- Nov 21, 2019

NEWS | Final Meeting of the ECF's Regional Consultative Forum

Eco-Corridors Fund for the Caucasus is announcing theirFinal meeting of the Regional Consultative Forum in Tbilisi on November 26, 2019 marking the final formal gathering for the programme.

Eco-Corridors Fund for the Caucasus (ECF) is proud to bring together the primary stakeholders, supporters, funders and project administrators from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Germany.

The meeting will open with brief statements from the Georgian Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture and a national delegate from Armenia and Azerbaijan, followed by a representative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and a representative of KfW German Development Bank. WWF will then speak on behalf of WWF Caucasus.

“The best achievement of the project is the involvement of the communities

into the conservation measures...this project is turning the communities into collaborators and sometimes friends.”

- Hikmet Alizade Ministry of Environment, Azerbaijan

An overview of the programme will follow, presented by WWF Caucasus representative Nugzar Zazanashvili, discussing the purpose and rationale of the ECF programme. Then ECF’s Chief Technical Advisor, Jernej Stritih will present on the methodological approach of the programme. Prior to lunch current achievements of the ECF will be shared by theNational Coordinators of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia before a short question and answer period.

“ In this project is was very visible how it supports the environmental

factors as well as the socio-economic situation.

The local people are the main beneficiaries.”

- Juri Nosadze, MEPA, Georgia

In the afternoon the opportunities for community conservation, preserving biodiversity and sustainable development of rural Caucasus communities will be presented before afacilitated panel discussion on the following topics:

lessons learnt throughout the duration of the programme
future opportunities and concerns
challenges facing rural communities
future opportunities regarding natural resource management and biodiversity conservation as tools for sustainable social and economic development of rural communities of Caucasus

The closing statements of the meeting will focus on the future outlook of the ECF programme, delivered by Giorgi Sanadiradze, the Regional Director WWF Caucasus and Alvaro Berriel, the Project Manager KfW.

"Overall ECF is one of the successful projects for WWF. It is new, innovative and the involvement of local people in nature protection is a key factor."

- Karen Manvelyan WWF, Armenia

This meeting marks the conclusion of the start-up phase of the ECF of the programme, and the beginning of the true implementation of the programme, the most exciting chapter of the project and where all the knowledge, skills, tools and strategies of ECF will continue to develop a partnership for living landscapes.

The implementation period of the conservation agreements is 10 years, so it is too early to make a proper assessment of outcomes, impacts and sustainability of the conservation agreements but stakeholders are very committed strengthen the sustainable functioning of community conservation areas even beyond the period of the conservation agreements. Additionally, the possibility to use the enthusiasm in these communities for further activities that combine environmental and socio-economic benefits, including climate change adaptation, alternative energy solutions and natural resource regeneration, are being explored.

The ECF team and stakeholders look forwards to following and supporting the communities, specific conservation agreements and eco-corridors as they continue to strengthen the connection between biodiversity conservationand the improved of socio-economic status.

Photos in this article are by the ECF team and © Nika Tsiklauri - EcoFilms.ge

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PRESS RELEASE - Announcement of the Final Meeting of the ECF Regional Consultative Forum 2019