concluded on 2 November 1994 between the Societe des autoroutes du sud de la France (French southern motorways company) and the Federation nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (national farmers federation). An extension of this policy, called the "1 per cent for landscape and development" was decided on 29 April 1994 and approved by the Council of Ministers on 3 November 1994. In future, the 1 per cent will apply to a number of different road and railway operations, on the basis of joint financing between the Government and local authorities. In addition, with a view to making better provision for landscape during urban development, the 1 per cent for construction may be used for landscaping, and the Government has decided to improve entry points to towns, to keep better control of billposting and to develop domestic gardens in towns.

B - Specific sanctions

Normally, the sanctions applying to protected areas or to the rules on land use and urban development will, in the main, also apply to the destruction of landscape. Only rarely is the landscape itself protected by penal sanctions.

For instance, in Belgium, Denmark and France it is likely that penalties for damage to the landscape would be imposed through the special legislation on the natural environment and town planning. In Switzerland, the law on the protection of nature and landscape contains penal clauses which make it an offence, punishable by imprisonment or a fine, to destroy a protected landscape. A fine may also be imposed for the infringement of measures taken to protect marshland and places of special beauty. Under article 24 of the same law, it is compulsory to make good damage caused to a protected site or area, regardless of any criminal proceedings. If the damage cannot be repaired, appropriate compensation must be paid.

In Spain, there are administrative sanctions to punish the destruction of natural habitats, protected areas and the features which constitute them (law 4 of 27 March 1989). On the criminal level, since the landscape is an element of the environment, the existence of a general offence of damage to the environment makes it possible to prosecute those responsible (article 347 bis of the criminal code).

In Italy, article 734 of the criminal code provides penal sanctions for the destruction and impairment of features of natural beauty under special protection. The law of 28 February 1985 also punishes unlicensed building in areas of protected landscape.

Article 64 of the 1994 law of the Slovak Republic prescribes administrative fines against any person who damages a significant feature of the landscape.

C - Compulsory acquisition of landscape

Among the traditional legal instruments for protecting a landscape, in all countries expropriation is the most extreme measure which can legally be used, provided however that the aim of the compulsory acquisition is within the public or general interest. In most States, the ordinary law of expropriation can be used to acquire a piece of land forming part of an especially outstanding landscape. The protection of the environment will generally be regarded as sufficient justification. Obviously, acquisition of an unremarkable tract of countryside may not be regarded as meeting the public interest requirement.

In Switzerland, expropriation is expressly provided in the law on nature and landscape for the acquisition of natural sites, sites reminiscent of the past or monuments of national importance, both by the Confederation and by the cantons. Germany has no federal arrangements of this kind. However, some of the Laender provide for the expropriation of land which is needed for landscape management in the public interest (article 38 of the Hessen law). In Belgium, the 1973 law on nature conservation provides for the acquisition of buildings needed for the purposes of the law.

Mention should also be made of the acquisition by consent of private land by private bodies such as environmental protection associations. This practice is followed in order to develop and locate specially chosen sites when rural areas are acquired for the sake of protection. In the Netherlands, for instance, most outstanding areas of landscape are owned by the Association for the conservation of the natural monuments of the Netherlands. This is also the case in the provinces, where properties of scenic value are acquired by regional associations for the protection of the landscape. In the United Kingdom the National Trust, which enjoys special status, performs the same role. In France, specialist associations which act as regional conservators of the countryside acquire protected land in order to manage it, for both ecological and landscaping reasons.

D - Information and participation

There seem to be few noteworthy initiatives in this field. There are, of course, certain associations specialising in landscape protection which often play a role in preparing inventories or managing particular landscapes. The most dynamic activities in this respect are carried out by States where there is a specialised agency dealing with the landscape and undertaking public education and awareness campaigns for the benefit of the public and the professionals concerned.

Two experiments in France in landscape promotion are worth mentioning. The first consists of landscape labelling for individual landscapes. In 1992 and 1993, the Ministry of the Environment labelled about a hundred places noted for their diversity, their links with history and the economic activities of their inhabitants. A labelling committee representing the various partners under the authority of the department for nature protection defines the criteria for the label and decides to grant it for 4 years, with financial support for developing it (e.g., the marshes of Guerande, the orchards of Lower Normandy, the limestone plateaux of Lozere). The second experiment is a landscape awareness campaign, in the form of a competition on the theme "My landscape, our landscape", launched in 1992 by the Ministry of the Environment with a request for photographs and texts about familiar landscapes. Nine thousand people took part in the competition, and 84 photographs were chosen for exhibition.

In some countries, there are also interesting educational initiatives to heighten awareness and knowledge of the countryside. In France since 1992, through the practical art workshops in secondary education, colleges and lycees can organise three hours a week of "landscape" workshops, as a training ground including the two important components of aesthetics and ecology. In 1994-1995 there were 38 landscape workshops (service note no. 92-163 from the Ministry of Education to school principals, 25 May 1992)6.

PART II
LANDSCAPE, AN INTERNATIONAL APPROACH

Landscape, as a special subject for protection at the international level, is now a fairly widespread notion in international law. It suffers, however, as in domestic law, from the vagueness of the concept itself and from the subjective approaches which invariably accompany it. The landscape is naturally attached to three special sectors: the historical and cultural heritage, the natural environment and town and country planning.

