The international conference "National Parks, Local Communities and Collaboration", held at Palmse Manor to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Lahemaa National Park, brought together representatives of national parks, local communities, researchers, and sustainable tourism initiatives from across the Baltic States and Europe.
The highlight of the two-day conference was the signing of a cooperation agreement between community-based tourism networks from nine Baltic national parks.
The agreement was signed by representatives of Lahemaa, Soomaa, Matsalu, Alutaguse, Vilsandi, Karula, Gauja, Ķemeri, and Aukštaitija national parks. Its aim is to strengthen cooperation between local tourism communities in national parks, jointly develop sustainable nature tourism, and contribute to biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation.
"This is not just a symbolic agreement, but the beginning of practical cooperation between Baltic national parks," said Kaisa Linno from Visit Lahemaa. "National parks face many similar challenges – how to protect nature while supporting local communities and creating meaningful visitor experiences. By working together, we can learn from each other and achieve much more."
During the conference, participants also discussed possible joint activities for the future. Workshop ideas included a shared visitor passport for Baltic national parks, a common event calendar, guide trainings, joint marketing activities, quality standards, and stronger cooperation with national tourism organisations such as Visit Estonia, VisitLatvia and Lithuania Travel.
The conference programme focused on the role of local communities in national parks, sustainable tourism development, collaborative governance models, and nature-based solutions. Speakers included experts and practitioners from Estonia and abroad, among them Paulo Castro, Marcus Bauer and Teet Koitjärv.