Resolution No. 3 on Mountain regions and regional planning
The ministers,
1. Recalling that at their 1st Conference (Bonn, 1970) they expressed concern for the special problems of particular regions, including mountain regions (Final Resolution, paragraph 29);
2. Having at their 2nd Conference noted with great interest the report entitled “Mountain regions” and the series of background papers, thanking in particular the Committee on Co-operation in Municipal and Regional Matters for placing at their disposal the analysis of European mountain regions;
3. Acknowledging that mountain regions in certain parts of Europe are faced with loss of population, economic decline and growing threats to the natural environment;
4. Affirming that mountain regions often provide a vital ecological and recreational counterbalance to the growing concentration of population and economic activity in other regions;
5. Considering that, on an uncontrolled and massive scale, residential development can, in the most beautiful and easily accessible regions, impair the character and recreation potential of the areas concerned;
6. Recognising that these regions are assuming a growing importance for the well-being of populations in all parts of Europe;
7. Recognising that the search for solutions to the problems in many of these regions must transcend national boundaries, and should thus be approached at all administrative levels, as well as being prepared and co-ordinated at the European level on a bilateral and multilateral basis;
Adopt the following recommendations:
8. A policy for mountain regions should be taken into account in the formulation of national, regional and local planning of the countries concerned:
a. a wider economic base should be sought for their rural population in order to ensure demographic stability in these regions;
b. the development of tourism and other industries, and the planning and upkeep of recreational areas in mountain regions should, with due regard to their role as an ecological counterbalance, be conceived in an overall context;
c. the natural landscapes and wildlife as well as water and oxygen resources of mountain regions should be actively conserved.
9. Having regard to the particular importance of the problem of mountain regions, it is desirable that the governments of the countries concerned arrange forthwith for the co-ordination of mountain region development plans by means of bilateral and multilateral co-operation.
10. They instruct the Committee of Senior Officials to create the necessary conditions for studying the problems of mountain regions, particularly in European frontier areas, at the 3rd Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning, while ensuring co-ordination with the activities of the Committee on Co-operation in Municipal and Regional Matters, and to draw up guidelines and a set of general principles for regional planning policies in the mountain regions of Europe.