In order to review the present state of international law, it seems best to consider the existing texts under these three headings, distinguishing international conventions or legally binding instruments from other kinds of international instruments of lesser significance as regards the obligations of States. Some texts which relate to several sectors at once will be considered under the principal heading, and referred to again under subsequent ones.

To begin with, we note that the Rio Conference on Environment and Development, and specifically the text of Agenda 21, contain no express reference to the landscape. Only indirect references are found in Chapter 11 on deforestation and Chapter 36 on public education and sensibilisation.

HERITAGE
A - Texts with binding force

1 - The international level

The Unesco Convention of 16 November 1972 concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage is undoubtedly the most effective international instrument offering a permanent system of protection for the most outstanding features of the heritage. Landscape is treated as one of the constituent elements of this heritage, regarded from various points of view which include cultural and natural features.

The cultural heritage may include: "groups" consisting of separate or connected buildings which, because of their "place in the landscape", are of outstanding universal value (article 1 para. 3).

Natural features of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view, and natural sites or natural areas of outstanding universal value from the point of view of conservation or natural beauty, may form part of the natural heritage. States undertake to identify and delineate these areas and to protect them. An intergovernmental committee, with the consent of the State concerned, enters the most outstanding features on a World Heritage List. Among the properties listed, some which require work done to them and international financial assistance are entered on the list of World Heritage in Danger.

The World Heritage Committee, the intergovernmental management body for the Convention, decided at its 16th session at Santa Fe on 13 December 1992 to alter the criteria for including a property of the cultural and natural heritage on one of the lists of paras. 2 and 4 of article 11 of the Convention. Relying on the express reference to the landscape in article 1 of the Convention, new criteria have been laid down to identify and register exceptional cultural landscapes which in fact belong to both categories, natural and cultural, in articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. A cultural landscape is a combination of the work of man and of nature. It illustrates the evolution of society under the influence of the physical constraints and advantages of the natural environment, and of external and internal forces of a social, economic and cultural kind. The term "cultural landscape" covers a variety of ways in which the interaction between man and his natural environment is manifested. Consequently, Unesco will now be able to include on the International Heritage List, as cultural landscapes, non-urban landscapes and landscapes representing groups other than monuments.

2 - The regional level

The Council of Europe Convention on the protection of the European architectural heritage, signed at Grenada on 3 October 1985, refers only indirectly to landscape. It applies to monuments, groups of buildings and sites. The latter are defined as the combined works of man and nature, partially built upon and sufficiently distinctive and homogeneous to be topographically definable. The explanatory report submitted by the Council of Europe states that these categories may of course overlap, and that "landscape areas" and historic gardens may as a result fall into the category of "sites" or "groups of buildings". It goes on to mention in this connection villages or partly built-up rural areas, as distinct from purely natural areas. Article 7 of the Convention may be particularly useful for the landscape, although very broadly worded: "In the surroundings of monuments, within groups of buildings and within sites, each Party undertakes to promote measures for the general enhancement of the environment".

The Grenada Convention seeks to provide legal mechanisms for protection of an outstanding or interesting heritage mainly by relying on the good intentions of national legislatures and by organising cooperation and an integrated conservation strategy. Its aims are especially interesting from a cultural and environmental viewpoint when it states, in the preamble, that it is a matter of transmitting "to future generations a system of cultural references, improving the urban and rural environment".

The Council of Europe Convention on the protection of the archeological heritage, signed at London on 6 May 1969 and revised in Malta on 16 January 1992, seeks to strengthen protection for the archeological heritage confronted with major development works and various deleterious effects, and to incorporate archaeology into town and country planning policies. Although the landscape is not referred to in this convention, it is implied through the broad definition given here of the archaeological heritage. Article 1 includes "structures, constructions, groups of buildings, developed sites, moveable objects, monuments of other kinds as well as their context, whether situated on land or under water" (articles 1-3).

B - Non-binding documents

1 - The international level
One need only mention here the important world conference on cultural policy held in Mexico in 1982, which defined the cultural heritage of a people, including within it all the values wich impart meaning to life, as well as physical and immaterial constructs such as sites and monuments. Landscape is certainly a part of these.

2 - The regional level

On the initiative of the Committee on the cultural heritage of the Council of Europe, in 1991 a group of specialists on cultural sites and landscapes undertook a detailed study on the conservation of cultural landscape areas, in close association with landscape policies. The outcome was a document of considerable importance in the context of a future landscape convention, even if the initial subject is the cultural rather than the natural landscape.

An initial draft recommendation on "the conservation of cultural sites within landscape policies" was prepared in 1994 and submitted to the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe. This document was adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 11 September 1995, and became Recommendation no. R-(95)9. It outlines a proper global strategy for action to conserve and manage cultural sites, defined as specific parts of the landscape, delimited topographically, which attest the presence of physical traces reflecting former uses of land and distinctive activities, skills or traditions, or the artistic or literary representations inspired by them, or the fact that historical events took place there. There is a general definition of the landscape in article 1 of the annex to the recommendation: "the formal expression of the multiple relations which existed at a given period between the individual or a society and a topographically defined area, the appearance of which results from the action over time of natural and human factors and the combination of these". The protection contemplated here for cultural sites and landscapes is very wide-ranging, since it covers all areas, not only those of outstanding character, even if the latter are to benefit from special conservation rules.

II - LANDSCAPE AS PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
A - Texts with binding force

1 - The international level

- landscape referred to directly

The 1972 Unesco Convention on the world heritage (see above). On 1 January 1992 there were 97 natural sites on the World Heritage List, and 17 mixed sites (natural and cultural).

