UNEP has contributed to sustainable use of natural resources in islands by promoting international conferences such as the ones below.

Lanzarote, Spain
October 25-28 1998

The United Nations Environment Programme and the World Tourism Organization, with the financial support of the French Government and of the Lanzarote local authority, co-organized the international conference on Sustainable Tourism in Small Island Developing States and Other Islands. The Conference focussed on transport, maritime tourism and on the different tools which can be implemented to prevent environmental impacts of tourism on small islands.

Download the final report of the Conference in English (PDF - 127 KB), in French (PDF - 128 KB), or in Spanish (PDF - 141 KB).

Sanya, Island of Hainan, China
6-8 December 2000

The Hainan Conference was organized by WTO and UNEP, with the support of UNESCO, the China National Tourism Administration and the Hainan Provincial government. It attracted over 100 participants from 23 countries and 7 inter-governmental organizations.

The conference, like a previous one held in Capri, Italy, for Mediterranean Islands in May 2000, was a regional follow up to the 1998 WTO/UNEP Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Small Island Developing States and Other Islands in Lanzarote.

The China conference examined the various aspects that need to be considered by governments and the private sector if they wish tourism to contribute to the overall economic, social and environmental sustainability of their territories. This means developing a tourism infrastructure and a tourism industry that are sustainable in the long term, maximizing the social and economic benefits and reducing the negative impacts on the environment.

Participants produced "the Hainan Declaration", a document outlining basic conclusions based on the UNEP Principles for Implementation of Sustainable Tourism. More about the China conference:

• Full conference summary (PDF - 44KB)
• List of participants (PDF - 99 KB)
• Hainan Declaration (PDF - 30 KB)

For more information on islands, visit the web site of Small Islands Developing States Network at www.sidsnet.org