Eastern Neighborhood: positive changes in the forest project

At its final meeting in December, the EU-funded forestry project reports on the progress made in the forestry sector. Participants in the last meeting of the FLEG II (Forest Law Enforcement and Governance) program from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia proposed options for ensuring the long-term impact of the results achieved under the program. One of the most important achievements of the program is cooperation between neighboring countries on forest management issues. In addition, an important achievement can be considered the contribution that the initiative made to the development of national forestry programs. These include study visits to the EU member states and the establishment of bilateral dialogue, raising awareness of local communities and young people about the important role of forests, promoting and protecting new protected areas, and preserving forest biodiversity. Key long-term achievements of the program will continue to have a positive impact on the situation in the region beyond the program itself. For example, the National Programming Advisory Committees (NPCs) set up by FLEG will continue to work on the institutional reform process as well as serve as a source of independent and valuable data. The FLEG program has also promoted more transparent forest management, educational and professional capacity building in the forest sector, cooperation between local communities and the forest sector, helping local people to take an active part in sustainable development and forest management.

Source: http://eaptc.eu