- landscape referred to indirectly

For the sake of completeness, we mention here the statutes of the UCIN adopted at Fontainebleau on 10 May 1948. The preamble states, in paragraph 2, that "the beauties of nature are among the sources of inspiration of the spiritual life and an essential background to the relaxation which is rendered necessary by an increasingly mechanised lifestyle". Landscape is certainly an essential component of the diversity of the natural world. The Rio Convention on biodiversity of 5 June 1992 says the same, in other words, by emphasising the cultural and aesthetic aspect which is closely associated with the conservation of ecosystems and the ecological complexes to which it belongs. According to the preamble to this convention, the contracting parties are "conscious of the ever-growning environmental, ecological, genetic, scientific, aesthetic, recreational, cultural, educational, social and economic values of biological diversity and its components.

The other international conventions relating to landscape are the Ramsar Convention and, to a lesser extent, the Washington Convention. The Ramsar Convention of 2 February 1971 on wetlands of international importance, especially as waterfowl habitat, seeks to conserve and manage the migratory populations of waterfowl and their habitats. Its preamble states, in paragraph 3: "being convinced that wetlands constitute a resource of great economic, cultural, scientific and recreational value, the loss of which would be irreparable". The importance of wetlands in the protection of natural landscapes, and the effect of including these among the areas protected by this convention, are well known. The Washington Convention (CITES) of 3 March 1973 on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora seeks to protect these species from over-exploitation as a result of international trade. This convention mentions the aesthetic and cultural aspects of such protection, fauna and flora being the basic natural elements of the natural landscape. The preamble states, in paragraph 2: "Conscious of the ever-growing value of wild fauna and flora from aesthetic, scientific, cultural, recreational and economic points of view".

2 - The regional level

- landscape referred to directly:

It is worth pointing out that there are now 8 international conventions which expressly refer to "the landscape" as an element to be taken into consideration. One of these, the 1982 Benelux Convention, even includes landscape in its title. To these conventions must be added the provisions of derived Community law which also, in three directives, refer to the landscape.

The Washington Convention of 12 October 1940 on Nature Protection and Wild Life Preservation in the Western Hemisphere seeks to protect exceptional fauna and flora in America. Its preamble explains that its aim is to "protect and preserve scenery of extraordinary beauty, unusual and striking geological formations, regions and natural objects of aesthetic, historic or scientific value".

The Apia Convention of 12 June 1976 on Conservation of Nature in the South Pacific provides that a national park may cover an area established for the protection of "a natural landscape of great beauty" (article 1). Likewise, protected areas may be "....
"outstanding landscapes or regions or objects of aesthetic interst or historical, cultural or scientific value" (article 2-1).

The Espoo Convention of 25 February 1991 on assessing the impact on the environment in a transboundary context includes, among the effects of a proposed activity on the environment, the effects on "the landscape" as well as on the cultural heritage, and the interaction with the effects on the natural and cultural features of the environment.

The Salzburg Convention of 7 November 1991 on the protection of the Alps seeks to reconcile economic interests and ecological demands in the management of one of the largest natural open spaces in Europe. For this purpose, the parties undertake to use the resources with discernment and in a sustainable fashion. Among the areas of intervention under the Convention we find, alongside town and country planning, air quality, soil protection and the protection of water systems: "the protection of nature and the maintenance of landscapes" (article 2.2 f). The parties are required to guarantee the protection, the management and if necessary the restoration of nature and landscape, with a view to securing, on a sustainable basis, "the diversity, originality and beauty of nature and landscape in combination". In the context of implementing the Convention on the protection of the Alps, a special protocol on "the protection of nature and the maintenance of landscapes" was adopted by the Alpine Conference on 20 December 1994 at Chambery. This special protocol calls for the preparation of inventories on the state of landscapes one year after its entry into force. The landscape inventory is to establish a typology of natural and cultivated landscapes to be protected, and indicate protective measures for the landscape and particular types of landscape, as well as for sectors requiring rehabilitation. Landscape programmes or plans must be drawn up within five years, setting out the requirements and measures for achieving the goals of maintaining Alpine landscapes.

The Lugano Convention of 23 June 1993 on civil liability for damage resulting from activities involving risk to the environment seeks to establish a regime of strict liability. The environment is defined, in article 2, paragraph 10, as including, alongside abiotic and biotic natural resources, and properties forming part of the cultural heritage, "the typical aspects of the landscape". This reference to the landscape as a constituent element of the concept of the environment should make it easier to win acceptance for a convention dealing specifically with the landscape.

The Helsinki Convention of 17 March 1992 on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes defines the transboundary effect on the environment caused by an alteration in water levels as a result of human activity, referring to "impairment of the landscape and of historic monuments or other structures" (article 1-2).

The second Helsinki Convention of 17 March 1992 on the transboundary effects of industrial accidents also mentions the direct or indirect harmful consequences, whether immediate or deferred, of an industrial accident for "the landscape"

The convention which so far deals most explicitly with the landscape is the Benelux Convention of 8 June 1982 related to conservation of nature and the protection of landscapes. Landscape is specifically defined in article 1-2 (cf page 9 of the general report). The three governments concerned (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) undertake to cooperate to harmonise their legislation, exchange information and scientific data, and pursue joint research. However, it is chiefly with regard to nature areas and "transboundary landscapes of value" that the convention calls for joint action (article 3). In the main, this action will consist of:

- developing concepts and criteria for the protection and management of transboundary natural areas
- establishing an inventory of these landscapes, providing for their demarcation and granting them protective status
- establishing programmes for the management of these areas
- consulting each other on development projects which might adversely affect these transboundary areas.

