Landscape Preservation

The European Landscape Convention was adopted on 20 October 2000 in Florence (Italy). For the purposes of the Convention:

»Landscape« means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors;

»Landscape policy« means an expression by the competent public authorities of general principles, strate­gies and guidelines that permit the taking of specific measures aimed at the protection, management and planning of landscapes;

»Landscape quality objective« means, for a specific landscape, the formulation by the competent public authorities of the aspirations of the public with re­gard to the landscape features of their surroundings;

»Landscape protection« means actions to conserve and maintain the significant or characteristic features of a landscape, justified by its heritage value derived from its natural configuration and/or from human activity;

»Landscape management« means action, from a perspective of sustainable development, to ensure the re­gular upkeep of a landscape, so as to guide and harmonise changes which are brought about by social, economic and environmental processes;

»Landscape planning« means strong forward-looking action to enhance, restore or create landscapes.

The aims of this Convention are to promote landscape protection, management and planning, and to organise European co-operation on landscape issues.

The Republic of Croatia signed the Convention in 2000. The Croatian Parliament adopted the Act on the Ratification of  the European Landscape Convention in 2002 (OG - IT 12/02).