Final Document Sustainable Forest Management Plan for ISMAILLY FOREST MANAGEMENT UNIT in Azerbaijan Republic October 2015 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 Sustainable Forest Management Plan for Ismailly Forest Management Unit in Azerbaijan Prepared for “European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) East Countries Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) II Program” Administrated by The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Prepared by Vasiliy Gerasimov Independent Forestry Advisor e-mail: [email protected] tel: +7 909 120 27 52 Skype: vas.gerasimov Ismailly Sustainable Forest Management Plan 2 July 2015 PREFACE This sustainable forest management plan has been developed for the territory of the Ismailly Forest Management Unit for a ten-year period. The forest management plan is primarily addressed to the Forest Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan and management of the Ismailly Forest Management Unit, as the representatives of the forest owner (state). The plan describes general tools to achieve the forest management sustainability and serves as a basis for developing more specific steps. 3 Ismailly Sustainable Forest Management Plan CONTENT LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... 6 ABBREVEATIONS .................................................................................................................... 7 1. SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT ........................................................................ 8 1.1. What is sustainable development .................................................................................. 8 1.2. Forest sustainability as important part of sustainable development .................................. 9 1.3. The concept of sustainable forest management .............................................................. 10 2. FOREST MANAGEMENT OF AZERBAIJAN ....................................................................... 12 2.1. Current management system (leshoz structure) .............................................................. 12 2.2. Current level of forest planning and monitoring ............................................................. 13 2.3. Main trends in Azerbaijan forestry: Improvement of existing forests and expansion of forest areas ............................................................................................................................. 14 2.4. Forestry activities (current and planned) ......................................................................... 14 3. SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANNING: GENERAL INFORMATION ... 16 3.1. SFM: goal and objectives ................................................................................................ 16 3.2. SFM Plan Structure ......................................................................................................... 17 3.3. SFM Planning Process .................................................................................................... 18 3.4. Supporting Documents, Plans, and Policies .................................................................... 19 3.5. Implementing a flexible management system ................................................................. 20 3.6. Sustainable forest management planning and FSC certification. .................................... 21 4. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT ISMAILLY FOREST MANAGEMENT UNIT .......................................................................................................................................... 22 4.1. General Information about the territory .......................................................................... 22 4.2. Ecosystems and forest types ............................................................................................ 23 4.3. Protected areas ................................................................................................................ 25 4.4. The Forest Products Industry .......................................................................................... 26 4.5. Infrastructure (roads, pipes) ............................................................................................ 26 4. 6. Dynamics of forest cover over the last decade ............................................................... 26 4.7. Socio-economic Description ........................................................................................... 28 4.8. Current and Anticipated Uses ......................................................................................... 28 4.9. Tourism and Recreation .................................................................................................. 29 4.10. Agriculture and Range .................................................................................................. 29 4.11. Non-wood forest products ............................................................................................. 30 Ismailly Sustainable Forest Management Plan 4 5. KEY STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR NEEDS ................................................................... 31 5.1. Forest stakeholders and their classification ..................................................................... 31 5.2. An assessment of the degree of the main groups of stakeholders' dependence on the forest resources ....................................................................................................................... 31 5.3. The survey results ........................................................................................................... 34 5.4. Plan on cooperation with local stakeholders ................................................................... 35 6. SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN ANT ITS IMPLEMENTATION ...... 38 6.1. Functional zoning ............................................................................................................ 38 6.2. Criteria & Indicators of Sustainability ............................................................................ 40 6.3. Management Strategies ................................................................................................... 51 6.4. High Conservation Value Forests Management Strategy ............................................... 55 6.5. Environmental Strategies ................................................................................................ 64 6.5.1. Biodiversity Conservation Strategy .......................................................................... 65 6.5.2. Species Management Strategy .................................................................................. 67 6.5.3. Soil protection strategy ............................................................................................. 69 6.5.4. Water protection strategy.......................................................................................... 71 6.5.5. Silviculture and Natural forest dynamic Strategy .................................................... 73 6.5.6. Invasive Plants Strategy ........................................................................................... 75 6.6. Social Strategies .............................................................................................................. 77 6.6.1. Local Employment Strategy ..................................................................................... 78 6.6.2. Employee & Forest Workers Training Strategy ....................................................... 79 6.6.3. Public Participation Strategy .................................................................................... 81 6.6.4. Recreation Strategy................................................................................................... 83 6.7. Economic Strategy .......................................................................................................... 85 6.8. Data Management Strategy ............................................................................................. 87 6.9. Monitoring ....................................................................................................................... 88 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................... 94 5 Ismailly Sustainable Forest Management Plan LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Three spheres of sustainability………………………………………….. 10 Figure 2. Department for Forests Development organization chart………………. 14 Figure 3. Sustainable forest management plan cycle……………………………… 20 Ismailly Sustainable Forest Management Plan 6 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Comparison of traditional and Sustainable forest management systems. 11 Table 2. List of supporting documents. 21 Table 3. Characteristics of transportation roads 27 Table 4. Status of Ismailly forest fund as of 1 January of 2005 28 Table 5. Status of Ismailly forest fund as of 1 January of 2015 28 Table 6. Ethnic composition of Ismailly district 29 Table 7. Timber