Alongside these international conventions, the law of the European Communities, in six normative instruments, has paid special attention to the landscape as an element in agricultural policy and in the protection of nature and the environment7. It was originally with the introduction of the new common agricultural policy and the withdrawal of arable land that the "landscape" was mentioned for the first time in a binding Community text (regulation no. 797-85 of 12 March 1985 on improving the efficiency of agricultural structures, OJ L 93-1 of 30 March 1985). In this 1985 regulation, article 19 mentions the preservation of the landscape as a new agricultural function. This text was amended in 1987 and 1991. The fundamentals of the new agro-environmental policy now derive from Council regulation 2078-92 of 30 June 1992 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside. This regime, which is now being applied, provides that EAGGF funds may be used to promote ways of using agricultural land compatible with the protection and improvement of the landscape (article 1) or using other farming practices compatible with maintenance of the landscape (article 2). A separate aid scheme is available for training courses and traineeships in practices compatible with maintenance of the countryside (article 6). Two other Community texts impose a requirement to take account of the landscape. Directive 85-337 of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, by setting up a harmonised environmental impact assessment at the European level, refers directly to the landscape at two levels. In defining the projects to be covered by the impact study, article 1/2 of the directive envisages "interventions in the landscape" other than construction works or schemes.

Secondly, the impact study must contain an assessment of the effects of the project on several aspects of the environment, expressly including the landscape. Finally, directive 92-43 of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, designating special areas of conservation as part of a European ecological network (Natura 2000) for sites of Community importance defined and listed by the Commission8 also introduces a genuine Community policy for landscape. Article 10 of the directive invites States to engage in the management of features of the landscape which are of major importance for wild fauna and flora. These, of course, are voluntary activities which may be carried out in any part of the country, and apparently are not confined to the special areas of conservation. In the latter, strict requirements are imposed by article 6, para. 2.3.4 of the directive, and it seems that the landscape is among the elements which affect a natural habitat and influence its state of conservation. A "natural habitat" is defined in article 1.b as an area distinguished by geographic, abiotic and biotic features, whether entirely natural or semi-natural. Initiatives for landscape management may therefore apply as much to sites recognised as being of Community importance, as in the rest of the country. Moreover, article 10 expressly states that States should encourage the management of features of the landscape where they consider it necessary in their land use planning and development policies. Article 10 specifies which features of the landscape merit special attention: those which by virtue of their linear and continuous structure (such as rivers with their banks or the traditional systems for marking field boundaries) or their function as stepping stones (such as ponds or small woods) are essential for the migration, dispersal and genetic exchange of wild species. In spite of the importance now accorded to the landscape, it is evident that there is a close association between landscape and nature protection.

- landscape referred to indirectly in regional conventions

Several regional conventions on nature protection refer implicitly to natural beauty or to the aesthetic and cultural value of certain sites, indicating that the landscape is involved.

The London Convention of 8 November 1933 on the conservation of wild fauna and flora in Africa calls for the conservation of objects of aesthetic, historic or scientific value, and for the provision of facilities for the public to observe fauna and flora in national parks.

The African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (Algiers, 15 September 1968) emphasises the significance of natural resources from the aesthetic and cultural viewpoint, and places a duty on States to conserve plant species of special aesthetic value (art. 6.2).

The Berne Convention of 19 September 1979 on the conservation of wildlife and the natural environment of Europe, although it contains no direct reference to landscape, is nonetheless the most important framework instrument for the protection of habitats and species at the European level. Its preamble states that wild fauna and flora represent a natural heritage of aesthetic, scientific, cultural, recreational and economic value, which must be preserved and transmitted to future generations. The measures needed to protect them automatically include landscape, as we have seen in the 1992 EEC directive on the natural habitat. This was clearly confirmed in recommendation no. 25 of 6 December 1991 of the Standing Committee for the Convention. This recommendation on the conservation of the countryside outside designated protected areas contains several references to the landscape, on the basis of a report by C. de Klemm9. They are reproduced below:

- features of the landscape:

To promote the conservation of features of the landscape such as streams, ponds, copses, trees standing alone, hedges, natural grassland, etc., taking the following measures:

1) drawing up an inventory in each commune of the landscape features to be preserved;
2) taking these features into account when preparing or revising land use plans, by including them in areas which receive a high degree of protection;
3) introducing a system of management contracts for the preservation and maintenance of landscape features enjoying such protection;
4) drawing up for each agricultural production unit, with the consent of the farmer, a conservation plan comprising:

a) an ecological survey of the farm;
b) a map of the landscape features and countryside areas to be conserved, rehabilitated or reconstituted;
c) possible and desirable measures of "extensification";
d) ring-fencing particular tracts of land, where necessary, on the basis of an ecological survey;
e) a management contract setting out the results to be achieved, the resources required to achieve them and the sums to be received by the farmer by way of compensation or payment for services rendered.

