Report on the Study Tour of Technical Staff to Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary Transboundary Joint Secretariat for the Southern Caucasus 10 - 19 October 2009 Transboundary Joint Secretariat for the Southern Caucasus CONTENTS Page 0 SUMMARY III 1 BACKGROUND 1 1.1 Objectives of the Study Tour to the Transboundary Protected Areas 1 1.2 Preparation of the Study Tour 1 2 STAGES OF THE STUDY TOUR 1 2.1 Transboundary Cooperation – EUROPARC Federation 2 2.2 National Park Bayerischer Wald 5 2.2.1 Administration and Management Planning 6 2.2.2 Transboundary Activities 6 2.3 National Park Šumava 6 2.3.1 Management Planning 6 2.4 Nationalpark Thayatal 7 2.4.1 Management Planning 7 2.4.2 Transboundary Activities 8 2.5 National Park Podyjí 9 2.5.1 Management Planning 9 2.5.2 Transboundary Activities 10 2.6 Nationalpark Neusiedler See - Seewinkel 11 2.6.2 Transboundary Activities 12 2.7 National Park Fertö-Hansag 12 2.7.1 Management Planning and Transboundary Activities 13 2.8 Nationalpark Donauauen 13 2.8.1 Management Planning 14 2.9 Biosphere Reserve Wienerwald 15 2.9.1 Management Planning 15 3 ASSESSMENT OF THE STUDY TOUR TO GERMANY 16 3.1 Forms and structures of transboundary cooperation 16 3.2 Administrative and political frameworks of different national park management arrangements 17 3.3 Incorporation of stakeholders into management planning, zonation and transboundary cooperation 17 3.4 Further remarks 17 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Study Tour Route 2 Figure 2: TransParc Net 2009 as presented by EUROPARC 4 Figure 3: Report about the study tour visit in EUROPARC Newsletter 11/2009 5 Figure 4: Support Zone of National Park Bayerischer Wald 5 Figure 5: International Relations Specialist Michael Valenta explains the zonation of NP Šumava 7 Figure 6: Location of Thayatal/Podyjí NPs 8 Figure 7: NP Director Brunner in his introductory presentation of the NP Thayatal 9 Figure 8: Presentation at Cizov NP information centre of Podyjí NP 11 Figure 9: Signboard at conservation zone at the eastern shore of Lake Neusiedl 12 Figure 10: Bird watching on a watchtower of Fertı-Hanság NP 13 Figure 11: Visitor management in Lobau area of NP Donau -Auen 14 Figure 12: Biosphere Director Dr. Koch discussing legal issues of the Reserve 16 Figure 13: Workshop in ÖBf Headquarters, compiling lessons learnt 16 (i) APPENDICES Appendix 1: Programme of the Study and Training Tour incl. Participant List Appendix 2: Memoranda and collaboration documents for Transboundary Cooperation between the national park administrations of Šumava (Czech Republic) and Bavarian Forest (Germany) Appendix 3: Statement and collaboration document for Transboundary Cooperation be- tween the national park administrations of Podyjí (Czech Republic) and Tha- yatal (Austria) Appendix 4: Presentation on the NPs of Lake Neusiedl Appendix 5: Presentation of the Biosphere Reserve Wienerwald Glossary: AM Armenia AM MoNP Armenia Ministry of Nature Protection AZ Azerbaijan AZ MENR Azerbaijan Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources BMA Biodiversity Management Agency of the AM MoNP CC Country Coordinator (of the TJS) CO Country Office (of the TJS) CEPF Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund GE Georgia GE MEPNR Georgia Ministry for Environment Protection and Natural Resources NP National Park RTL Regional Team Leader (of the TJS) TBPA Transboundary Protected Area TCB Transboundary Coordination Board TJS Transboundary Joint Secretariat TJSRO Transboundary Joint Secretariat Regional Office (ii) 0 SUMMARY The Establishment of a Transboundary Secretariat (TJS) is part of the Caucasus Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ). Being represented in three countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Armenia), the TJS contributes to the development of an eco-regional model in the Southern Caucasus. One of the means applied in reaching its objectives, the TJS - within the framework of its operational plan - carries out study tours to European countries focusing on various aspects of biodiversity conservation. This report con- cludes the study tour on transboundary cooperation of protected areas, which led the partici- pants from Germany, via the Czech Republic and Austria to Hungary and back to the Caucasus. A 10-day technical study tour was conducted in Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary for eight delegates from the Southern Caucasus Region from October 11 th until Oc- tober 19 th , 2009 in accordance with the plan of operations of the Transboundary Joint Secre- tariat. The main purpose of the study tour was to strengthen the professional knowledge and to widen the practical know-how of the participants and to introduce them to the legal and administrative framework of transboundary protected area cooperation and