There are obvious successes in Transboundary Water Management. How can the Landscape sector profit from these experiences, considering there exists an insufficient level of co-operation between states? Rainer Müssner in collaboration with Eduard Interwies gave a presentation focusing on these issues at the 22nd conference of The Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape.

There are many arguments supporting Transboundary Management. There are common problems and often the same natural/cultural heritage on both sides of the border. Furthermore, many issues e.g. ecosystem processes depend on large scales. As a result, better efficiency can be reached with joint implementation and investment of resources.

A good example of Transboundary Management in the water sector is the Sandoz chemical accident in 1986. This accident was the starting point for cross-border co-operation and led to the funding of the Rhine Commission and improved ecology of the Rhine. Examples of landscape sectors are the cross border national Kgalagadi peace park (South Africa / Botswana) and the Cross border Biosphere reserves Vosges-Pfälzerwald (France/Germany).

But what about “ordinary” landscapes? There is a special need to improve cross-border co-operation. Compared to the water management sector, the landscape sector is more complex, has a clearer user group/administrative responsibilities, and political relevance is rather low. It is for this reason, the landscape requires more political relevance and awareness to achieve the same success as the water sector did.