Adapting forest policy conditions to climate change in the MENA region

projekt beendet

ContextOveruse, overgrazing and competing forms of land use hamper productivity and reduce the environmental services provided by the forests in the MENA region. Conditions are unfavourable for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems and for maintaining their environmental services. Climate change will further exacerbate this situation through periods of drought, heightened risk of forest fires, floods, increased soil erosion and landslides. Both rural and urban residents are likely to suffer a reduction in livelihoods and quality of life.All the countries in the region are confronted with the same question: how can they respond to the degradation of forest resources and the increasing impact of climate change in a manner conducive to development? The countries have therefore agreed to develop joint solutions as members of Silva Mediterranea, looking for ways of achieving civil-society, gender-balanced participation in providing fresh impetus for the socio-economic development of disadvantaged forest regions. Silva Mediterranea is the network of forestry administrations in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The network promotes communication, exchange and learning processes for the sustainable management of Mediterranean forests. Commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ supports this process in close cooperation with other organisations.ObjectiveConditions have improved for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems and for the maintenance of their environmental services in the face of climate change in the MENA countries participating in the project.ApproachSet up at the beginning of the project in 2010 and operating under the umbrella of Silva Mediterranea, the Collaborative Partnership on Mediterranean Forests (CPMF) is promoting cooperation with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon and Turkey in particular. The project participants have recognised that they can only achieve their common goal of maintaining the development potential of forests in the face of climate change with the support of all the relevant actors. Consequently, the regional project's initiatives, which comprise sharing experience, joint learning, training and capacity building, are aimed not only at representatives of forestry administrations and the relevant ministries, but also at the media and civil society, addressing men and women equally. The emphasis is on promoting collective recognition of the socio-economic relevance of forest products and environmental services, both to urban and rural populations and to the maintenance of development potential in key neighbouring sectors.ResultsThe project has increased the capacity of national decision-makers to design forest conservation policy, involve additional actors and motivate those actors to engage in active cooperation with other sectors. Research into environmental services and value chains for non-wood products attests to their value for the population. Forestry administrations and the media are communicating the relationships between environmental services, climate-change adaptation and poverty reduction. Innovative financing mechanisms are helping to create a broader awareness of the issues, raise the profile of these topics at political level, mobilise additional partnerships with commercial enterprises as part of their corporate social responsibility, and facilitate external financing. The proportion of women taking part in the project's events has risen and gender equality is becoming increasingly institutionalised.The momentum generated in each country is being supplemented by intensive regional dialogue in the Mediterranean region and beyond. National expertise and the academic and practical findings and experience of the 19 CPMF cooperation partners have fostered team building at regional level. These partners are working together to position the issue of forest conservation within international forums and conferences. In 2015, they will be doing so at the IV Mediterranean Forest Week in Barcelona in March, the World Forestry Congress in Durban in September, and the COP 21 climate-change conference in Paris in November/December.

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