B - Non-binding documents

1 - The international level

At Rio, landscape came back on the scene with the adoption of a document with a new title which looks to a future international convention on forests. It is a declaration of principles, not legally binding but authoritative, for an international consensus on the management, conservation and ecologically viable development of all types of forest. Article 2.b defines the objectives of forest management: it must be carried on in an ecologically viable manner to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations, adding that humanity needs forest products and services, including "the diversity of landscape".

In an IUCN document of 1994 which is regarded as a plan of action for protected areas in Europe, there is a specific proposal for a European convention on the countryside (Parko for life, IUCN, Cambridge, 1994). Pointing out that there is no convention dealing with landscape as such, that the European landscape is particularly threatened and that there is increasing interest in landscape at the international level, this plan of action proposes monitoring the evolution of landscapes, incorporating them in the land use planning process, and identifying landscapes of European interest with a view to their international protection.

2 - The regional level

As early as 1979, a recommendation by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe established a highly pragmatic mechanism for identifying landscapes. Recommendation no. R (79) 9 concerns the identification and evaluation card for the protection of natural landscapes, in order to make an inventory of the natural and semi-natural landscapes of European interest. These landscapes should be placed under protection and managed efficiently according to ecological principles, or be designated for the European network of biogenetic reserves.

To coincide with the Brundtland report "Our common future", on 12 October 1990 the Committee of Ministers adopted recommendation no. R. ENV (90) 1 on the European conservation strategy for sustainable development. Among the sectoral aspects of the European conservation strategy, an entire paragraph is devoted to "the protection of the landscape" (VI). It deals simultaneously with agricultural, forest, rural and urban landscape:

"(1) Promote long-term use - for agricultural and forestry purposes of the entire landscape, irrespective of its value, with maximum and appropriate use of the natural forces and processes of production;
2) Ensure that buildings and facilities are installed only if the requirements of necessity and essential location are satisfied and no damage is caused to the landscape;
3) Conserve, improve or recreate throughout the landscape - especially in and around areas subject to intensive use - a sufficient network of natural or semi-natural areas to sustain biological variety and the mechanisms of natural equilibrium;
4) Preserve traditional rural landscapes such as terrace cultivation (e.g. vineyards), irrigated meadows, standard orchards, chestnut groves and bocage landscapes for their scenic beauty, their natural diversity and their value as part of the cultural heritage, by sustaining traditional use of such areas with public funds;
5) Preserve, restore and use for present-day purposes historic neighbourhoods, villages, hamlets, buildings, roads and other landscape features which are part of the heritage".

At the international Maastricht conference, 9 - 12 November 1993, on the conservation of the European natural heritage, "towards a European ecological network", a declaration setting out a conceptual framework for nature conservation in Europe emphasised the interdependence of biological diversity and diversity of landscapes, and called for a European strategy on biological and landscape diversity, reinforcing the Berne Convention and relying on the Rio Convention on biological diversity and on the Natura 2000 network of the European Union.

Following on from this, the European Conference of Ministers of the Environment, meeting at Sofia on 23-25 October 1995, representing the countries of the region covered by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, approved a document submitted by the Council of Europe, called: A pan-European strategy for biological and landscape diversity. The strategy seeks to promote the application of the Rio Convention on biological diversity. The document stresses the urgency of a European convention specifically dealing with all aspects of landscape, pointing out that the problem of landscape diversity has not yet been properly tackled. The action plan for the period 1996-2000 covers eleven areas, of which the fourth focuses on the conservation of landscapes, defined as a part of the cultural and geological heritage whose beauty and identity must be preserved. The stated objectives are: to identify all threatened landscapes and geological sites of Europe-wide significance, to compile a list of guidelines for landscape conservation policies, to devise a code of conduct to bring home to private and public landowners the importance of landscape biodiversity, to draw up a plan of action to safeguard the geological characteristics of the landscape, and to examine the relationship between traditional landscapes and regional economies.

The report prepared by the European Environment Agency at the Dobris meeting contains a chapter dealing specifically with landscape, and confirming the interest of European countries in the subject (Europe's Environment: the Dobris Assessment, Stanners and Bourdeau, ed. 1995).

Finally, two drafts prepared by the Council of Europe deserve a mention. The first is a 1993 draft recommendation for sustainable development of the countryside, focussing particularly on safeguarding wildlife and landscapes, prepared by the CDPE (Steering Committee for the Conservation and Management of the Environment and Natural Habitats). Recognising that the countryside illustrates the age-old relationship between man and his environment, the draft recommendation adroitly succeeds in incorporating the landscape in all aspects of the sustainable rural development strategy. Paragraph IV defines the principles to be respected in creating and managing high-quality rural landscapes:

