1. In accordance with Article 7 of the Carpathian Convention, the objective of the Protocol on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (hereinafter referred to as “the Protocol”) is to maintain the management of land, traditionally cultivated in a sustainable manner, bringing benefits to present and future generations.
1. “Agritourism” (Farm Tourism, Farm-based tourism, Vacation farms) concerns the stay on a working farm enabling direct interaction between visitors or guests and the farmer/farming family to experience authentic agricultural activities and lifestyle.
2. “Agro-biodiversity” is a sub-set of biodiversity. It is the result of natural selection and inventive breeding developments and the operational practices of farmers, herders and fishers.
3. “Climate smart agriculture” is an integrative approach to address interlinked challenges of food security and climate change that aims at (1) a sustainable increase of productivity, at (2) resilient agricultural and food security systems through climate change adaptation measures and on (3) removing greenhouse gases (mitigation).
4. “Community supported agriculture (CSA)” is a mutual partnership between a farmer and citizens that enable a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters usually cover a farm’s yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season’s harvest. In return, the farm supplies seasonal fresh products.
5. “Conference of the Parties (COP)” means the Conference of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention.
6. “Cultural patrimony” is related to the history of a site and consists usually of both a natural or biological and a cultural patrimony.
7. “Diversification in agriculture” is an important risk management strategy of the farmer to generate additional income based on appropriate conditions on or outside the farm.
8. “Enabling environment” is a set of interrelated conditions – such as legal, organisational, fiscal, informational, political, and cultural – which fosters a sustainable and effective engagement of actor’s capacities in development processes.
9. “Endogenous approach” is a new paradigm and a policy concept for endogenous rural development as a symbol for bottom up processes across EU regions for mobilising the locally available natural resources as well as the rural people’s potentials.
10. “Extensive farming” is a farming which uses traditional methods, and requires less labour, investments and external inputs like the application of concentrated forage compared to intensive agro-industrial farming practices.
11. “High nature value (HNV) farming and forestry” is a concept that assesses changes in the extent and condition of agricultural operated areas and forestry land with high natural value in relation to a baseline, which refers on both the respective land cover (farmland and forests) and the associated management activities.
12. “Integrated land resource management” means examining all uses of land in an integrated manner to make the most efficient trade-offs and to link social and economic development with environmental protection and enhancement.
13. “Less favoured areas (LFA)” are areas where agricultural production or activity is more difficult because of natural handicaps, e.g. difficult climatic conditions, steep slopes in mountain areas, or low soil productivity.
14. “Natural habitats” means terrestrial or aquatic areas distinguished by geographic, abiotic and biotic features, whether entirely natural or semi-natural.
15. “Observer” means observer defined under Article 14 paragraph 5 of the Carpathian Convention.
16. “Organic production” is an overall system of farm management and food production that combines best environmental practices, a high level of biodiversity, the preservation of natural resources, the application of high animal welfare standards and a production method in line with the preference of certain consumers for products produced using natural substances and processes.
17. “Parties” means Parties to this Protocol.
18. “Protected areas” are defined as a geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.
19. “Rural tourism” means a range of tourism activities which take place in the countryside.
20. “Semi-natural habitats” are habitats characterized by extensive agriculture/crops, low intensity farming systems, low impact agriculture, sustainable agricultural systems, high-nature-value farming, systems/habitats, where traditional agricultural systems with a reduced environmental impact or with a certain importance to wildlife species are applied.
21. “Short food supply chains” are an alternative to globally expanding food chains that emphasize innovative re-organisations of food networks, local farming systems or direct sales that aim at re-connecting producers and consumers and re-localising agricultural and food production.
22. “Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD)” is the management and conservation of the natural resource base, and the orientation of technological and institutional change so as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations.
23. “Traditional farming practices” are historically developed agricultural techniques to cope with specific site conditions sustainably to provide sufficient and secure yields based on mixed crops that complement one another.
24. “Value chains” identify the full range of activities that economic units undertake to bring a product or a service from its conception to its end use by final consumers.
2. The Parties shall strengthen cooperation of local and national educational institutions and bodies to extend and to improve education, advanced training and qualification of people from different working areas (“lifelong learning”).