European Landscape Convention
"The status of landscape always reflects the status of society"
Dear members of the government, members of the Chamber of Deputies and senators of the Czech republic, ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the Czech republic,
Professional and general public both at home and abroad becomes more and more aware of the significance and necessity of efficient protection of natural and cultural heritage - Historic Cultural Landscape, which has been neglected so far. A team of experts has prepared, based on the initiative of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, a high quality conceptual document called the European Landscape Convention CETS No.176, (hereinafter the "Convention"), which fully appreciates natural and cultural values of landscape and which has become a tool for setting in the need for a new view on landscape as a whole. The Convention was ratified already in 2003 by all member states of the European Union and on October 1st , 2004 it became binding for the Czech Republic as well and the Convention was published in the Collection of International Treaties of the CR (part 6) on January 24th, 2005 under no. 13 as Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on concluding the European Landscape Convention.
The submission report for the Czech government (Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, 2002) states:
"Landscape plays an important and truly irreplaceable role in forming the culture and life of society and its active and dynamic protection as well as its management is undoubtedly among the priorities of public interest. Specific character or landscape contributes to creation of local culture. It is the essential component of European natural and cultural heritage and it takes a share in fully-fledged lives of citizens as well as in maintaining and reinforcing European identity. These characteristics are also greatly encompassed in the landscape of historic Czech land, which is, in a number of features, typical and unique."
If the Czech Republic wants to comply with its own commitments which it undertook to do by signature and ratification of the Convention, it is inevitable that this document is not only efficiently reflected in activities of governmental institutions and political groups but it shall also be accepted and applied at regional and local level and in particular the importance of cultural landscape shall be reflected in research and in education of the youngest generation.
Although the provision of implementation of the Convention was included in the decree of the Czech government no. 1049 as of October 30th , 2002, which delegated the Ministers of Environment; Agriculture; Local Development; Culture; Education, Youth and Sports; to implement the Convention and although a number of additional documents have been elaborated, a practical process of implementation of the Convention is not taking place, as none of the ministries, political groups or officials do no promote and do not declare the landscape as one of the main values and priorities of sustainable development of the Czech Republic.
We, the undersigned citizens, in accordance with Act no. 85/1990 Coll. On Petition Rights, are contacting you with our requirement to approve, in the sense of the words of prof. Dobroslav Líbal, who defined cultural landscape as "unattainable synergy of nature and cultivated efforts of human spirit", the government's resolution which takes into account the initiative of citizens for factual fulfilment and realization of the European Landscape Convention, whose main aim is provision of landscape protection, maintenance and revitalization and which will establish, authorize and will coordinate and control the activities of Interdepartmental Commission for European Landscape Convention Implementation consisting of authorized representatives of individual ministries in question and of professional public.
By this resolution the government will place a duty on all ministers to create and fulfil considerate, and from the perspective of landscape character, sustainable landscape policies with participation of professional public from ČKA's side, state administration, science as well as non-governmental organization (including but not limited to IFLA International Federation of Landscape Architects) and it will also cater for target landscape characteristics when forming the Policy for landscape development, Landscape policy and during other related landscape planning activities and related department-specific or interdepartmental concepts and strategies. The Interdepartmental Commission shall coordinate and control the cooperation of individual ministries and it will promote the following twelve points - THE TWELVE OF CULTURAL LANDSCAPE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC.