"1) making systematic inventories of types of landscape and, within each landscape area, of their cultural and natural constituent elements, such as natural meadowland, moorland and steppe, wetlands, woods and thickets, hedges and copses, rivers and streams, orchards and trees standing alone, terraces and drystone walls, and all individual features of value, etc.
2) disseminating the results of these inventories on a wide scale to the public authorities, governments, voluntary bodies, landowners and farmers concerned, to draw their attention to the wealth of the heritage to be managed;
3) developing appropriate tools for the protection and management of landscapes outstanding for their natural, aesthetic, cultural or historical value, their fragility or the pressures upon them;
4) creating a genuine ecological network of natural habitats at the national and regional levels, and a network of structural features of the landscape at the local level, providing appropriate measures for the protection, restoration, management and creation of natural and structural features of value in the landscapes, especially those listed above;
5) maintaining an interlocking system of paths and access roads and viewpoints to limit damage to the landscape and the environment, and to reduce the proliferation of roads;
6) preparing and introducing a range of economic mechanisms and regulatory instruments and incentives, at the national and international levels, relying on:
a) provisions for ecological management on a contractual basis between farmers, landowners and/or voluntary bodies. For this purpose, there must be a definition of the precise objectives of protection of natural resources, landscapes and biotopes, and provision for payment or compensation calculated according to natural handicaps, lost output, extra work caused and the extent to which prior objectives are achieved;
b) economic and fiscal instruments such as: relief or exemption from land tax or inheritance taxes, tax on farm improvements, duties on polluting phytosanitary products, subsidies, loans or sponsorship arrangements;
c) the possible acquisition of sites by the Government or by heritage bodies;
d) regulations on certain activities which may prove deleterious to the environment and to natural resources, such as the abuse of chemical products or potentially polluting and undesirable agricultural practices;
e) planning instruments such as green plans or landscape plans;
f) product marketing schemes and the creation of new sales networks to establish a connection between product quality and environmental and landscape quality;
g) adjustments of market mechanisms for marginal areas to take account of the economic, social and ecological components of farming activities in these areas;
h) measures to promote multidimensional farming activities, especially in areas of natural handicap where agriculture alone does not produce a sufficient income, by permitting the development of additional activities such as rural tourism, recreation and leisure, hunting within proper limits, biomass production for fuel, crafts, industry or services which respect and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of rural areas;
i) developing and establishing adequate infrastructures and training centres to equip local people with the necessary qualifications for these new activities".

The second draft is for a model environmental protection law, prepared in 1994 under the auspices of the Council of Europe by a group of experts, for the purposes of the cooperation programme with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Article 1 contains a definition of the environment, which includes the typical aspects of the landscape, and article 50 refers to areas protected for their value as landscape.

III - LANDSCAPE IN RELATION TO LAND USE PLANNING

A - Regional texts with binding force

- direct reference to the landscape

The 1976 Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution was considerably amended at the meeting of the parties at Barcelona on 9 and 10 June 1995. The amendments make much more room for the landscape, which in fact is expressly mentioned. The resolution adopted by the parties on the environment and sustainable development in the Mediterranean basin adopts the second phase of the action plan for the Mediterranean, one of its objectives being "to conserve nature and protect species as well as sites of ecological and cultural interest". As for tourism, the landscape is described as being under threat from the uncontrolled growth of tourism. In the amended convention itself (now called "Convention on the protection of the marine environment and the Mediterranean coastline"), article 4 requires States to promote the integrated management of the coast, taking account of "areas of landscape interest". This direct provision for the landscape, closely connected with the areas of ecological interest, is reflected in the protocol on specially protected areas and biological diversity, also amended in 1995. States are required to protect and manage, in a sustainable fashion, countryside of special natural and cultural value, and to create for this purpose areas of special protection; this includes sites of special importance by reason of their scientific, aesthetic, cultural and educational interest. Under article 6, the protection measures must contain measures "to safeguard landscapes".

Finally, mention should be made of two draft European conventions. In 1995, a draft European countryside charter was prepared by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The draft convention takes note of the new role of the countryside in the plans for sustainable management of resources, with the conservation of nature and the landscape. Article 5 defines the ecological function of the countryside, calling for the maintenance and preservation of manmade landscapes. There is an annex setting out guidelines for a policy on the countryside; no. 12 deals with the environment, nature and landscape. The second draft convention under discussion within the Council of Europe is the European charter on mountain regions, adopted by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe on 1 June 1995. This document refers to the landscape as an especially valuable feature of mountain regions. Article 9 focusses on the need to control afforested areas, in order to avoid the loss or impairment of landscapes. Article 13, referring to tourism, lays stress on landscape and environmental quality. Article 15 includes sites and landscapes among the features of the environment to be protected.

- indirect reference to the landscape

Several regional conventions refer indirectly to the landscape. Among these are the following:

- the Luxembourg convention of 27 October 1956 on the canalisation of the Moselle, which provides in art. 1 (3) that the canalisation works between Thionville and Coblenz are to be carried out while respecting, as far as possible, the harmony of natural sites.

- the Bonn Convention of 3 December 1976 on the protection of the Rhine against chemical pollution seeks to improve the quality of the Rhine waters, in view of the fact that they are used "for recreation, taking hygienic and aesthetic requirements into consideration" (art. 1.2)

- the Madrid protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on environmental protection, refers, in article 3 para. 1, to the wilderness and aesthetic values of the region.

Two binding documents considered above in connection with nature protection are important for land use planning: the 1991 Espoo convention on transboundary impact studies, and the 1985 EEC directive on impact studies.

B - Regional non-binding texts

There are many documents taking account of the landscape in the form of a resolution or recommendation relating to town and country planning, especially in mountain and coastal regions and in connection with tourism.

Resolution (76) 34 adopted on 21 May 1976 by the Committee of Ministers, concerning the ecological charter of European mountain regions, repeatedly refers to the grave threat posed by the destruction and degradation of landscapes to the vital biological systems which are essential to human existence. The suggested protective measures seek to protect landscapes and natural, semi-natural and cultural environments, and state that the biological function of landscapes and environments must be maintained.