its practical im- plementation in selected and certified National Parks (NP) of Central Europe. Planning and preparation of the training programme took place in all three countries, Arme- nia, Azerbaijan and Georgia (selection of participants, feedback concerning the tentative programme, etc.), and in Austria (selection of training subjects, of institutions to be visited and of the respective venues, arrangement of translation, transportation, lodging and board- ing, etc.) under the overall responsibility of Österreichische Bundesforste AG. The visiting delegation was briefed upon its arrival at Grafenau on the geographical, political, social, economic and cultural framework conditions prevailing in Germany, the Czech Repub- lic, Hungary and Austria in order to provide an appropriate technical background thus facili- tating the understanding of conservation related subjects of the study tour. In the framework of visits to seven national parks and a biosphere reserve, the delegation gained a first-hand insight into various natural conservation and landscape planning activi- ties, ranging from the characteristics, role and importance of nature conservation over the structure, organisation and tasks of the respective administrations, to zonation and man- agement planning, biodiversity conservation, land use planning, eco tourism, conservation of joint cultural heritage, protection, recreation and economic land use in the same areas under different premises and funding situations. It was appreciated that the park representatives shared also the difficulties and obstacles of joint implementation, transboundary coordination and political dependencies, clarifying that cooperation must grow from the roots, with the conducive environments to be set on the highest levels. The delegates’ interest, active participation and receptivity throughout the study tour en- sured that the event has fully met its objectives, and that the insights gained are relevant and useful for the further implementation of the Eco-Regional Conservation Programme and the establishment and functioning of the Transboundary Joint Secretariat in the Southern Caucasus region. Unfortunately the three delegates from Azerbaijan as well as two Armenian delegates were not able to participate on short notice, so that only eight Georgian, Armenian and Regional representatives could benefit from the insights of the study tour. (iii) 1 BACKGROUND 1.1 Objectives of the Study Tour to the Transboundary Protected Areas Study tours play an important role in achieving the objectives of the TJS as they help to ensure the long-term sustainability of the assistance, providing the institutions in the respective countries with ideas and approaches how to organize transboundary cooperation in conservation. Within the fra- mework of the TJS project, this technical study tour to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Hun- gary comprising 13 participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia was scheduled to provide direct exposure for the participants to established and certified transboundary conservation man- agement and its origins and perspectives. Thus, three main contents were addressed through this study tour: (i) Forms and structures of transboundary cooperation, (ii) Administrative and political frameworks of different national park management arrangements and (iii) Incorporation of stakeholders into management planning, zonation and trans- boundary cooperation. 1.2 Preparation of the Study Tour The preparatory phase in Austria required a careful and workable concept so that the effectiveness of the study tour in achieving the objectives was assured. The preparatory phase of the programme took its shape both in the project region as well as in Austria and in the national parks to be vis- ited. ÖBf was to prepare and organize a range of activities. These activities included aspects such as: • Selection of training subjects, institutions and their venues, • Selection of a multi-disciplinary team of lecturers and translators, • Travel and timetable arrangements, • Boarding and lodging, • Care of tour participants and • General organization, co-ordination and supervision of the study tour. These aspects will not be discussed in detail, however be presented in Annex 1 (names of partici- pants, timetable and programme).Decisive for the success of the study tour was the correct trans- lation of the contents of discussions and presentations into the Russian language. This task has been carried out with the utmost diligence and endeavour by Ms Arpine Jenderedjian, a graduate of the master studies for protected area management at Klagenfurt University. 2 STAGES OF THE STUDY TOUR In the afternoon of Friday 9 th October 2009 the Armenian coordinator was informed that by order of the minister, due to urgent