Community Based Tourism
Finding the Euilibrium in the COMCEC Context
86
APPENDIX
Appendix A: A summary list of some of the activities relevant to sustainable development,
sustainable tourism and LDCs
 1972 - The UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden 1972, resulting in Stockholm
Declaration, called for active participation of communities in rural development projects.
 1981 - The First United Nations (UN) Conference on the LDCs, in Paris, France, to respond to the special
needs of the LDCs.
 1987 - The Brundtland Report (a.k.a. Our Common Future) by the World Commission of Environment and
Development (WCED) calling for attention on sustainability, describing sustainable development as
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs.” Community participation gained importance in sustainable development
 1990 - The Second UN Conference on the LDCs, in Paris, France, resulting in the Paris Declaration and
Programme of Action for the LDCs for the 1990s.
 1992 - The UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, followed by action-
oriented application initiatives such as Agenda 21 (adopted 1992, implemented 2002) and Kyoto Protocol
(adopted 1997, implemented 2005).
 The Agenda 21, with a classification award (Green Globe) as an incentive was designed for the tourism
industry by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), in collaboration with the Earth Council and the
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), including specific guidelines regarding efficient energy, resource
and land usage, waste management, as well as tourism products being locally appropriate and integrating
local communities and small enterprises into tourism development. Adopted by 178 countries as an action
blueprint for host communities to maximize their ability to control and manage their resources.
 1990s - Eco-labels as awards for the industry players conserving the environment as well as favoring and
involving locals in conducting responsible tourism businesses.
 2000 - The Millennium Declaration adopted by the United Nations and followed by consultations with
international agencies including, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the specialized agencies of the United Nations,
resulting in The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by the UN General Assembly as a guide
for the reduction of poverty in all its forms, including financial poverty, hunger, illiteracy, poor health,
environmental degradation, and discrimination against women, by 2015.
 2001 - The Third UN Conference on the LDCs, in Brussels, Belgium, resulting in the Brussels Programme of
Action for LDCs for the decade 2001-2011.
 2002 - Johannesburg Summit, where UNWTO launched the Sustainable Tourism-Eliminating Poverty (ST-
EP) Initiative to raise awareness on the relation between tourism and local economic development. 140 ST-
EP projects in 19 countries and some trans-frontier areas.
 2010 - The UNWTO initiated the UN Steering Committee on Tourism for Development (SCTD) to accelerate
progress towards the MDGs by advancing the role of tourism and providing integrated technical assistance
to LDCs for sustainable development and poverty reduction, building on the strengths and experience of