Background

The Cogne Declaration is a result of the ‘Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy and Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal Twinning Programme Startup Workshop’ held in Cogne, Italy, 10-14 October 2006. Representatives of Gran Paradiso National Park, the oldest national park in Italy, launched a partnership with the Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal to explore future technical cooperation and the exchange of professional training and scientific knowledge. Both parks, the highest in their respective regions, are noted for their outstanding biodiversity. They also face the opportunities and challenges of harnessing tourism so that it benefits and protects mountain people, livelihoods and environments, while at the same time satisfying the desires of tourists.

Organised by Mountain Partnership members, the European Academy (EURAC), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with support from the Italian Ministry of Environment and EURO COOPERATION, the meeting welcomed participants from government agencies, international bodies, NGOs, academic and research institutes, local organisations, donors, development agencies and the private sector.

The workshop culminated in the adoption of the Cogne Declaration for International Mountain Parks Twinning Programme (MPTP) - a landmark regional agreement between mountain parks in Europe and Asia which promised to serve as a model instrument for biodiversity management in these regions and beyond. The initial phase of the International Mountain Parks Twinning Programme emphasised on the facilitation and exchange of know-how between the Gran Paradiso and Sagarmatha, including:

• technical cooperation on implementing a National Park and Buffer Zone land-use zoning system;
• management of natural resources and collaboration in long-term monitoring of biodiversity (especially major ungulates and their predators);
• promotion of good governance, sustainable development and innovations;
• cooperation on the improvement of local livelihoods through ecological and cultural tourism;
• promotion of conservation education and applied research and the development of visitor information and interpretation; and
• capacity-building and training of park staff and local communities.

The International Mountain Parks Twinning Programme involves the Gran Paradiso National Park and the Sagarmatha National Park as initial partners. But the involvement of additional actors and international organisations are welcomed to further strengthen cooperation, partnerships and impact at the regional and inter-regional level. Importantly, the Cogne Declaration acknowledges that this international sharing of experiences and the Twinning Programme contributes not only to the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD), especially the COP-7 decision on mountain biodiversity (2004), but also that it will be developed within the framework of the Mountain Partnership and will contribute to the development of its Biodiversity Initiative of the mountain partnership.

Click here, for details of the Nepalese delegates.