Check against delivery - Speech by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Dear friends,

Thank you for a productive day.

On the 25^th anniversary of the Florence Convention, it is appropriate to be here to mark its achievements.

And to look at ways we can better protect and manage landscapes in the future.

Secondly, I thank you all for your thoughtful contribution, and I thank minister Giuli and the Government of Italy for your warm and generous hospitality.

Today’s declaration marks an important affirmation of our shared vision for protecting landscapes everywhere.

The Convention is key to collaboration.

Founded firmly on human rights, it advances the goals of the Reykjavik Summit Declaration and the Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment.

After 25 years of the European Landscape Convention, we have made some great strides in protecting and preserving landscapes.

And today, I believe we can all agree that ensuring the security of our landscapes is more important and pressing than ever.

We all see that climate change brings with it extreme weather events and fundamental changes to our ecosystem.

These, alongside increases in pollution and land degradation, all leading to loss of biodiversity.

We must both adapt to these challenges and work to mitigate their effects, in both our urban and country landscapes.

It is not just about the loss of diverse and unique environments,

Nor the loss of flora and fauna.

Adverse changes to our surroundings that affect us as human beings – from our physical and mental health to our ability to live in harmony in own environments.

So, we must work to create a world where our natural and cultural heritage exist in harmony, integrating landscape considerations into all levels of planning and policy.

And, last but not least, where we celebrate achievements such as that of the Sierra Nevada National Park, Nature Park and Biosphere Reserve, as we have done today.

Dear friends,

There’s no way to do this without working even closer together.

And I thank you once again for the true spirit of cooperation and the joint vision that has filled today’s conference.