Although islands account for only 5% of the earth’s surface, they host 20% of terrestrial plants and vertebrates and 600 million people depend on island ecosystem services for their sustainable development. Small islands are laboratories for sustainable development and innovative, environmental, social, legal or technical solutions. Islands share similar challenges and common solutions to ensure the sustainable management of their environment. However, the isolation, the scarcity of resources, the limited space, the lack of technologies reduce a priori the range of solutions. This is why networking between small islands is essential. It helps reducing this isolation as well as identifying and sharing sustainable solutions, thus increasing their skills and knowledge in the fields of sustainable resource management. The general objective of this project is to respond to the need for exchange and knowledge strengthening of managers of small European islands. The specificity of the European islands is characterised both by a common identity, historical and cultural heritage, but also by a shared political and institutional framework. The selected theme is tourism, both as a vector of development and pressure on ecosystems, and a major common issue on islands. The project aims to strengthen their capacities to work in a network to bolster their initiatives to develop a more sustainable tourism, in a logic of cooperation and solidarity between islands in Europe, and beyond. It also aims to strengthen their technical skills in the fields of biodiversity conservation and sustainable tourism; contribute to the definition of an international strategy for the sustainable development of small islands; enrich the SMILO "Good practices platform" dedicated to gathering, promoting and disseminating good sustainable practices of European resources; and strengthen the presence of the European islands within the SMILO network, on the islands beyond the project. This project is coordinated by the NGO Small Islands Organisation (SMILO), which supports small islands of less than 150km² towards the sustainable management of their territory and resources. It bolsters integrated operations for the preservation of islands’ natural resources, in relation to water and sanitation, waste, energy, biodiversity, landscapes and heritage issues. The Sustainable Island label rewards the positive local dynamics and sustainable practices. To strengthen cooperation and solidarity between islands, the NGO coordinates an international network, with members from Europe, West Africa, the Indian Ocean, and Southeast Asia. The project partners are small emblematic islands with an exceptional heritage. They are close to the mainland and carry out actions that combine tourism development with the preservation of their natural heritage. The partners are the islands of Brownsea (United Kingdom) with the National Trust, Zlarin (Croatia) with the Tourist Office, Saint-Honorat (France) with the Abbey of Lérins, and Mausund (Norway) with Eider AS, Mausund Feltstasjon. The project launch meeting will take place during the international event "ICO Solutions" (Coast Island Ocean), from January 11 to 13, 2021 in parallel with the IUCN World Conservation Congress. In addition to the launch meeting, the partners will be able to participate in a session entirely dedicated to sustainable tourism on islands, organised within the framework of ICO Solutions. Throughout the project, four technical workshops will be organised by the partners on their territory to discuss sustainable tourism issues, with the participation of key local actors. Local partners will be associated to lead a training session to share good practices and discuss the possibility of replicability with the participants. The last workshop will be dedicated to writing a technical note. It will include reflections and recommendations on the challenges of sustainable tourism on small islands. This note is intended to be used by other European islands, and will contribute to the definition of an international strategy for the sustainable development of small islands, which SMILO is developing. These continuous exchanges are expected to lead to new partnerships between these European islands, and with islands from the SMILO network. In addition, the project will support stakeholders to better plan territorial projects, for example through the definition of investment priorities or the enhancement of local initiatives effectiveness. The local community and visitors should ultimately benefit from an improvement of the environment and the quality of life.
The general objective was to meet the needs for exchanges and reinforcement of knowledge of the managers of small European islands, to initiate and promote their approaches to the preservation and sustainable management of natural resources, in a logic of strengthening cooperation and solidarity between islands in Europe. Specific objectives: 1. Strengthen the capacities of small European islands to work in a network: This project has made it possible to create, within the SMILO network, a smaller group of site managers to transfer their know-how. 2. Strengthen technical skills in relation to biodiversity conservation and sustainable tourism. 3. Contribute to the finalise SMILO’s international strategy for the sustainable development of small islands. The project produced a set of recommendations for sustainable tourism, based on shared good practices and concrete advice resulting from the project. These conclusions feed the reflections for the criteria of the strategy. 4. Enrich the SMILO "Best Practices" platform dedicated to promoting and disseminating good practices that can be adapted to island environments and reproducible on other areas. 5. Strengthen the presence of European islands within the SMILO network
Isolation, scarcity of resources, limited space, in other words the insular character, seems to reduce the range of solutions to preserve small islands and their environment. At the same time, this feature is a strength. The islands are laboratories for sustainable development and innovative, environmental, social, legal or technical solutions. Islands share similar challenges and common solutions to ensure the sustainable management of their environment. One of the key economic sectors on the islands is tourism. Tourism activities, levers of economic development, can, due to a lack of supervision or planning, be sources of pressure on the environment. Sustainably managed tourism can contribute to the sustainable development of islands, and draw global attention to issues of preservation and conservation. Networking between small islands is essential, in order to reduce the isolation of these territories, enable them to identify and share sustainable solutions, and thus increase their skills and knowledge in the fields of biodiversity and sustainable tourism management. Thanks to this knowledge, managers will in turn be able to train and educate other key players, as well as local communities and visitors.