Antalya, Türkiye – 25-27 June 2013: Workshop on participatory approaches for the management of Mediterranean forest territories.
Plan Bleu organized from 25 to 27 June 2013 in Antalya (Türkiye) a workshop on participatory governance initiatives to share experiences and identify methodological approaches for the implementation of participatory initiatives in forest territories in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.
This workshop is part of the Component 3 “Improving governance of forest ecosystems at the territorial scale” of the regional cooperation project “Optimizing the production of goods and services by Mediterranean forest ecosystems in the context of global changes” funded by the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM), coordinated jointly by Plan Bleu and FAO, and whose partner countries are Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye.
This workshop brought together representatives of each country to exchange, among themselves and with various experts in participatory governance, about their experiences in terms of participatory approaches, methods and tools, and to work on defining the participatory approach that will be implemented in the pilot site of their country – Chrea in Algeria, Jabal Moussa in Lebanon, Maamora in Morocco, Barbara in Tunisia and Düzlerçami in Türkiye.
The Forest Research Centre of Catalonia (CTFC) and COFOR-International, commissioned by Plan Bleu to prepare a synthesis of methodological issues of participatory governance, presented an analysis of participatory management initiatives in selected areas, mainly woodlands, in and outside the Mediterranean. They also made recommendations in terms of process and participatory methods and tools that can be used for the initiatives considered in the pilot sites.
Representatives from each country presented the situation of governance on the pilot site of their country and, following a work of reflection fed by the methodological recommendations and related discussions, defined some first outlines of the participatory approach to be implemented on this pilot site.
The workshop was organized in partnership with the General Directorate of Forestry of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs and the West Mediterranean Research Institute of Türkiye, who invited participants to visit the site of Düzlerçami, where the project activities will be implemented. This wooded area of Pine brutia and many other tree species, with a rich fauna, is a particularly popular area for recreational activities.