In resolution (73) 29 of 26 October 1973 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the protection of coastal areas, "the conservation of aesthetic values and landscapes" is among the problems to be taken into account (3rd preambular paragraph). Similarly, Resolution (77) 8 of 21 February 1977 on the protection of lakesides and river banks includes the statement "recognising the fundamental role of expanses of water, rivers, waterfalls and their surroundings in may European landscapes, as places for sightseeing and repose and a balancing factor in the landscape". OECD recommendation C (76) 161 of 12 October 1976 on the management of coastal areas mentions the protection of sites, and states in the annex to paragraph 10 that binding measures should be adopted to prevent the erection of structures which cause damage to the environment and which "may impair the landscape". The European coastal charter, devised and approved by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions in Crete on 8 October 1981, and approved in 1982 by a resolution of the European Parliament, states in paragraph 2-C: "The cultural role of the coastal landscape must be incorporated as an essential factor in the use of the coasts, taking account of its role for the European population as a whole, both present and future".

The European Charter on land use planning, adopted at Torremolinos on 20 May 1983 by the European Conference of ministers of town and country planning, includes among the key objectives of land use planning the responsible management of natural resources and the protection of the environment, which must "pay special attention to natural beauty and to the cultural and architectural heritage". Among the particular objectives of the Charter in relation to rural areas, it is expressly stated that in all fields, account must be taken of "measures of landscape conservation and development".

More recently, the regions of Andalusia, Languedoc Roussillon and Tuscany adopted in Seville in 1992 a charter on the Mediterranean landscape. The landscape is defined as follows:

"Landscape may be regarded as the formal expression of the sensory relationship of individuals and societies in space and time with a territory which is fashioned, to a greater or lesser degree, by social, economic and cultural factors. The landscape is therefore the outcome of the combination of natural, cultural, historical, functional and visual aspects.

This relationship is of various kinds, based on affection, identity, aesthetics, symbolism, spirituality or economics. It implies that individuals or societies accord to landscapes the weight of social recognition at different levels: local, regional, national or international.

The Mediterranean landscape is more deeply imprinted than any other by the hand of man. It is the product of a refined culture and lifestyle, both urban and rural."

According to the foregoing definitions, the landscape is an essential concept in the fields of environment, land use planning, and the protection and management of the cultural or natural heritage (Annex to resolution 256 (1994) of the 3rd conference of the Mediterranean regions, Taormina, 5-7 April 1993, Standing Conference of local and regional authorities.

The Charter contemplates a whole range of activities for the landscape: identification, inclusion in impact studies, landscape plans, training of specialists, public education. On the basis of this Charter, the Standing Conference of local and regional authorities, on 18 March 1994, adopted resolution 256 (94) arising from the Taormina meeting of 7 April 1993. This resolution invites the Congress to draft a framework convention on the management and protection of the natural and cultural landscape throughout Europe.

As for the urban landscape, there is an important EEC green paper on the urban environment (Com. 90.218, 27 June 1990) which mentions the environmental quality of the urban landscape and the ecological, health and aesthetic importance of open spaces in towns.

Finally, the environmental dimension of tourism, and the need for sustainable tourism, call for a range of protective measures for both natural and urban landscapes. The group of specialists in tourism and environment of the Steering Committee for the Conservation and Management of the Environment and Natural Habitats (CDPE) of the Council of Europe prepared two draft recommendations in August 1994. The first of these deals with sustainable tourism in the protected areas. It recommends developing nature tourism, based on the discovery of fauna, flora and landscapes, the provision of tourist facilities in the protected areas, and the building of installations adapted to the surrounding landscape. The second draft resolution expresses concern at the risks caused by the excessive and uncontrolled development of tourism for the natural environment and landscape and for local inhabitants and culture. Paragraph 18 states that tourist activities and facilities must respect the landscape. In section II B. 1, local authorities are urged to control the development of tourism through a regional policy for land use and development, and for the protection of nature and landscapes.

CONCLUSION

Landscape is now assuredly a matter of law, not merely the subject of cherished opinions. As an essential component of the environment, no less than water, air or soil, the landscape in its dual configuration of nature and culture is also the symbol of an environment in which man is a participant of the ecosystem in which he is evolving. In its transversal dimension it brings together man and nature, and also land use plans and the environment; it is thus par excellence a factor in the incorporation of environmental concerns in other sectoral policies, and hence a factor in sustainable development.

The existence of a law of landscape is attested by the examples presented in this paper. Although by no means complete, the list of European instruments includes no fewer than:

- 4 Constitutiions containing direct references to the landscape
- 6 Constitutions impliedly recognising landscape in terms of the environment
- 5 countries with special legislation on the landscape
- virtually all countries have a system of protected areas created specifically for the landscape
- 4 States have special procedures for specific landscape plans.

At the international level, we have seen that there is at least one international convention on the landscape, and 9 regional conventions which mention it. However, none of these conventions deals with the landscape as such, being confined to one limited aspect of landscape. This is clear justification for saying that in the absence of a general convention on the landscape, there is room for a regional landscape convention. This would be a timely measure in view of the growing interest on the part of politicians, governments and the public; it would at the same time be innovatory in presenting a global vision of the landscape, not confined to questions of aesthetics and public monuments. Moreover, a European convention on the landscape would supplement the policy set out in the international Unesco convention on the natural and cultural heritage, by introducing a specific mechanism for recognition of noteworthy European landscapes, in the sense that the Unesco system is an international one and is no longer sufficient for the landscapes of European interest.

