Community Involvement in Protected Areas Forest Management Final Report Tusheti Protected Areas Friends Association December 2016 This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The content, findings, interpretations, and conclusions of this publication are the sole responsibility of the FLEG II (ENPI East) Programme Team (www.enpi-fleg.org) and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Final Report Community involvement in PA forest management Tusheti Protected Areas Friends Association December 2016 Content 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 2 2. Project Goals and Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 3 3. Project Partners ........................................................................................................................................... 4 4. General Overview Project Activities ........................................................................................................... 5 5. Training in PA forest management and use of forest resources ................................................................. 6 5.1. Identification of training topics and major components ......................................................................... 6 5.2. Identifying and involving Expert-trainers ................................................................................................. 6 5.3. Development of training modules ........................................................................................................... 7 5.4. Selection of Participants ........................................................................................................................... 7 5.5. Training logistics ....................................................................................................................................... 8 5.6. Conducting trainings in village Shenako .................................................................................................. 8 6. Equipping small Carpentry workshop in the village of Shenako, Tusheti ................................................. 11 7. Analysis of study results and development of recommendation .............................................................. 12 8. Presentation of Project results for decision-making parties in Tbilisi ....................................................... 14 Annexes ............................................................................................................................................................. 15 Annex 1: Modules for the Trainings ........................................................................................................ 15 Annex 2. The questionnaire for focus group interviews ....................................................................... 18 1 1. Introduction In Georgia, protected areas occupy 598363.87 hectares, which makes up 8.6% of the total area of the country. About 75% of PAs is covered with forests. The Agency of Protected Areas is the key institution, managing country’s protected areas. The Agency implements its responsibilities through its territorial administrations. The Agency’s primary responsibility is to manage Georgia’s strict nature reserves, national parks, natural monuments, managed reserves, protected landscapes, biosphere reserves, world heritage sites and wetlands of international importance. The objective of the Agency is to improve the management of protected areas, ensure functionality of territorial administrations, and supervise the process of following legally established regulations and to plan, create and develop new protected areas.i Management of protected areas in Georgia foresees close cooperation with Non–governmental organizations and general public. According to the Law on Protected Areas System Administration (management body) of each protected area is allowed to establish scientific advisory councils which may ensure direct participation of local governing bodies, local NGO’s and different groups of local population (Law No 136-IIs, 07 March, 1996). However, the law does not include provisions on participation and involvement of broader public in protected areas management. Participation of different stakeholders is the key element when talking about Protected Areas management. Participation means that stakeholders are informed, involved and empowered to have influence on decisions, plans and actions that affect them. In reality, the local populations, living adjacent to protected areas are highly dependent on the protected areas. Their dependence is related to the income generated through providing different services to visitors coming to protected areas and by receiving direct benefits from the resources that are available in protected areas. Considering the importance of informing adjacent communities on different aspects pf protected area management, in our case specifically on forest management issues, and after involving them in supporting the management of their surrounding protected areas, an activity on “community involvement in protected area forest management” has been initiated. The project was implemented in the protected areas, where the interaction between local population and the neighboring protected area occurs. The project has been implemented in the frame of the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument East Countries Forest Law Enforcement and Governance II Program (the “Program”). The Program is aimed at putting in place improved forest governance arrangements through the effective implementation of the main priorities set out in the St. Petersburg Ministerial Declaration and Indicative Plan of Actions for the Europe and North Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (ENA-FLEG) process. This Program specifically covers seven countries of the ENA Region, including six members of the European Neighborhood Policy Instrument (ENPI) – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation. The Program supports selected pilot activities to be implemented with the active involvement of governments, civil society and the private sector. Most activities will be at a country level, complemented by strategically targeted sub-regional and regional actions. The Program is supported by the European Commission and other donors contributing to a special multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank (WB). Implementation of the Program is led by the World Bank, working in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of 2 Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (all three collectively referred to as the “Implementing Organizations” or “IO’s”) and in close coordination with governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders of the participating countries. 2. Project Goals and Objectives The main aim of the work was to analyze the factors contributing to sustainability and the harmonious interaction between local population and the protected area. With this, the project planned to support the process of raising the awareness in local communities about different aspects of protected area governance and management. Considering the overall goals of the project, is was agreed to support a number of rural communities adjacent to the protected areas in the selected regions of Georgia to build more acute awareness on forest management in protected areas including the importance of sustainable management of protected areas forests, sustainable use of resources, public participation, and sustainability in the man and nature interactions. This in its turn would build the capacity of local communities and help them to contribute to the development of sustainable management in and adjacent to protected areas. According to the agreed Terms of reference, the project on Community Involvement in Protected Area Forest Management had the following specific objectives: • Document factors and reasons that may determine sustainability between communities and their adjacent protected areas forest; • Strengthen the capacity of local, community based organizations and encourage their involvement in supporting the management of their adjacent protected area forests; • Support strengthening and deepening cooperation between the Protected Area management authorities and local population for the benefit of the harmonious relationship between man and nature; • Support Protected Area management authorities in sustainable management of protected areas forests. 3 3. Project Partners The main partner of the Project is LEPL Agency of Protected Areas of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources protection of Georgia and its following territorial administrations: • Tusheti Protected Areas Administration; • Borjomi-Kharagauli Protected Areas administration; • Algeti Protected Areas administration; • Pshav-Khevsureti Protected Area Friends associations; and • Tusheti Protected Landscape Administration. An essential partner of the project was the Support Programme for Protected Areas in the Caucasus - Georgia (SPPA-Georgia) is a 5 years long (2014-2019) programme co-funded by the German Cooperation in the Caucasus through the KFW Development Bank. During implementation of the Programme, 8.25 million euros