REFORD Regional Activities, September 2015 – July 2016 Supported by FLED Project
REFORD has signed an agreement for cooperation with CNVP Albania for their four-year programme Forest for Local Economic Development (FLED) in Albania, financed by SIDA, with a duration of then months starting in September 2015 till July 2016, and will be implemented in cooperation with its memers National Associations of Private forest Owners from teh Balkan region.
FLED programme main objective is: Improved decentralized and sustainable Communal Forestry providing increased production, service and income to rural communities.
In line with its programme objective, will build on earlier projects to further strengthen the capacity of local civil society organizations and strengthening democratic institutions as local government units and the Forest and Pasture Users Associations, in particular, strengthening linkages between stakeholders for sustainable communal forestry and pasture management and improving the environment.
In order to support the capacities and roles of the Federations on regional level regarding their functioning, representation and service delivery the project will work directly with the Regional Centre for Forestry and Rural Development.
The cooperation will focus on two main issues:
1.Support national meetings on sharing and learning innovative technical knowledge and
2. Study, review and share RD practices and knowledge with other relevant organizations in the Balkan region.
The main outputs of the assignment relate to the following:
- Support and advocacy provided to family forest owners and users addressing important issues to forestry related institutions;
- Experiences shared on provided support and advocacy within family forest associations from the REFORD network;
- Increased learning through sharing and documenting practices of other REFORD member organizations in provision of RD support to family forest associations;
- Increased knowledge through shared regional experiences on biomass value chain for renewable energy;
- Promotion of Family forestry.
To achieve the main outputs, REFORD will implement the following activities:
- Consultation on legal reforms in the region
- Joint lobbying and advocacy activities on legal reform
- Support inclusion of forestry in rural development programs and structures
- REFORD regional meeting reviewing rural development practices (including biomass and innovative programs)
- Experiences and efforts of national associations from REFORD network are shared on a joint event
- Joined activities of forest producer groups in regional level
- Practice and share service provision activities at regional level
- Collaboration between paying agencies for RD and associations
- Study tour on biomass value chain for renewable energy
- Promote family forests
- Support inclusion of forestry in rural development programs.
- Sharing and learning through joined activities of forest producer groups in regional level. To investigate the possibility to link producers (offer), demand (trade) with possible cooperation among two countries (AL and MK; AL and MNE).