Addendum to Appendix II

COUNTRY

Special law on landscape

Indirect protection of landscape in various laws

Specific inventory

Classification of landscapes

Impact assessments and landscape

Germany

X
Law on nature protection and landscape management 1976

X

X

X

X

Belgium

 

X

 

X

X

Cyprus

 

X

 

X

X

Denmark

 

X

X

X

X

Spain

 

X

X

X

X

Estonia

 

X

     

Finland

 

X

X

 

X

France

X
Law of 8 January 1993 no. 93.24 on landscape protection and enhancement

X

X

X

X

Greece

 

X

 

X

 

Hungary

X10

X

 

X

X

Ireland

 

X

X11

 

X

Italy

X
Law no. 431 of 8 August 1985

   

X

X

Liechtenstein

 

X

X

   

Lithuania

 

X

 

X

 

Luxembourg

 

X

 

X

 

Malta

 

X

   

X

Norway

 

X

X

X

X

Netherlands

 

X

X

X

X

Portugal

 

X

 

X

X

Romania

 

X

 

X

X

Slovakia

X
Law of 23 August 1994 on nature and landscape protection

   

X

X

Slovenia

 

X

X

X

 

Sweden

 

X

X

X

 

Switzerland

X
Law on nature and landscape protection of 1 July 1996

X

X

X

X

Czech Rep.

X
No. 114-92 of 19 February 1992 on nature and landscape protection

 

X

X

 

Turkey

 

X

 

X

X

A P P E N D I X III

Legal texts existing at international level in the field of the protection and the management of natural and cultural heritage, regional and spatial planning, local self-government and transfrontier cooperation

a. the Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Paris, 23 November 1972 (UNESCO);

b. the Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992 (CNUED);

c. the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Bern, September 1979 (Council of Europe);

d. the Convention for the Protection of the European Architectural Heritage, Granada, 3 October 1985 (Council of Europe);

e. the European Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (revised), Valletta, 16 January 1992 (Council of Europe);

f. the Convention on transfrontier co-operation of territorial communities or authorities in Europe, Madrid 21 May 1980 (Council of Europe):

g. the European Charter of Local Self-Government, Strasbourg, 15 October 1985 (Council of Europe);

h. the Benelux Convention on Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, Brussels, 8 June 1982;

i. UNESCO Resolution on the statutory outline of the world network of biosphere reserves, December 1995 ;

j. Recommendation R (95) 9 on the integrated conservation of cultural landscape areas as part of landscape policies (Council of Europe);

k. Recommendation R (94) 6 for a sustainable development and use of the countryside with a particular focus on the safeguarding of wildlife and landscape (Council of Europe);

l. Recommendation No. R (79) 9 concerning the identification and evaluation card for the protection of natural landscapes (Council of Europe);

m. Recommendation R (94) 7 on a general policy for a sustainable and environmentally-friendly tourist development (Council of Europe);

n. Recommendation R (95) 10 on a sustainable tourism development policy in protected areas (Council of Europe);

o. Recommendation R (92) 8 on soil protection (Council of Europe);

p. Recommendation No. R ENV (90) 1 on the European Conservation Strategy (Council of Europe);

q. Directive No. 85/337 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (European Union);

r. Directive No. 92/43 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (European Union);

s. Regulation No. 2078/92 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside (European Union);

t. European Regional/Spatial Planning Charter, European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning, Torremolinos, 20 May 1983;

u. Europe 2000+ Programme of the Commission on Co-operation for European Territorial Development;

v. European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), currently being prepared by the European Union;

w. the Mediterranean Landscape Charter in Resolution 256 (1994) of the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (Council of Europe);

x. Dob_iš Report on "An environment for Europe", 1st Conference of European Environment Ministers, Dob_iš, June 1991 (European Environment Agency of the European Union);

y. the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy, 3rd Conference of European Environment Ministers (Council of Europe, United Nations Environment Programme and European Centre for Nature Conservation, Sofia October 1995);

z. Helsinki Declaration on Cultural Heritage (Helsinki, June 1996)

1 "Artistic, historical and natural monuments, and the landscape, shall be protected and looked after by the State" (art. 150, Weimar Constitution)
2 Article 24 sexies, para. 5 also imposes a direct duty to protect marshes and marshland sites of special beauty, prohibiting all kinds of building there. This provision, adopted on 6 December 1987, is a rare instance of a popular initiative supported by the majority of the people and the cantons.
3 In Finland, a draft law on nature conservation includes the protection of the landscape.
4 "Urbanisme", no. 278, Nov.-Dec. 1994, p. 70.
5 The places covered by the law are: coastal zones 300 metres in extent, lakes and lakesides, rivers and registered watercourses, mountains above a certain altitude, glaciers, parks and reservations, forests and woodlands, wetlands, areas of archaeological interest, volcanoes, agricultural universities and areas in local public use.
6 National report on landscape workshops [Bilan national des ateliers de paysage] 1993-94, Ministry of the Environment, Department of nature and landscape (June 1995).
7 See G. Thomson, La Communaute Europeenne et le Paysage, Revue juridique de l'Environnement, 1993, no 4 pp. 541-576.
8 Including special protection areas classified by States under directive 79-409.
9 C. de Klemm, La conservation des milieux naturels en dehors des aires protegees, Council of Europe, T.PVS (90) 52.1990.
10 Under preparation.
11 Dated 1917 (on the basis of the replies, does not necessarily reflect the current legal situation)