International Legal Regulation of Landscape Use: The Genesis of the Conceptual-Categorical Apparatus

Abstract

International legal protection of natural heritage, which includes landscape, is one of the highest priorities of various international organizations. The article examines the set of rules of the international law in the field of the legal protection of the landscape (primarily the UNESCO World Heritage Convention 1972 and The European Landscape Convention of the Council of Europe 2000) and the origin of the concept of the landscape in international law. The analysis of the scientific vision of the landscape identified various approaches to the definition of this term. The research reveals the ambiguity of the definition of the landscape in modern international law and a demand for a universal term, which is necessary to implement the concept of the international legal protection of the landscape. The paper outlines the features of the legal regulation of landscape protection in the national legal systems of European countries in various historical periods. It analyzes the development of international legal regulation of landscape protection since the beginning of the 20th century and specifies various ways of legal protection depending on landscape type. The author concludes that there is a special international legal regime for the protection of the landscapes, which are recognized as the objects of the common heritage of humankind and are applicable for the concept of intergenerational justice. This study can be continued in terms of human rights aspects of international cooperation in the field of landscape protection at the universal and regional international level.